The Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy & Jobs – Weekly Update – September 11, 2017
Last month I wrote a weekly update on the emergence of Smart Cities in a few forward looking cities in the United States and decided to look into who may be focused on this issue in the L.A. region. I have discovered, working with two FUSE Corps Fellows, that though there are some conversations about the topic, nothing is materializing at a rate that would truly benefit L.A.’s communities anytime soon.
Additionally, after spending some quality time, with a handful of other L.A. Coalition members, with Kevin Demoff, the COO & EVP of Football Operations with the L.A. Rams, to learn more about their real estate development – LA Stadium and Entertainment District – of 298 acres in Inglewood, I decided to work with the two FUSE Fellows to develop an idea to build upon the transformative plans of the Ram’s organization and that of the Los Angeles World Airport’s plans to advance LAX’s $5.5 billion Landside Access Modernization Program.
Key to this idea is the fact that the LA Stadium and Entertainment District, which includes just under a million square feet of retail, roughly 800,000 square feet of office space within our stadium district, and eventually, 1,500 residential units in the panhandle of Hollywood Park, is the development of a “smart city” within its campus. If we can develop a plan to continue the “smart city” concept off their campus to broaden and deepen the impact we could have around South LA’s communities its positive impact would be enormous.
I strongly believe this is an idea well worth exploring and I would welcome any feedback, support and engagement if there is an interest from the Coalition network. Thank you.
The Los Angeles Smart City Catalyst Fund
“Smart City”: A City where data and technology are used to improve people’s lives, especially those in historically underserved communities.Proposal: Creation of the “Los Angeles Smart City Catalyst Fund” – a public-private partnership (P3) that will mobilize the financial and technical resources to fund and execute Smart City projects in the Los Angeles (L.A.) county region.
The “Fund” will serve as a:
- “centralized resource” to support Smart City initiatives from local government, non-profit organizations and national consortiums, academia, and other key stakeholders.
- “multiplier” for local government investment into Smart City Initiatives that create economic development opportunities. Private capital will include philanthropic funds, soft capital, such as “in–kind” products & services, and debt and equity finance.
The “Fund” will be modeled after the Smart Columbus Acceleration Fund launched by the City of Columbus, the winner of the US Department of Transportation’s $40 million Smart City challenge. The Smart Columbus Acceleration Fund has mobilized $500 million in private capital to match the public funds.
Outcome: The “Fund” will drive Smart City development in greater Los Angeles by acting as the “catalyst” to bring innovative technologies to address public sector goals around equity, mobility, affordability, sustainability, community health and safety, workforce development, and resiliency.
The “Fund” will utilize fiber and wireless connectivity to provide economic opportunity and improve quality of life for underserved communities. Example of P3 initiatives include:
- Innovation Districts: Detroit has launched an Innovation District in its underserved Midtown region to transform the area into a hub of entrepreneurs and educational institutions, start-ups and schools that create jobs for the region’s low-income residents. Detroit has partnered with Henry Ford Health System and Wayne State University to set up education centers and recruited Quicken Loans to relocate its headquarters. As a result, the Midtown Innovation District is now home to over 70 companies.
- Job Creation from Increased Mobility: In addition to providing bus, car and bike-share services and free Wi-Fi from smart lighting systems, Columbus is partnering with local employers to launching job training in logistics for its underserved Linden Parkresidents. Columbus is also partnering with local banks to create common payment systems that enable cash-based households to pay for critical goods and services. Social services and healthcare providers will use the data collected to enhance their services for the community.
- Health Care and Environmental Justice: In Louisville, a coalition of public, private and philanthropic organizations provided more than 1,000 sensor-equipped inhalers with GPS technology to asthma sufferers to map where in the city poor air quality is triggering breathing problems. Patients and their physicians then used the time and location data from each puff of the inhaler to devise customized treatment plans. In addition, the data led the city to plant a greenbelt of trees that reduced particularly matter pollution by 60 percent in a high asthmatic neighborhood.
L.A. Pilot: The “Fund” seeks to establish the first Smart City pilot in South Los Angeles (South L.A.) that serves as a model of equitable and sustainable economic development that can be scaled and replicated throughout the region. Communities in South L.A. are one of the most underserved regions in California in terms economic, social, environmental and health indicators as ranked by the Health Disadvantage Index. Despite these challenges, South L.A. has a unique opportunity to become a region of equitable and sustainable economic development because of the more than $20 billion being invested within the southwest region of L.A.
This includes:
- The Stadium and Entertainment District project ($2.6b) that is already transforming the site of the former Hollywood Park Racetrack to a year-round sports and entertainment destination for the enjoyment of people throughout Southern California. This monumental project covers 298 acres located two miles off the I-405, one and a half miles off the I-105, and four miles from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). There will be just under a million square feet of retail, roughly 800,000 square feet of office space within our stadium district, and eventually, 1,500 residential units in the panhandle of Hollywood Park.
- LAX’s $14 billion modernization project and L.A. Metro’s $2 billion Crenshaw line project connecting the region’s public transportation system to LAX. Metro plans to make the Airport Metro Connector 96th Street Transit Station in downtown Inglewood into a mobility hub of buses, bikes, and cars.
These projects can transform South L.A. into a pedestrian-friendly employment corridor for some of L.A.’s most underserved areas, such as the districts of Crenshaw and Watts, and the cities of Lennox and Compton. If equipped with free high-speed Wi-Fi, connected vehicle technologies and renewable energy-powered charging facilities, the region’s low-cost commercial space can become home to biotech, finance, logistics, technology, and media companies looking for a location that puts them in close proximity to major freeways, future public transit, and LAX.
To ensure that the region’s residents capture the new employment opportunities, partnerships will be formed with businesses to create job-training programs at nearby universities and community colleges.
Smart City infrastructure will also raise the region’s quality of life by improving local governance. Internet of Things technologies will put advanced analytical tools in the hands of officials to improve city services. Deployment of inexpensive sensors can monitor public health and safety issues, such as gunshots, traffic, and air pollution. The widespread use of smartphone apps and mobile devices will enable citizens and city workers alike to monitor problems and feed the information back to officials and community leaders.
Implementation: The “L.A. Smart City Catalyst Fund” will partner with L.A. government agencies, private firms, and community stakeholders to deploy innovative Smart City technologies, data collection and management tools that enable economic opportunity for the community.
The “Fund” will:
- identify and qualify economic development opportunities along with the city and regional economic development organizations.
- invest in assets that can generate social, environmental, and financial returns on investment that will be reinvested to support Smart City infrastructure.
- work with partners to retain, attract, and support a local innovation workforce.
Key Partners: Private firms, City of Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles, academia and community development organizations.