Westwood residents have for some time expressed concerns about the quality and condition of their city streets, including uneven sidewalks and dysfunctional street lights.
Alex Jarlson, a third-year English and film student, said he was concerned about both the appearance and safety of sidewalks in the Westwood area.
“The sidewalks are quite dirty and run-down and the lights don’t really work on them,” Jarlson said. “People could hurt themselves tripping walking there because at night it might be difficult to see.”
PC Zai, Facilities commissioner for the Undergraduate Students Association Council, said there is a difference in appearance between Westwood and the UCLA campus because Westwood facilities are owned by the city.
“The problem with sidewalks is that the city doesn’t pay entirely for them,” she said.
Zai said the sidewalks are partially paid for by the city and partially by landowners and homeowners.
“(Due to budget limits), our district councilmember only has half a mile of sidewalk that he can repair.”
The City of Los Angeles has a sidewalk-repair program which identifies sidewalks to fix based on the amount of damage, and also takes into account large trees that need to be preserved.
Jack Weiss, the L.A. city councilman who represents the Westwood area, was not available for comment.
Zai said though some of the sidewalks in Westwood have been fixed, there are many more areas which need repair.
“Where Landfair and Ophir (avenues) are, that area has been patched up,” she said. “It’s Landfair (Avenue) that is the worst one, and Glenrock (Avenue) and the city side of Gayley (Avenue).”
USAC President Marwa Kaisey said she believes students often do not have the ability to contact their city government or voice their concerns.
“The real problem is that students only live in Westwood on average for two years. That’s not enough time for them to contact their city government or build a relationship with them to voice their concerns,” she said. She also said she believes students do not know how to report their concerns.
“Last year we had a power outage where all the street lamps in Westwood in North Village were out for two weeks,” Zai said. “That demonstrates the slow response and also that students don’t know how to complain.”
Students can contact Weiss’ office with comments or suggestions about the state of the Village, but Kaisey said USAC is organizing a neighborhood council to help Westwood residents better voice such concerns to the city.
“We all recognize that this a problem, not just because it looks bad, but because the streets are difficult to navigate,” she said.
Linda Duong, a second-year English student and Westwood resident, said she was concerned about the uneven portions of the sidewalks in Westwood and believes they are the result of the protrusion of roots from trees.
“If you walk down Landfair (Avenue) toward Strathmore (Avenue), the sidewalks are elevated at random parts” said Duong. “If it’s dark and you don’t know the street well enough, it wouldn’t be surprising for people to trip over it.”
Jesse Melgar, a second-year political science student and director of Westwood’s Northwest Neighborhood Council, said he was hopeful that the council would give students an avenue to address their concerns.
“We’re definitely getting feedback from community members in addressing whatever issues we can within the North Village area,” he said. “One of the main projects we want to work on is sidewalk accessibility and handicapped accessibility.”
Melgar said he has also heard complaints about the cleanliness and navigability of the sidewalks.
“We’ve just had people that are saying there are couches being left out in the street and it creates a problem for people walking and driving,” Melgar said.