Re-Envisioning the Los Angeles River

An NGO and Academic Institute Influence the Policy Discourse

by Robert Gottlieb and Andrea Azuma, Golden Gate University Law Review.

"Landscapes tell stories," filmmaker Wim Wenders declared, "and the Los Angeles River tells a story of violence and danger." Wenders made these remarks during one of the sessions of the Re-Envisioning the L.A. River program, a year-long series hosted by the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Wenders' comments were made during a panel discussion on how Hollywood films presented the Los Angeles River as a backdrop for the stories those films told. The Hollywood panel was one of 40 "Re-Envisioning the L.A. River" events and activities during 1999-2000. This year-long program was organized to explore how the discourse about the River could be changed to reorient the policy framework regarding the management and future design of this heavily engineered and reconstructed urban waterway and the related land use considerations for the areas bordering it.

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