Vote for 2015 L.A. Streetsies: Livable Streets-Friendly Businesses

[poll id=128]

It's time to vote for your choice for the 2015 Streetsie award: Business of the Year.

Voting starts right about now and will close on Tuesday, January 5, 2016 at noon. Reader voting accounts for one-half of the scoring this year, with one-quarter going to SBLA staff voting, and another one-quarter going to a SBLA board vote. Vote for in all six Streetsie polls (some coming later today and tomorrow) at this link.

Without further delay, here are our nominees for Livable Streets Friendly Business of the year:

City Fabrick – City Fabrick is a nonprofit design studio promoting progressive urban design. They are behind many of the exciting pro-walk, pro-bike, and pro-park initiatives in and around Long Beach, including the planning for the removal of the Terminal Island freeway.

Cityworks Design - Cityworks Design is the urban design and architecture firm that spearheaded Metro's Connect US Action Plan which calls for an extensive network of core walk and bike linkages plan for all of the historic neighborhoods around Union Station. They are also working on a host of urban design, bicycle, pedestrian, and rail planning projects, from Metro's future West Santa Ana Branch light rail to Metro's LAX Airport Connector.

Hulu with CycleHop - Santa Monica based entertainment company Hulu stepped forward to sponsor Santa Monica's 500-bike Breeze bike-share system, the first large scale public bike-share in Los Angeles County. Hulu promised an annual commitment of $675,000 for at least five years. Hundreds of "Hulu-gans" turned out for the inaugural ride-through. Breeze is run by CycleHop, a technological innovator with the first fleets of smart-bike bike-share.

Jesus Bike Shop - Sometimes businesses contribute to the well-being of the community just by opening their doors. Nowhere is that more true than in the case of Jesus Bike Shop on Central Avenue in South L.A. Santiago Galvez' tiny shop not only serves the needs of every conceivable kind of cyclist that moves through the area, his ability to service fixie bikes has made his shop a magnet for Black and Latino youth. Having grown up in South L.A., Galvez is acutely aware of how few safe places there are for youth to hang out and how hard it can be to for them to find positive role models. So, he is more than happy to let them crowd into the shop to watch videos on their phones, hang out, be around bikes, lend an occasional hand when he gets busy, and ride with him to meet up with Critical Mass.

KAOS Network - The KAOS Network, founded by artist, filmmaker, educator, historian, and innovator Ben Caldwell, is not technically a business — it’s an artspace — but it is one of the anchors in the transition to a more vibrant pedestrian community that Leimert Park Village is currently experiencing. Caldwell, the force behind the Leimert Park Art Walk, is one of the original stakeholders behind Leimert Park Village’s 20/20 Vision Initiative. He co-leads tactical media courses (with USC’s Francois Bar) that, among other things, re-purpose obsolete street furniture, has been deeply involved in the People St. plaza project, has a bike repair station outside his door, and hosts everything from workshops on traditional African music, dance, and arts, to the underground hip-hop artists of Project Blowed (which just celebrated its 21st anniversary), to the more eclectic musical stylings of the monthly Bananas event put on by local rapper and emcee Kyle "VerBS" Guy. Caldwell's creativity and willingness to experiment helps ensure Leimert Park Village never stops evolving.

Honorable Mentions: The Bloc is including a new 7th Street Metro subway entrance in its under-construction mixed-use makeover of a lackluster downtown shopping mall. LA-Más furnished streetscape on Reseda Boulevard's Great Streets re-do. RAC Design Build has been a big supporter of a safer Glendale-Hyperion Bridge, and worked to preserve the Riverside-Figueroa Bridge earlier, too. Spoke Bicycle Cafe showed that biking and walking are good for business - by opening their cafe on the L.A. River bike path.

Past Winners: Espacio 1839