The Angelino Heights Community Prevails!

The residents surrounding Marion Park have been terrorized by street racing for more than 20 years, a fire stoked by the release of the first Fast and Furious film. On May 19th, Fast and Furious X was released, and Marion Park was ready.

Intersection near Marion Park. These burn marks are evidence of the nightly street racing and burnouts that occur in the neighborhood of Angelino Heights.

The Community Speaks, We Listen

Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE) has been assisting the Angelino Heights community in organizing and demanding safer streets for all in their neighborhood. Angelino Heights residents identified their primary area of concern, the roads surrounding Marion Park. These roads have developed a reputation for being popular spots for illegal street racing and reckless driving. Scars of this traffic violence are embedded into the tarmac outside family homes. The community has effectively been overtaken, and the park was no longer a safe place for community building.

Over the last year, community feedback was collected by SAFE, shared with Los Angeles engineers, and developed into actual infrastructure to help deter reckless driving in the area. The community recommended extending buffer zones around the park, adding clear traffic lines near intersections, and creating more crosswalks by adding stop signs at the various intersections leading into the park.

More To Come …

Los Angeles will add speed bumps to the area to promote safe driving speeds. The community is reclaiming the space as a result of SAFE’s advocacy, and Marion Park will once again be safe for the Angelino Heights community. Even a People’s Street Plaza has been proposed to bring social events to the park. Imagine the possibilities…