Students Help Tenants

While others are bemoaning the condition of public housing, a group of UCLA architecture and planning students are working with Nickerson Garden tenants to develop ideas on how the 1,066-unit project in South-Central Los Angeles can be made more livable.

Various plans have been developed calling for increased security through better design and tenant involvement, more apartments and an array of cultural, commercial and child-oriented services. They are to be refined in continuing classroom exercises.

The effort, directed by two professors, Jacqueline Leavitt and Judith Shine, involves about 30 students. The tenant contingent is headed by Claudia Moore, Nora King, Gail Wilson and J. D. Blackwell.

“The hope is that we can set a precedent for the school and students to become more sensitized to the harsh realities of providing decent housing and services,” Leavitt said.