North Atwater Versus River Glen: Who Wins?
The people of Atwater Village are usually a mild-mannered and friendly bunch, but some locals are miserable that a chunk of Atwater Village is being called “River Glen” by City Councilman Tom LaBonge. Its right name is North Atwater, according to a Friends of Atwater Village blog post. It would seem that LaBonge wanted to rename the area to give the area a strong identity and help revitalization/beautification efforts, yet neither beautification/revitalization has occurred, complains the blog, pointing to the proposed* and controversial “waste-to-energy refuse facility.” Also, it seems like people just don’t like the name. Here’s what the blog says: “…unknown to most of the Atwater Village community, Councilmember Labonge and his staff continue to this day to refer to Atwater Village’s industrial park in North Atwater as “River Glen” The references to “River Glen” can be found on the Los Angeles River Revitalization Plot and other City documents.”
Carolyn Ramsay, director of communications for City Councilman LaBonge’s office writes in an email to Curbed that the Councilman, has in fact, “gotten positive response to the name from the actual property owners in the area. They’re commercial and industrial property owners, not homeowners.” She also points out that two weeks ago, the City Council approved a plot to extend the East Los Angeles Enterprise Zone to include this area, a go meant to help bring in more businesses in the area.
And we questioned Atwater Village expert Atwater Village Newbie to weigh in and give his opinion on the matter. Here’s his email:
“It’s not like anyone really lives up there. It’s mostly industrial and retail. (Plus our only strip club.) Splitting it from the residential areas of Atwater Village does seems rather arbitrary. Are we saying industrial and residential don’t mix?
Never mind the name. River Glen? Not much Glen-like about it. The whole area is concrete. And spray paint. I suppose neighbors are getting riled up about it because it looks like a clever ploy by the City of LA to build a waste treatment facility without running it by Atwater Village stakeholders, like our neighborhood council.
Also, it’s adjacent to the Chevy Chase Park area of Atwater Village, where LAPD recently raided Toonerville gang compounds and promises continued cleanup of the area.
I suppose if you see the Chevy Chase Park area and the River Glen area as inexorably linked, you’d want some say in how it’s named and governed.
Anyway, the only time I’ve been to “River Glen” was for a furniture sale. But I didn’t even buy anything. And as long as we’re being arbitrary, why not just annex it to Glendale?”
· Atwater Village News – blog [Official Site]
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