It’s a Key First Step Toward a Comprehensive, Multi-Year Capital Infrastructure Plan
Investing in Place has been a leading voice calling for Los Angeles leaders to prioritize creating a comprehensive plan for the city’s public right-of-way—and we did it!
On October 16, Mayor Karen Bass issued Executive Directive No. 9: Streamlining Capital Project Delivery and Equitably Investing in the Public Right-of-Way.
The Directive addresses essential reforms to our public right-of-way that place equity, community engagement, and transparency at the forefront for the first time in Los Angeles’ history. This is a major step toward creating a better-run, people-centered city. See what other leaders—our partners in this work—are saying about this exciting initiative here. Our thoughts were also included in the Los Angeles Times and Torched coverage.
We’re proud to say that our collective voice has made a difference!
The Executive Directive’s opening lines mirror the calls we spent years researching, developing, and promoting. Investing in Place is proud to have laid the foundation for this transformative moment by providing city and community leaders with analysis and insight into how LA City currently plans for and manages its public right-of-way, compared with nationwide best practices and what other cities do. (See our online library of resources.)
Over the past several years, we:
- Conducted research on over 30 cities’ Capital Infrastructure Plans (CIPs).
- Launched LA’s first-ever inventory of all elements of the public right-of-way.
- Convened roundtables and held workshops for civic, business, and community leaders.
- Interviewed City staff to identify barriers to creating an equitable CIP for Los Angeles.
- Rallied over 80 civic organizations and individuals behind our community pledge that we submitted to the Mayor last year, including many of the key principles reflected in Mayor Bass’ Directive.
Our insights and recommendations are referenced throughout the Directive, especially in these key points:
- For the first time, Los Angeles will engage the disability community as a key partner in planning and maintaining the public right-of-way.
- Maintenance and asset management will be prioritized, with transparent cost allocations for these efforts.
- Project list development will move from the “black box” to a process that includes community engagement as a component.
- The Directive eliminates bureaucratic silos by consolidating multiple existing workgroups, creating a unified, shared vision.
- The Directive emphasizes equitable investment in the public right-of-way, ensuring historically underserved and low-income communities receive the attention and resources needed to address long-standing infrastructure disparities.
- The Directive commits to economic and workforce development, prioritizing procurement and career path opportunities for Angelenos and small businesses, supporting local hire initiatives and fostering community growth.
But the work is just beginning.
An Executive Directive is a crucial first step, but it’s only the beginning. The reason a CIP has never been adopted in Los Angeles when cities like Boston, Chicago, Long Beach, New York, San Diego, and Seattle have one is because it takes work. Now, we need leadership from both inside and outside City Hall to collaborate in untangling decades of complex processes, data, and traditions. This won’t be easy, but it can be done.
Currently, LA has over 20 city agencies and entities, each operating with separate year-by-year budgets, no unified plan, no comprehensive project list, and no shared vision—leaving the public uninformed. Mayor Bass’ Executive Directive sets a clear vision for change, and now is the time to act.
The Directive introduces key elements for a more transparent process and a better-run city—things Los Angeles has been missing for decades.
This is a promising first step, and we’re ready to work alongside city staff and community leaders for these plans to move off the page and into reality.
We need your continued partnership.
Join us as we continue to work with the City to see that this not only gets done but gets done right—and that people like you inform the process and the outcomes. Here’s what you can do:
- Share this news with the people in your own networks. Here are some additional resources to make it easy to spread the word.
- Follow the ongoing work of the new Capital Planning Steering Committee, or get updates from us by signing up for our newsletter at the bottom of this page.
- Keep raising your voice and asking the city to follow through on these promises.
- Donate to Investing in Place so we can keep up this work, especially as it ramps up now.
It will take all of us. Let’s get to work!
