On Saturday, Oct. 1, the 9th council district of Long Beach was host to Activate Uptown, a free open-streets block party that featured live musical performances, food, activities, giveaways and various booths.
The streets were cleared along Artesia Boulevard, between Atlantic and Orange avenues, for residents to walk, bike, skate and play. Part of Myrtle Avenue was still open to traffic.
“Residents didn’t know what to expect because we’ve never done anything like this before— close down Artesia Boulevard and make it into a destination for a day,” said Vice Mayor Rex Richardson in a phone interview Tuesday. “The residents were pleasantly surprised, and I was very pleased at the level of excitement from everyone involved… everyone really demonstrated their gratitude to the community for putting together an event like this.”
[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-06-at-2.05.18-PM.png” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”Residents were able to conceptualize any type of visual on the open pavement on Artesia Boulevard as part of a chalk-art activity this past Saturday.” captionposition=”right”] The event was sponsored by Richardson’s office, SCAG’s Go Human Campaign, California Endowment, Clean Transportation Funding – MSRC and Frontier Real Estate Investments.
Event organizers targeted Artesia Boulevard— which is frequently referred to as the Artesia Corridor— in an attempt to “activate” the area and the Uptown district.
Activate Uptown featured an assortment of food trucks, vendors, face painting, chalk art, live mural displays, three venues of live music and a basketball court for exhibition play.
The three music venues were: Village Fest— hip-hop; Uptown Rock & Soul Stage—rock ‘n’ roll; and New Blues Stage— blues.
Featured artists included Bernie Pearl, Seatbelt, Bootleg Orchestra and MC Supernatural.
MC Supernatural exemplified his freestyle abilities in his performance— “Right there, seeing the symbol of Batman, with the mic in my hand when I do my thing. Yo, I fly in my plane like I was Bruce Wayne.” He ad-libbed his dialogue based off his own observations of the audience.
Basketball exhibition games were on display and featured competition between youth, the Long Beach Firefighters Association and the Southern California Fraternity League and athletes from the Venice Basketball League in a dunk contest.
Setting up basketball in the middle of the street was initially an idea that was met with bewilderment, according to Richardson. But, the vice mayor insisted it was a vital element for engagement.
“If you really want people to come to this event, you’ve got to do programming that the people like— soccer, basketball— youth sports,” he said. “Kids love that stuff. So, what did we do? We put basketball in the middle of the street.”
[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-06-at-2.05.12-PM.png” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”Basketball exhibition games were on display and featured competition between youth, the Long Beach Firefighters Association and the Southern California Fraternity League and celebrities in a dunk contest on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Activate Uptown event along Artesia Boulevard. ” captionposition=”right”] Tasha Hunter, Uptown Business District manager, said in an email interview Wednesday that local residents were enthused with the way the event turned out.
“Activate Uptown was everything we wanted it to be and more,” Hunter said. “There was something for the entire family… Residents of all ages looked happy. After the event was over, I checked in with many of the businesses along Artesia, and they thanked us for doing this and hoped it could be something that’s done on a regular basis.”
Businesses indeed flourished that Saturday, according to Richardson.
He said there was an estimated 10,000 people who attended and participated in the event, which led to an increase in foot traffic for local merchants.
“The businesses loved it, and they want us to do it more,” he added.
Hunter said she recalled many residents at the event marvel at the businesses they never even heard of— such as the Reptile Factory and G Wear Clothing.
There were even residents who took the opportunity to get a haircut at one of the vendor booths along the open street.
“Events like this are important because we spend a lot of time in motor vehicles focused on the road,” Hunter said, “but when we take to the streets on foot or via bicycle, we typically get to experience much more and discover new things and businesses.”
She hopes Activate Uptown can become an annual event for the district.
Richardson said that when the community joins together in a cohesive manner, then it can always lead to something beneficial like the Activate Uptown event.
“I think when you take the time to put away stigmas or false expectations of a community, and you look at it for what it is— people— I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised every time,” Richardson said, “and that’s the story of the Artesia Boulevard Corridor and the people of north Long Beach.”
The vice mayor reiterated his point about the district of Artesia Boulevard and uptown. He affirmed that north Long Beach’s “renaissance” has already started.
“For many years, north Long Beach had been considered the next place we’ll get to,” Richardson said. “We’re always like, ‘Oh, yeah. We’ll get to that next.’ Right? So, I think with things like the opening of the Michelle Obama Library or Activate Uptown, I think it’s sending a statement that north is no longer next, north is now. That renaissance that we’ve been waiting for is already here. And there is more than enough to be excited about in this part of our city.”
