In the Beginning

The L.A. River could be a vital, beautiful urban river. To resurrect it means to return it not to its past, but to a state of health. A restored L.A. River would be an unapologetically urban river. Chicago, Portland, San Antonio, Denver, Milwaukee, New York, Cleveland: A growing number of cities are re-greening and cleaning up their rivers to redress the urban crises of health, environmental quality and social cohesion that the 20th century created. A 51-mile rehab of such a devastated river would take two decades or more. But if L.A. were to succeed, the river would be the "anything is possible" of a more sustainable L.A., and of river restoration and urban revitalization nationally.

In Them! -- the 1954 sci-fi classic, and the first film set in the concrete box -- gargantuan mutant ants use the L.A. River's storm drains to stage an invasion of the rest of the world. For a sunnier metaphor, how about the 1997 Volcano, in which smart-thinking Angelenos guide the lava into the channel, and the river saves the city? What is the L.A. River? Advocates for its restoration would like to turn it into a major social and environmental asset. A river that shows what a city can do with its river. A river that re-creates the ultimate symbol of what's gone wrong in L.A. as a symbol of things done right. It's hard to imagine a swan in the social and ecological landscape of L.A., but the L.A. River, if restored to health, could be, in the future, an exceptionally lovely duck.

Downtown  From the Narrows to South L.A.

The Valley From Canoga Park to Griffith Park

The Glendale Narrows  From Griffith Park to Downtown

The South  From Downtown to Long Beach Harbor