Altadena residents brainstorm a vision for what a rebuilt town could look like

Though it follows a colossal community tragedy, for many Altadena residents at a brainstorming forum on Saturday, Oct. 4, it was a great opportunity to make the unincorporated town better.

“Let’s Think Together: Altadena Steadfast Urban Design Open House” took place on Saturday afternoon at Loma Alta Park.

Outside, kids played on a playground, and couples enjoyed the views. But inside the park’s gym, the nonprofit Altadena Steadfast, in cooperation with some Los Angeles County representatives, sought to engage residents in giving their opinions on a range of items related to the redesign and redevelopment of commercial and communal areas in Altadena post-Eaton fire.

“There’s an opportunity to think differently (and) the idea is to prompt people on how they want to experience the public and commercial spaces,” explained Jodi McLaughlin, a longtime resident and member of the group.

Volunteers set out to elicit opinions on a wide range of topics, including Altadena’s identity and culture, transportation, communal gathering spaces and more.

Hundreds of residents showed up. They deliberated on various information presentations offered around the bustling gymnasium, and gave their opinions and feedback on the different areas.

“I think this is great,” said Dan Morse, a 33-year resident of Altadena, who sees this as an opportunity to hit a reset button and reimagine Altadena literally from the ground up.

“It took a massive fire and 9,000 structures burned for us to come together,” Morse said, describing the layout of the town’s commercial district as “an awful mishmash.”

“Now’s our opportunity to have some direction … If we could have a better walkable avenue, we could stop losing money to Pasadena,” he said.

Morse, like many, wants to see more and safer opportunities for pedestrians and bicycle traffic, as well as a greater amount of gathering space and inviting commercial development that augments community.

“Altadena’s always been a little difficult for pedestrians,” said Norah Small, an Altadena native. “People tend to zip through.”

She believes the community values the outdoors, however, and that includes walkability. Like others, she sees the chance to turn the catastrophe around and use it to make it better.

“We’re looking for an opportunity to make some positive changes, to preserve the things that are important to us,” Small said, including diversity and the value of making it a safe place for all different people.

Craig Russel, one of the cofounders of Altadena Steadfast, said he expected a couple hundred people to attend Saturday’s event, greeting them at the door to answer questions alongside McLaughlin.

“The point of this is to engage the residents of Altadena and to collect their view, their passions, their priorities, and their concerns,” Russel said.

These, in turn, are going to be consolidated and summarized by the group, and will then be shared with the design team at SWA Global. This firm, which is giving its services for free, will then work to create a design brief, conceptual designs and other material that will be presented to officials with Los Angeles County.

“But we’re going to make sure that we continue to engage the community,” McLaughlin said, “so they can make sure these ideas come together.”

Resident Derek Whitefield, who took part in the open house, is pleased to share his thoughts and opinions after 20 years in the community.

“I want the community to retain its basic characteristic that it had before,” he said. “I certainly don’t want it to become a Disneyland.”

“This is really a community-focused place and I want it to continue to be that,” Whitefield said, “where people love their neighbors and help their neighbors. That’s what I’m looking for.”

Jarret Liotta is a Los Angeles-based writer and photographer.