Small Commercial Spaces

The New Community Hub

Our mini-malls are havens for small businesses, including many family and immigrant-owned “mom and pop” stores. Through the creative use of greening, these local commercial spaces can become community hubs, offering places for gathering and social interaction while bolstering the neighborhood economy.

 

greenscape title visualizing

greenscape title visualizing

     

gwc 180918 visualization package sm page 04

gwc 180918 visualization package sm page 04

gwc 180928 visualization package 1 page 05

gwc 180928 visualization package 1 page 05

greenscape small commercial section

greenscape small commercial section

     

Cities and small businesses benefit from walkable places. Research shows that investing in walkable streets  produce more tax value per acre and more return on investment than designing around car traffic.

    

Small storefronts provide community cohesion and character, encourage “eyes on the street” and improve quality of life and safety.

    

Small parking lots that serve mini-malls have the potential to serve as community green space in off hours, improving neighborhood security, public health, and encouraging neighborhood culture. 

greenscape title onthemap

greenscape title onthemap

Small Commerical Spaces in the Gateway Cities include strip-malls, storefront commercial districts, and downtown ground-floor retail services. This greenscape prioritizes sites with high bus ridership and urban heat islands.

These commercial spaces present an opportunity to support the informal vending economy by carving out space for pop-up vendors. Greening strategies, such as bioswales, can be implemented along their edges, while also improving the streetscape experience at the sidewalk. With thoughtful, community-based design, Small Commerical Spaces can encourage walking between shopping experiences and increase the use of transit to shopping by creating comfortable, well-lit bus shelters and planting parkway shade trees. 

Scroll around and zoom into the map to see Small Commerical Spaces throughout the Gateway Cities region. You can also use the layers panel (top left) to toggle on and off all greenscape types. Where are the opportunities in your neighborhood? 

greenscape title examples

greenscape title examples

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cu finaldetails2

cu plantingday2

cu plantingday2

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cu plantingday26

cu hopskotch

cu hopskotch

cu builddaythree24

cu builddaythree24

cu communitymeeting2b

cu communitymeeting2b

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cu committeedesign2

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cu charette24

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20160611 cu painting 22

cudahy ribboncutting results

cudahy ribboncutting results

Plaza Milagro (Cudahy), 2016

A collaboration between residents of Cudahy and the department of Landscape Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona, Plaza Milagro represents an effort to provide public green space where neighborhoods most need it. The location for the small plaza—outside a carniceria on the corner of a small commerical strip abutting residential streets—was selected by a neighborhood steering committee. The steering committee also led the design process which involved multiple workshops with the local community. The plaza was constructed by residents and Cal Poly students. 

 

lb parklet lolas studiooneeleven

lb parklet lolas studiooneeleven

lb parklet fitness studiooneeleven

lb parklet fitness studiooneeleven

lb parklet 4thstreet studiooneeleven

lb parklet 4thstreet studiooneeleven

parklet york highlandpark

parklet york highlandpark

el sereno parklet flickr ladotpeopleist

el sereno parklet flickr ladotpeopleist

strategy outdoor ex parklet ladot flickr

strategy outdoor ex parklet ladot flickr

Long Beach and Los Angeles Parklets, 2012


Southern California's first parklets were installed adjacent to Long Beach businesses to help reinvigorate streets and to provide spaces for outdoor dining and fitness. Los Angeles’ first parklets were created in Highland Park, El Sereno, and downtown.

Although parklets create a street atmosphere that can boost small businesses, the El Sereno community chose a location for a parklet not adjacent to a restaurant or café to ensure the space would be seen as “100% public." These parklets went through a rigorous public input process.

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Have a successful example you'd like featured in this vision plan? Fill out this form and let us know! 

Benefits

Strategies

greenscape title resources

greenscape title resources

Long Beach Parklet Study. Studio One Eleven. (2017). 

An Assessment of Spring Street Parklets in Los Angeles. UCLA Luskin Center (2013). 

Parklet Policy Toolkit. Smart Growth America. (2019).

Tactical Urbanism Handbook. Vol 1 and Vol 2.  The Street Plans Collaborative. (2012). 

Park(ing) Day Manual. Rebar. (2015). 

Starter Kit for Mobile Food Vending. City of Los Angeles. (2017). 

"Why walkable streets are more economically productive." Quednau, Rachel. (2018).


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