The group started with sustainability self-education…
In 2019, the City of Los Angeles committed itself to a Sustainability Plan with these targets:
As part of PLAN LA, the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance launched a micro-local educational program. By design, “Cool Blocks LA” aimed to help cultivate plain old-fashioned neighborliness. Plus work through a nine-meeting sustainability and resilience curriculum covering topics from Water Stewardship to Disaster Prep for our block.
April, 2022
Neighbors in 5800 block (Kimberly Fox and Cord Thomas) signed up to co-anchor the effort here on W 74th.
May, 2022
Cord and Kimberly went door to door, inviting households between the cat walk (around 5888) and Piper to attend an informational meeting.
This chart shows the amazing statistics gathered during that first “driveway orientation” session about the Cool Blocks course. From that info meeting, 7 households chose to commit to the Cool Blocks sustainability course.
Each household took responsibility for presenting one of the 9 topics. And together we learned modest household behavioral changes can and do make an impact on home efficiency and budget savings.
October, 2022
When it was time to end the Cool Block course, we agreed: being together had changed how we felt about our new friends and our neighborhood. We wanted to keep building on that! So we’re committed to keep going, as need and inspiration arises.
Our “block” geography…
The Cool Blocks course emphasized keep things micro-local to encourage a strong sense of connection and neighborliness. Going forward, we’ve defined our block as W 74th from Airport (north) to Flight (south)…around 80 homes.
How we work now…
We’ve started as a very informal group of 7 households. We meet 1x a month to talk about positive change we can encourage on the block. We don’t pay dues. There are no bylaws or formal structure. When a project needs funding, we pass the hat.
Our purpose…
Step one of the original Cool Block course was the task of creating a Statement of Purpose unique to our little W 74th team. Today, we still hold by these ideas.
Our Cool Block Purpose: to enhance quality of life for our community through these values and actions:
Strength through sharing our ideas, knowledge and energy, plus agreeing on goals that can be realized through collective action.
Resilience through proactive vigilance, interaction, improved security and better emergency preparedness.
Stewardship through reducing use of water, energy and plastics while minimizing waste.
Prioritizing communal benefits by supporting the local eco-economy and sharing resources.