Playa Vista Celebrates 25 Years

On January 22, roughly 150 people attended a celebration of Playa Vista’s 25th anniversary to hear some of the community’s extensive and lively history and to review what a recent survey shows about resident satisfaction. The event, co-sponsored by LMU and the Playa Vista Institute, demonstrated a new partnership between the co-sponsors by taking place in LMU’s campus building in the Playa Vista business park area.

The Playa Vista Institute is a non-profit organization formed to document and preserve the development history of Playa Vista to inform future developments. PVI partnered with LMU to offer an evening of reflection, conversation and celebration of the original visions of Playa Vista and the present reality of its "New Urbanism" design.

LMU President Thomas Poon, Ph.D., kicked off the event, with PVI presenting results of its recent community survey that offers a timely snapshot of how residents, workers, and shoppers perceive Playa Vista. The survey gauged their opinions about Playa Vista, asking what they thought was working well and what they wanted more of. In a nutshell, Playa Vista residents and workers are wildly satisfied with the amenities and opportunities their neighborhood provides. They drive less, walk more, feel safe and enjoy regular social interaction with their neighbors.

Above: LMU President Thomas Poon, Ph.D., kicked off the symposium. Photo by Devin Feil.

Several speaker panels and discussion sessions covered a wide variety of topics aimed at understanding the lessons learned by developers and government in the course of Playa Vista's 40-year gestation period, captured in PVI's documentary film. Panelists included former L.A. City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who represented the Council District during Playa Vista's initial development years. Galanter reflected on the challenges of managing the developers' expectations while balancing the needs of surrounding city neighborhoods and various city bureaucracies. Joining Galanter was Con Howe, former Planning Director for Los Angeles.

Above: Former L.A. City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter did not mince words about the challenges Playa Vista presented to city planners, and the opposition it garnered from surrounding communities and activists.

Stefanos Polyzoides, Dean of Architecture and Planning at the University of Notre Dame, spoke on a second panel about his days on the Playa Vista design team. Polyzoides noted how all the Great Cities of the world, including London and Rome, were built with numerous public open spaces - parks and squares - within and adjoining neighborhoods, a design element extensively mirrored by Playa Vista's twenty-nine discrete parks.

Polyzoides elaborated that New Urbanism design seeks to build livable, walkable communities with mixed-use zoning so people have both an aesthetically pleasing walk, such as tree-lined streets and interesting architecture, while providing places to walk to and interact in, such as cafés, parks, and town squares.

Above: Bluff Creek Fields, one of Playa Vista's twenty-nine parks.

PVI's Strategic Plan Goals include establishing and maintaining a physical and virtual repository of Playa Vista development history, and influencing and advocating for smart growth and sustainable community development. Hopefully, the lessons learned from Playa Vista will be helpful to those involved in redeveloping Santa Monica Airport and the Baldwin Hills oil field.

Below: The Playa Vista Riparian Corridor trail. The constructed wetlands habitat supports an endangered bird, the Least Bell's Vireo.

Below: The Playa Vista Farmers Market is a popular gathering place on Saturdays

Author’s disclosure of affiliations:

Dr. David W. Kay served on the Board of Directors of the non-profit Friends of Ballona Wetlands from 2007 until 2015, and served as Board President in 2012-13. He presently serves on the Boards of Ballona Discovery Park in Playa Vista, the Playa Vista Institute and the Playa Vista Parks and Landscape homeowners association. David is a staunch advocate for the state of California's plans to restore the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve.

From 1984 until 2022, David was employed by Southern California Edison Company, exclusively in the company's environmental services organizations. His many responsibilities included restoration of the 440-acre San Dieguito Wetlands near Del Mar. He retired in 2022 as Senior Manager for Major Project Environmental Management at the company, after 38 years of service.

From 1984 until 2022, David was employed by Southern California Edison Company, exclusively in the company's environmental services organizations. His many responsibilities included restoration of the 440-acre San Dieguito Wetlands near Del Mar. He retired in 2022 as Senior Manager for Major Project Environmental Management at the company, after 38 years of service.

David earned bachelor and masters degrees in biology and a doctorate in environmental science. See Dr. Kay’s Patch Community Contributor profile here.