L.A. River Goes Corporate: Land To Be Developed For Beautification

Friends of the Los Angeles River

The concrete jungle that is the Los Angeles River just got its own corporation this week. According to the Associated Press (via KPCC, 89.3 FM) the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation will get to buy, sell and develop property along the river from the west San Fernando Valley to East Los Angeles.

The corporation, run by five people appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, has been seeded with $750,000, although that's pocket change compared to the $2 billion L.A. River Revitalization Master Plan that is the blueprint for the river's long-term transformation from graffiti canvas to scenic attraction.

The corporation's board is made up of business people, neighborhood leaders and ... former Melrose Place star Daphne Zuniga. Yay! Because if anyone knows how to transform an urban river into a destination, it's celebrities.

Councilman Ed Reyes touted the corporation as a way to get things done along the river without having to bow to the ebb and flow of City Hall and regional politics. "This could be a pillar that would withstand that political turbulence," he said.