Hello Friends,

It has been quite some time since I last wrote with an update. It has been a very busy summer for me and I haven't been able to give the project my full attention. That is not to say that I have forgotten or given up on the rooftop, or the civic center as a whole. Quite the opposite. At many of our meetings we have discussed outreaching to the community in order to find vested individuals who would be willing to volunteer to help create a beautiful civic center park. While the city has been reluctant to allow us access to beautify the rooftop there have been several important changes that have occurred to the rooftop park and the civic center in general.

When we began Urban Paradise two years ago there was little attention to the civic center. The city attempted to close the main library due to the library's leaking rooftop. Since then, they have recently spent $2 million in removing 10 million pounds of soil from the roof. They have also added a sealant to prevent leaking. On the east side of the park, where there were giant agaves; there is now a gated, white painted surface, perfect for outdoor performances. On the west side, near city hall, the office of sustainability has planted native plants, the same idea we proposed 2 years ago. The public has not been informed of this and I'm not exactly sure why they are planting native plants in a park no one has access to, but on the bright side, they are planting natives, like we suggested.

As for the rest of the civic center, the city has made some major improvements, they have added a dog park in Lincoln Park, inviting more resident to hang out in the civic center. They have also provided outdoor restrooms, so people are less inclined to "go" on the walkways. Also, the office of sustainability has planted edible box gardens and native grasses all around the plots at the civic center. The Urban Paradise plot sits proudly across the Abe Lincoln statue and is the first plot you see when entering the main library.

The plants look beautiful; I invite you to stop by and visit to look at them. I finally have received access to water and was able to water the plants during these hot days. The plot can use some signs and this winter will be a great time to plant some more natives. Other than that, it is truly self-sufficient and does not require much care or maintenance while still providing beauty and habitat, just as we proposed. If you walk by you can see our first plot, on Ocean and Pacific, alive with volunteer plants that grew after we transplanted the garden. That plot is beautiful and lush, because we planted those seeds. At the plot we now have in front of the library people often stop and stare at the beautful drought resistant garden that is home to birds and butterflies. Along the perimeters, as I mentioned, the city has planted native grasses. When we started, the civic center was mulch and weeds in a neglected public area, but now, it is definitely beginning to look a lot like a urban paradise.

While we still have yet to find a resolution for the rooftop, there is some hope and common ground we can begin to work on. The mayor has told me to submit a proposal outlining the vision for the civic center. If you are available to help, please let me know.

Second, the office of sustainability has offered more space in the civic center, if you would like to do another planting or adopt a plot, please let me know. They are open to allowing public art, so if you are an artist or know of an artist who would like to contribute artwork to the civic center, please let me know. This is a great opportunity to offer other community groups the chance to adopt a plot as well.

Also, the downtown residents have formed a coalition of various neighborhood associations called the Downtown Residential Council. This neighborhood association is actively looking to create green spaces downtown. If you are familiar with powerpoint, or putting videos on youtube or facebook, and can help out, please help. Thank you for your continued support. If you would like to be more involved in any way, please contact me. This is a community project, requiring helping hands and open hearts.

Wanted:

• Help with Facebook and website
• Pictures, pictures, pictures
• Videos
• Uploading videos to youtube
• Help with creating presentations to community groups
• Help with creating a proposal
• Volunteers

Thank You,
Elliot Gonzales
Urban Paradise Coordinator
(562) 786-3874

We are exactly one week away from the 1st Annual Long Beach Green Festival May 9th in the East Arts district of Long Beach (around 1st and Linden) and we really want our booth to represent Urban Paradise and our vision of a green Long Beach. So far we still need more volunteers to sit at the booth during the day.

Volunteers will: Explain Urban Paradise and our mission to public, answer questions, pass out flyers, sign people up on the e-mail/volunteer list, and take donations. ( Our hopes are to get 2 volunteers per shift)

Time slots open:
8:30am-12pm (setup)
4pm-7pm (2)
7pm-10pm (cleanup)

Time slots filled:
Thomas 12pm-3pm
Heidi 2pm-4pm
Diana 7pm-10pm (cleanup)

We want to decorate the table with succulents and native plants so if you have any potted plants we can borrow for the day bring them tomorrow or the morning of the event. thanks!

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The Green Festival is still looking for people to make signs. Contact Ana at merrybluesart@gmail.com if you have any questions or if you have a sign or materials they can use.
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Hope to see you all next Saturday at the Green Festival (9am-10pm) or tomorrow at the meeting! Have a great rest of your weekend :)

Come garden this Sunday!

URBAN PARADISE

Next Meeting Sunday, April 19

3pm @ Ocean and Pacific (in front of our plot)

-We will be gardening and planting...making our garden look beautiful
-Talking and brainstorming artistic ideas/projects we can incorporate into our existing garden
-Discussing our role in the Green Festival and future projects we want to start
COME JOIN US!!!

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Urban Paradise presents at the Art Theater Monday, April 27... after the 5pm and 8pm showing of "FUEL". This movie will be playing all week at the Art Theater on 4th street between Cherry and Junipero. It is an environmentally conscious movie so we have been asked to present our organization to the audience! Come show your support by coming to the movie and sticking around to hear Elliot and Rachel talk about the goals and vision of Urban Paradise. We are also looking for someone interested in sitting at the table taking down volunteer's names and handing out flyers. Let us know at oururbanparadise@gmail.com! Check out FUEL at http://thefuelfilm.com/

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Urban Paradise will have a booth at the Long Beach Green Festival Saturday, May 9th 9am-10pm. We will need of lots volunteers to help run the booth so let us know if you can swing by for an hour or 2 to come help out and spread the word. This Sunday we will come up with some fun things to have at the booth that will share Urban Paradise's vision so e-mail us or come by Sunday if you have any ideas!
A little about the Green Festival...To bring together local green groups, celebrate the environment and encourage ecological awareness in the public through commerce, government, community organizations and the arts. For more info or for participation forms, go to http://www.greenLB.org.

No meeting Sunday + Green Festival

Hey All!
Just letting you all know there is no meeting this upcoming Sunday April, 5 for Urban Paradise. Elliot and I are both unable to make it but we are still busy bees putting together a portfolio for the city and can't wait to discuss the direction of Urban Paradise at the next meeting. We're on our way to having an amazing logo and feel the time is right to see the bigger vision of Urban Paradise. I'll let you know when the next meeting is.

And now...down below you will see the latest and greatest news about Long Beach's first annual Green Festival May 9th! Everything is still in the works and Elliot (the director) is in need of lots of creative minds and help. See you when we return!
-Rachel
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The Green Long Beach festival is coming up May 9th! There has been a lot of buzz and many questions about the Long Beach Green Festival. I am happy to announce that website with all of the participation forms and links to access more information is now available online.Check out the Green Festival website at

http://longbeachgreenfestival.org

Let's Open our Park!

Next Meeting this Sunday, March 22

3pm @ Ocean and Pacific (in front of our plot)

Hello Everyone!
Happy Spring! It's Elliot and Rachel here...co-directors of Long Beach community organization Urban Paradise. I know you haven't heard from us in a while so we're here to give you a couple updates on the project. The garden plot on Ocean and Pacific is looking beautiful; flowers are starting to bloom and the garden is really taking shape. I just went up and explored the rooftop gardens and was amazed to see that it was completely green! It's all filled with weeds and other spring time plants that have sprouted up in the past couple weeks. Even though it's not our water-wise vision of the garden it's still pretty impressive to see nature doing it's thing without any help from human hands.
We've been laying low the past two months as far as community meetings to focus on the political side of things. Things are getting a bit sticky and it's obvious that the city doesn't want to budge in terms of re-opening the rooftop park after 15 years of neglect. Here is the catch though. Urban Paradise was informed at the very start of this project that the person that bequeathed the land to the city of Long Beach wrote a deed requesting that the space always remain a public park. This is why we believe they always leave one gate open to the park even though it is supposed to be closed. In addition, the rooftop park is currently being maintained with public funds (tree trimming, etc.) but we still have no access. If we can find this deed in writing (which we are working on right now) it may very well be that this park belongs to the public and should be open to us and should have been open to us for the last 15 years. It is our time as the Long Beach community to claim this park as ours so that this amazing place can be utilized!
We are so close to re-opening this rooftop park as an Urban Paradise for and by the community of Long Beach...We just need some help from YOU! Come join us at our next meeting to help out.

• We are still looking for a logo for Urban Paradise so bring anything you've got this Sunday or e-mail it to us!
• Are you or someone you know a graphic designer? We are looking for anyone that can help us put a portfolio together for the city council and make it look nice :)
• We also need a new flyer! Come out this Sunday or e-mail us if you are interested in creating a new flyer for Urban Paradise.
• Secretary needed to take notes at meetings :) It would help us out a lot.

We miss seeing you all...Stay cool Long Beach

Peace and Love, Elliot and Rachel

Meeting postponed until Monday

Hello,
Well isn't this rain just wonderful? Yes it's not as nice as the usual 70 degree California weather but now all of our baby plants on the plot can have some water.

Sunday Meeting postponed for Monday, February 9th, 6:00-7:30pm
@ Viento y' Agua on 4th and Termino

URBAN PARADISE update: Elliot and I realized that it's back to the organizing and planning for Urban Paradise. Over the past couple of months we have been more than blessed to have the community actively involved in working on the plot and the growth of Urban Paradise and we are realizing that our next step is to finally present to the city. This will take putting together a power point presentation, putting a final packet together we can leave with Suja Lowenthal and her staff, and preparing a presentation for her. Although Elliot and I will be diverting some of our focus from the community to presenting to the city, the presence of Urban Paradise volunteers and its growth is more important than ever. We encourage all of you to come to this next meeting to discuss the future of Urban Paradise and share ideas on how we can make this a reality.

See you Monday!
-Rachel

Time to Plan and Organize...

Hello!
We had an amazing meeting last Sunday so many thanks to all that came out to help on the plot. We hand crafted some cute signs to identify the different areas of the plot, added more California native plants, and lined the back wall with tree twigs to bring a more natural feel. Try and drive/bike/walk by when you can to see all the new additions (or I'll be putting up a photo soon). On Monday and Tuesday of thise week we mett with Matt Lyons head of the Long Beach Water Department(LBWD), one of the LBWD's landscapers, a representative of the Surfrider Foundation, and the REA (redevelepment..) of Long Beach. All of the meetings were very very successful. Urban Paradise got Matt Lyons' full support and a very strong interest in the project from the Surfrider Foundation. The REA is also very enthusiastic about the project. Although we have made these connections we keep hearing the same thing. We cannot move forward or use these connections until we have the approval from the city for the rooftop. So this is now our main focus; Presenting to the city of Long Beach and Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal so Urban Paradise can gain access to the Main Library rooftop gardens.

Let's discuss our next plan of action...
This Sunday Meeting Febrary 1st
3pm in front of the plot on Ocean and Pacific

Urban Paradise Logo Competition:
If you haven't noticed Urban Paradise lacks a logo so lets design one! Everyone is welcome to submit a logo and is not limited to just one. Bring your design to the Sunday meeting!
Logo requirements:
Must say Urban Paradise
any plants incorporated must be California Native