“Placemaking for Livability and Community Health,” the June 9th general session of ICMA’s Local Government Reimagined (LGR) Conference in Long Beach, was presented by a panel of Long Beach’s own. This LGR conference, sponsored by MissionSquare, is the largest and last of the 2023 LGR conferences, which have brought attendees new solutions to long-time issues in local government.

The panel of speakers from the city of Long Beach included Tom Modica, city manager; Meredith Reynolds, deputy city manager; Fern Nueno, climate manager; Alison Spindler-Ruiz, planning manager; and Lara Turnbull, manager of the Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention Division.

Long Beach’s Livability Initiative began with small, intentional placemaking improvements that encouraged walking, biking, and swimming, and has grown into transformed spaces that encourage healthy outdoor activity, economic development, and improved quality of life. Modica described livability in their city as “the things that make you smile.” The group described their efforts over the years that have been focused on increasing the city’s bikeability, walkability, and swimability.

Bikeability

Long Beach has long been a big cycling town, but they wanted to do more to make the community even more bike-friendly, especially when it came to traffic integration, safety education, and disadvantaged neighborhoods. Their strategic plan focused on the improvements they wanted to make over ten years’ time, and much has already been done. Traffic circles in the bike boulevards have increased safety and are aesthetically pleasing within neighborhoods. The bikeshare program has been very successful, so they introduced a scooter program as well. They even have a mobile library on a bike. Bike Night and other safety events have been well attended and encourage safe nighttime cycling.

Walkability

Grounded in equity, the city’s efforts in increasing walkability meant providing connections to resources and recreation for all residents. They engaged in meaningful community engagement to ensure their work was meeting the needs of their most vulnerable population.

It was important to everyone involved to “put the fun factor into things” while using data-driven decisions to improve walkability. The Rainbow Bridge, a 605-foot pedestrian bridge connecting downtown to the waterfront area, lights up with 3,500 customizable LED lights, providing a fun, immersive atmosphere. They have transformed a number of spots into beautiful parks, including an old rail lane. There are now numerous pedestrian walkways on bike trails, as well as fitness loops around the city, with equipment that is accessible and guidelines in multiple languages. Especially beloved by residents are the creative crosswalks with colorful designs that reflect the neighborhoods they are in. Not only nice to look at, these crosswalks are fantastic placemaking opportunities that improve safety because they’re highly visible to road traffic. The city holds many pedestrian-focused events throughout the year for education, encouragement, and awareness: Long Beach Walk to School Week, Walking Wednesday events, walking clubs, crossing guard training, and more.

Swimmability

Long Beach has made a multiyear intentional effort to clean up the water and make it more of a recreation destination. They updated signs about water quality to reassure beachgoers of its safety. They added yard markers in the water for competitive swimmers. To encourage families, the city installed inflatable playgrounds, swim ladders for easy exit from the water, and lockers, among many other things.

What made this placemaking work possible? Most importantly, collaboration with other departments, the livability committee, and community partners; when possible, using resources they already had in place; and continued outreach about new initiatives. Modica talked through some of the lessons learned along the way, reiterating that “this all looks fun and awesome, but it’s hard work.”

Throughout all aspects of their work, equity was at the forefront. The city wanted to ensure they were meaningfully engaging with the entire community, soliciting their voice in the planning, design, and implementation. They worked hard to source equipment that was accessible for all, and made new installations such as floating inflatable structures free of charge.

While the LGR Conference series has come to an end, ICMA continues its Local Government Reimagined initiative, our long-term commitment to helping public administrators innovate and adapt to meet the challenges of today and those beyond the horizon.

Learn more about livable communities in the June issue of PM Magazine.

Read individual articles here or members and subscribers can download the full issue here.