Reviving the Los Angeles River

The Los Angeles River is one of the ugliest, oddest things I've ever seen. It'll interesting to see if these plans actually happen:

Angelenos at a series of 18 neighborhood meetings are suggesting ways to turn an ugly flood-control channel into a civic joy. Visions for greening the riverway include terracing and planting trees on the concrete walls, creating an inner-city beach for the East Los Angeles barrio and opening restaurants like those on the San Antonio River Walk that anchor the Texas city's $1.2 billion-a-year tourism industry.

"Reinventing the river will transform the urban landscape of Los Angeles," says Arthur Golding, an architect and river-improvement advocate. "Nobody's talking of restoring the river to pre-European-settlement times. But I think a lot of concrete can come out."

It will take a lot of effort to make that ugly channel of concrete look better.