the river’s future course With the allocation of as much as $80 million dollars of park and water bond money by Governor Davis in his new budget to create a Los Angeles River Parkway, we are finally going to see some major new riverfront parks - most notably a 60 acre combination flood detention basin and riparian restoration in the Taylor Yard - to go with all the little pocket parks that have sprung up alongside the river in Atwater and Frogtown. We may also see some concrete coming out of the river and its tributaries for the first time, either in the Tjunga Wash, the Arroyo Seco or along the main channel near its confluence with Verdugo Wash, or where it flows past the Taylor Yard. In the immediate future the battle will continue over the future of the old railyard between Chinatown and the River; and in Long Beach between the River and the 110 Freeway. The L.A. River Bikeway will continue to grow, first connecting the San Fernando Valley and Pasadena with downtown Los Angeles, then connecting L.A. with the cities of southeast L.A. County and the San Gabriel. But whatever happens with these individual projects, the river’s transformation from the neglected backyard of the L.A. basin, to a central gathering place for communities along its route, will continue. See you down by the river! —Lewis MacAdams FoLAR Founder & Board Member