Inspiring Ideas for Solving L.A.'s Biggest Challenges

Following up on their comprehensive look at the challenges facing Los Angeles along eight key indicators (education, income and employment, health, public safety, housing, environmental quality, arts and cultural vitality, and social connectedness), the Goldhirsh Foundation has organized an ideas competition to gather "the most innovative and creative ways to tackle Los Angeles’ biggest problems."

The two-week pubic voting period for the challenge - called My LA2050 - began today, with 279 entries vying for one of ten $100,000 grants "to make your idea a reality in 2013."

Some of the notable entries include:

• Backyard Homes: Sustainable, Flexible, Affordable Housing for LA. A proposal by cityLAB-UCLA to create a prototype of an innovative infill housing type that could provide a substantial supply of new housing while maintaining "the beauty of the Los Angeles home-in-the-garden pattern."
• “Hey, I’m Walking Here!”: A Campaign Celebrating Pedestrians in the City of Los Angeles. Which seeks to increase awareness around the benefits of walking and build momentum towards establishing L.A. as a great walking city.
• Smart Growth for All: Affordable Housing Near Public Transit. Which will ensure equitable transit-oriented development that provides affordable housing opportunities for residents with low incomes around major transit stops.
• LA Open Acres: Transforming Empty Space Through Collaboration and Empowerment. Which would work to transform the city’s "thousands of acres of vacant and underutilized lands into vibrant green, public places."