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Environmental
San Vicente Median Greening Project
Improvements to Irrigation System and Plants Underway
StreetsLA, a division of the Bureau of Street Services, and Council District 11 are spearheading improvements to the San Vicente Median between Darlington Ave. and Montana Ave. This work is made possible by funding obtained by CA State Senator Ben Allen.
The goal of the San Vicente Median Greening Project is to create a more vibrant landscape for the community by revitalizing the existing medians. Work includes replacing the outdated irrigation system with modern, high-efficiency irrigation components that will reduce water consumption; and converting the current high water-use turf areas to resilient, drought-tolerant plantings.
More information can be found on the project’s website. Team members spoke at SBRA’s Annual Meeting and at SBRA’s request they set up a longer meeting that allowed for a limited amount of Q&A. The video from that meeting can be viewed here.
Brentwood residents have raised concerns about items such as:
Will people will still be able to cross the median? We’ve been assured that plants have been selected to resist trampling.
Will dying Coral Trees be replaced with other Coral Trees or with native tree species that are better suited for the local climate? The current scope does not include a budget for trees which will be handled separately.
Why does the project include only three blocks of San Vicente instead of fixing irrigation systems and gopher holes across the entire median? Due to budget constraints, the City opted to do the current plan.
Does the project area take into account pending left turn lanes at Darlington Ave./San Vicente?
If you have additional comments after viewing the materials, you can reach out to the Brentwood and West LA Field Deputy at Council District 11 to voice them, or SBRA (info@southbrentwood.org) can pass along your comments.
LA Fire Health Study Tracks Impact of Palisades Fires on Westside Residents’ Health
Latest Findings from this 10 Year Study were Presented at SBRA’s Annual Meeting
The LA Fire Health Study is multi-institutional consortium led by teams of researchers with expertise in environmental exposure assessment, analysis of health outcomes, wildfire risk assessment and management, and data science. This 10 year study is designed to help government officials, medical and public health experts, and residents understand the short- and long-term impacts of wildfires.
The research provides the community with trusted, data-informed guidance to empower households and businesses to make proactive recovery decisions.
Researchers from Cedars-Sinai; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; the Keck School of Medicine of USC; Stanford; University of California, Davis; University of California, Irvine; University of California, Los Angeles (David Geffen School of Medicine, Fielding School of Public Health, UCLA Health); University of Texas at Austin; and Yale are participating.
Dr. Yifang Zhu is a professor of Environmental Health Sciences at UCLA and the lead researcher for AIR studies of the Community Action Project, Los Angeles (CAP.LA) which manages an ambient air quality monitoring network throughout Pacific Palisades. Dr. Zhu spoke at SBRA’s 2025 Annual Meeting to inform the community about the work being done and the results so far. Her presentation can be viewed here.
If you would like to support the ongoing work of CAP.LA, you can donate here. Additional support will allow CAP.LA to extend its testing efforts and to continue to respond to the needs of the community in these extraordinary times.
Angelenos4Trees Reports Significant Reduction in LA’s Tree Canopy
LA Scores 2 out of 109 on its Urban Forest Sustainability Practices
In 2007, the City of Los Angeles effectively defunded its Urban Forestry Division. Tree maintenance was put on hold, watering trucks were sidelined, and street trees were essentially no longer planted other than through NGOs.
As other cities ramped up their urban forest practices --- recognizing the importance of the eco services trees provide-shade, livability, cleaning the air, sequestering carbon and absorbing storm water --- Los Angeles turned its back on trees and livability.
A 2018 USC study showed a 15-55% decline in the urban forest of different LA neighborhoods and gave the city a 2 out of potential score of 109 in urban forest sustainability practices (refer to page 25 here)
The study’s urgent recommendations were not implemented, and currently LA’s annual per-tree budget is $27, less than half the $60 that New York City and Melbourne spend and one-third of San Franciscos $78.
If you want to advocate for action on the urban forest, contact angelenos4trees@gmail.com.
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