From alleyways to arteries, a new symposium is turning everyday infrastructure into something a little more ambitious

There’s a certain kind of Los Angeles conversation that usually happens in frustration. It starts with traffic, drifts into sidewalks and ends somewhere around “why does this street feel like it wasn’t built for people?”

West Hollywood is trying to flip that script.

On April 25, the city will host its Strategic Streetscapes Symposium, a half-day event that feels less like a civic meeting and more like a creative reset for how urban space actually works. It’s part of the city’s broader Earth Month programming, but the ambition stretches well beyond sustainability buzzwords. 

A Different Kind of LA Conversation

The symposium, held at West Hollywood’s Council Chambers on San Vicente Boulevard, brings together designers, planners and community voices to tackle a deceptively simple question: what if streets were designed with intention, not just infrastructure?

Expect talks that move between big-picture philosophy and hyper-local reality. Topics range from ecological design and green infrastructure to the politics of reshaping dense urban corridors.

It’s the kind of lineup that reflects where Los Angeles is right now. Growth isn’t slowing down. Space isn’t expanding. And the tension between cars, pedestrians and public life is only getting sharper.

So instead of reacting, West Hollywood is trying to get ahead of it.

At its core, the event is about turning overlooked spaces into active ones. That includes everything from alleys and transit corridors to the kinds of streets people usually just pass through.

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The goal is to rethink these areas as places that support actual life. Think stronger social gathering spaces, better pedestrian navigation and streets that don’t feel like afterthoughts.

In a city where “third places” are starting to feel increasingly rare, that kind of thinking hits differently.

Projects like the Fountain Avenue redesign and San Vicente Plaza have sparked years of debate, often exposing just how complicated it is to change a street in a built-out city. This symposium feels like a step back from those individual battles, zooming out to ask how future projects can avoid the same friction by starting with a clearer vision.

And in a broader LA context, it taps into something bigger. Across the region, cities are experimenting with pedestrian zones, outdoor dining expansions and hybrid public spaces that blur the line between infrastructure and experience.

West Hollywood is now starting that conversation to make it official.

The Details

The Strategic Streetscapes Symposium runs Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at West Hollywood’s Council Chambers on San Vicente Boulevard, with doors opening at 9:30 a.m.

The event is free with RSVP, but the bigger draw is the structure with a tightly programmed morning that moves like a panel at a design conference, with each speaker building on the last.

The day opens with architect Ric. Abramson laying out what he calls a “ten-point framework of urban opportunities,” essentially a roadmap for how cities like West Hollywood can rethink their public space from the ground up. From there, the conversation widens.

Landscape architect Gerdo Aquino digs into the partnerships that actually make these projects possible. Derek Lazo shifts the focus toward ecological design, looking at how nature-based interventions can double as public space. Roger Sherman brings in the idea of temporality, how streets can evolve over time rather than stay fixed in one function.

By late morning, the tone turns more reflective. Jennifer Davis focuses on memory and cultural identity in urban design, while Allen Compton zeroes in on connectivity, specifically how underused corridors can be reclaimed and turned into something functional and social.

The final stretch leans interactive. Abramson returns to moderate a panel that ties the framework together, followed by an open community conversation where attendees can push back, ask questions or add their own perspective.

There is still coffee. There is still lunch. But the real value is that the city is not just presenting ideas. It is actively stress-testing them in the room.

Advance RSVP is requested via Eventbrite.