Latino Community’s Urban Insight

L.A.’s new urbanism is Latino Urbanism (“The Planners Who Disdain Style,” Jan. 4). While doing research for my MIT master’s thesis on the way Latinos were using and retrofitting public/private space in East L.A., my roommate was doing his research on the New Urbanism architectural guidelines for the development of Seaside, Fla.

Every night we would compare notes, realizing both places were developing or advocating the same goals of re-creating a sense of belonging through social interactions.

At Seaside, these goals were met through the development of fences, porches and a pedestrian-scale landscape--the exact same features Latino residents created through their behavior patterns.

New Urbanists find inspiration in the historic urban forms of Europe and America but rarely look to the street life that exists today in Latino L.A. and other minority communities. Or in the case of L.A.’s New Urbanism, it’s been “New Mallism,” creating places like Universal’s CityWalk, or Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

The environment of Latino L.A. is a real, fluid place. These hard-working people, many newcomers to this country, have created something many proponents of New Urbanism desire: a vibrant street life, sharp public spaces and the sense of belonging to a community.

Not until L.A. bureaucrats, developers and residents recognize the potential in Latino urbanism for rethinking our city’s development can we truly create a unique, livable place.

SANTIAGO ROJAS

Los Angeles