Not everyone loves having a national park in the middle of the street. Echo Park resident (and dove rescuer) Chuck DeRosa wrote to me with the following:

What I'd like to know...is why the new Glendale Blvd street islands got constructed at all? As far as I can tell, the city constructed that island on Glendale Ave. for no purpose. The traffic pattern is almost exactly the same. I watched as they were doing the construction -- wondering if they were going to add another lane or do something to aid the congestion (which, is still awful by the way)-- then, when they finished, there was almost nothing different, except possibly a place to grow flowers and a left turn lane into the drugstore (hardly a necessary improvement). If that whole project was undertaken specifically as a way to grow plants in the middle of Glendale Blvd. I'll be appalled. Any idea of the original intent of the traffic project?

Well, these are some good points, with which I disagree.

Not to (try to) be the Dear Abby of civic master plans here...but, what to do with the Glendale Blvd. corridor is one of the major planning issues for Echo Park. Basically, what most local residents want is a plan that will take a bad traffic situation and not make it worse for the neighborhood. What through-commuters seem to want is an all-out freeway so they can get to their own green, quiet (dare I say foothill?) neighborhoods (and vice-versa) more quickly. One point where we all come together: EP residents would like commuters to get to and from their homes more quickly, too. How is the fateful question. Maybe some of those commuters could take the bus. Or they could pressure their bosses to give them flex-time. Maybe the city could do the same. I do wish Upton Sinclair had won his race for governor. He advocated a three-hour work week, because he knew that we don't need to make so much stuff. And he would have known we don't need to drive so much. Can he be elected posthumously?

Chicken Corner, for one, is delighted that in the midst of this traffic dilemma a few patches of green space were created, because Glendale Boulevard is part of the community. It's not just a passageway, and we shouldn't let it become one.