The LA Times has a good article and interactive graphic with video clips about the revitalization of Atlantic Avenue, strecthing from Alhambra to Long Beach.
Atlantic on the move
As Los Angeles' boulevards reassert their place in the public realm, the transformation along Atlantic offers glimpses of a new city identity taking shape.
By Christopher Hawthorne
Los Angeles Times
May 13, 2012
“The 5600 block of Atlantic Avenue doesn't look like much at first glance, especially if you're zipping through at 45 mph. A dry cleaner, a pupuseria, a T-shirt shop and a medical marijuana dispensary line the low-rise street in the North Village Annex section of Long Beach. About a third of the storefronts are vacant.
Pedestrians stroll along Atlantic in Bixby Knolls during the latest of the Long Beach neighborhood's monthly "First Fridays" art walks. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
But if you climb out of the car, you'll notice that this classic commercial strip — convenient for drivers, charmless and alienating for everybody else — is in the midst of a remarkable evolution.
A crosswalk cuts across the boulevard at mid-block, complete with a flashing signal for pedestrians. Orange and blue bike racks dot the sidewalks. Silk floss trees, lined up in a neat row along the median, frame a piece of tiled public art…”
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...8106.htmlstory