Trying to Make It Work
Susana Benavidez
Children play in the manufactured snow at Pershing Square's holiday celebration.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — A hectic weekday schedule usually prevents parents from spending the amount of quality time they would like with their children. I’m no exception to this rule. With the holidays near, this past weekend I decided to spend some quality time with my girls exploring the festivities and activities Downtown offers to families and kids.
Friday evening, my girls performed at their school - the Lumbini Development Center located at the Higashi Honganji Temple in Little Tokyo - which produced a mix of excitement, confusion, and expectation. We arrived and saw harried parents rushing their children to classrooms to prepare for the stage, with others scrambling to find prime seats for the show. Settling in as the entertainment began, we watched from the crowd as amusing toddlers shimmied and jammed to the Holiday music.
As I surveyed the room, I was astonished by the impressively high attendance of parents. Almost all of the 60 children enrolled at Lumbini attended the holiday performance, even though the event took place an hour after the school’s closing time.
Soon after the performances, we sat down for drinks and snacks, greeted and smiled at other parents, and let the girls run wild. However, we didn’t meet any new parents, too shy to approach and strike up a conversation. We had fun nonetheless and enjoyed the sense of community that is developing in Downtown.
Saturday afternoon, we walked over to Pershing Square to explore the Holiday festivities offered by the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks.
Children played on a large imported patch of snow, which created a bit of winter ambiance in the park. Shouts of glee filled the air with a refreshing energy as friendly snowball fights began and others sledded down a man-made track dug into the snow mound. A snowman bouncer was another diversion with a shorter wait for kids wanting to jump up and down. Tables set up on the perimeter of the park offered arts and crafts.
While cruising around with girls in tow, we craned our heads towards a loud shrieking sound and saw 30 kids, all kneeling on the floor around a puppet stage, laughing like hyenas. The free puppet show had the full attention of young children and parents alike. In the background, kids ran cheerfully around the park while skaters glided around on the ice rink. After running back and forth awhile, smelling the aromas from food vendors and people watching, we decided to continue our quest for novel, kid friendly entertainment.
Walking onward to our next destination though, I wondered out loud why Pershing Square doesn’t appear to have someone who plans events like this year round. A full schedule of similarly well-designed soirees would go a long way in bringing locals, families, and tourists together. It would help reinvigorate the somewhat jaundiced and unattractive hodgepodge that is the Pershing Square I’ve grown accustomed to seeing on most days of the year.
After a twenty minute walk north past the 101 freeway, our journey for fun brought us to the Art Form Studio in Chinatown. On the second Saturday of each month, the salon offers arts and crafts (and food!) to children from 3 - 7pm, freeing up their parents to glam up a bit and get a haircut. I recently cut my locks at Salon Eleven, but I filed it for future reference. Where else can you go and get your hair done while kids make new friends and entertain themselves free of charge?
A gray and chilly Sunday dampened our enthusiasm to go outside until the sun crept up and broke through the clouds around noon. We packed a snack and made our way across the street to Grand Hope Park. As I wrote this article, children ages three to seven kept pouring into the playground with their parents.
I tried to make eye contact as I sat typing away but it was as if everyone was in an island, blocking social interaction by keeping their face down or up in the sky. Whatever they found fascinating on the ground or the now graying sky I found frustrating; how can I meet other parents that live in my neighborhood when they seem oblivious to my existence?
As we finished our evening by walking to L.A. Live for the light show and then back to Ralphs for ice cream, I realized just how much I don’t want to leave Downtown for some place more “conventionally kid-friendly.” I want to make this work. I already have a play date on my calendar and I’ll soon meet up with complete strangers: parents from DTLA Kids, and hopefully some future playmates for my girls (a brave measure, since I shy away from meeting new people).
I want to make long-term Downtown living work, and to do that I need to make Downtown parenting work.
This Week's Kid-Friendly Downtown Picks
7th+Fig
Take Free Pictures with Santa every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Noon - 2pm (and Saturday, Dec. 20). Pets are welcome, too!
Enjoy live holiday entertainment every Friday and Saturday, noon - 1:30pm.
Kids Club Make Holiday Cards with the Children's Museum of Los Angeles, Saturday, December 20, Noon - 2pm.
Las Posadas at Olvera Street
December 16th - 24th, 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM. Entertainment and Pinata Breaking at 6:30pm. Procession from 7:30 - 8:15pm. Free! Champurado, Pan Dulce, Hot Punch and Plenty of Candy!!!
Susana on December 17, 2008, at 04:34PM – #1
we sat dance for drinks and snacks
we sat DOWN for drinks and snacks ..before anyone else catches it :)
Eric Richardson (@blogdowntown) on December 17, 2008, at 04:55PM – #2
Some days I'm not a very good editor. Fixed.
out my window on December 17, 2008, at 10:22PM – #3
Pershing Square doesn't do special events like this all year round because they only spend their millions of dollars on the ice rink. How much does an event like the ice festival weekend cost? How much does the ice rink cost? Pershing Square is a community park that is a mystery to the community.
Eric Richardson (@blogdowntown) on December 17, 2008, at 11:10PM – #4
I believe the city's contribution to the ice rink is about $142,000. For a program that draws 350,000 or so visitors (according to a 2007 board report), that doesn't seem like a very bad deal.
headupintheair on December 18, 2008, at 07:03AM – #5
I'm one of those guilty of having my head up in the air or down on the ground whenever I'm walking around with my kid. I tend to think that there isn't anyone friendly that wants to associate with me and my son, but if you say there's people with their smiles locked and loaded, ready to reach out, then I will try to make eye contact from now on and catch one of those friendly parents out there looking to make downtown a more kid-friendly environment. Thanks for taking the time to write this helpful blog with your busy schedule!
Susana Benavidez on December 18, 2008, at 08:20AM – #6
Maybe I'll wear a sign that says "friendly parent". :) After the Holidays (depending on the interest of participants), I can plan a meet and greet for parents and their children. We have a club room at Market Lofts that could accommodate a potluck for everyone to socialize. Not only is it important for our kids to meet new friends in their own neighborhood but it's a great way to make friends of our own. We have a lot of single friends, which is great, but sometimes we want to go out with couples that have children of their own and understand the schedule juggling act.
Steve on December 18, 2008, at 09:11AM – #7
Very cool article. I work but don't live downtown. Articles like this will make me more seriously consider moving downtown since I have kids myself and am concerned about the "kidfriendlyness" of downtown.
Vatay on December 18, 2008, at 10:07AM – #8
I'm going to visit Pershing Square real soon. I've heard great things about the ice rank. It's a great place to take the kids.
Jason Li on December 18, 2008, at 01:28PM – #9
I'm glad to see more kid-friendly articles here, especially about activities.
I was also at the Lumbini Development Center Friday night, watching my girls perform. I wasn't quite sure how many other kids at the school live in the area.
A potluck would be a great idea for families in the area to connect.
I think the biggest challenge for young families living in downtown (that don't live near chinatown) is the public school. If I can't get my kids into a charter school when my kids start, I may have to move out.
number for hire on December 18, 2008, at 01:44PM – #10
Numbers is my game and I asure you 142k is soft. Lighting decorations alone must be in the 100k range. Where can one look to get a line item on the cost the City pays for the rink?
Eric Richardson (@blogdowntown) on December 18, 2008, at 01:49PM – #11
Here's the Council File on last year's appropriation:
http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=08-1094
Remember that the $142,000 doesn't include money generated by skating fees, just the city's contribution.
Tom on December 18, 2008, at 02:05PM – #12
Great article Susana. I too want to have kids downtown and not have to bolt for the burbs right away. I think it can be possible to raise children downtown, but we do need to do more as far as schools and open space. Keep up the good work. I may join you on one of those play dates some day!
out my window on December 21, 2008, at 11:25AM – #13
142,000 is a joke ... come on. The kids snow weekend which I am sure is not part of the 142k probably cost 75k by itself. The ice rink and the festivals are not the problem. These activities are good all the way around for downtown and the city. The problem is that the rest of the year it takes an act of congress to get a light bulb changed. The park did an end ofsummer film festival which was paid for by the DTNC because R&P didn't have money for this community project. The downtown night concerts had fair talent, no real stage and dj lighting because the comunity is to beleive the park has no money. The art show area had no lights for weeks so no one could see the art work because the park had to buy lights. Pershing Square has lots of money but it is being used for things R&P feels is important. It seems anything the community thinks is important needs to be paid for by the downtown comunity. Get ready to buy a dog park pet owners.
Juanito on December 21, 2008, at 07:26PM – #14
Pershing. What did he do? Massive genocide in the Philipines got him miles ahead, MacArthur as well. Twelve or thirteen years later, 'Black Jack' gave my grand dad a battlefield commission in Mexico. It wasn't a battlefield, actually. All they did was chase Pancho Villa all over the place and never caught up with him.
The city really ought to rename the place to what it was formerly known as: Central Park. An image makeover would help, above and beyond whatever changes yet to be conceived (artistic & magical, hopefully).
number for hire on January 05, 2009, at 12:11PM – #15
142k is what the Dept. pays for the ice rink. Lets discuss what Pershing Square our community park spends. Lets say
100k lights 25k on the banners 50k on music ?K on the R&P staff to run the place then advertising and print cost and on and on and on. Eric get real... The truth is no one in the community knows how much money is being spent on Pershing Square downtown activities for the resident. I was amazed to hear that the Neighborhood Council had to pay for the film series because Pershing could not afford to rent the equipment. It is rediculas. If the Parks people can spend what I would estimate as 250K on one program they should be able to afford to buy a darn film projector for the park and community use. They should be able to get staging and more talent like the Gin Blossoms. Now if they are shooting their bank roll on the ice rink the community needs to have a talk with these folks. We need quality programs all year long.