As part of the Y-Plan collaboration with Rowland High, students from Mr. Fisler’s 11th grade US History classes walked around Rowland Heights and were asked to think about questions related to active transit, safety, and walkability. They were joined by planners from LA County Regional Planning, an engineer from Public Works, an Urban Planning professor from Cal Poly Pomona, and LA County Fourth Supervisor Janice Hahn’s Office. The students stopped at a busy intersection to talk about transit infrastructure and mixed-use development and then continued their walk to an inactive storm drain channel where they discussed activating trails for multi-purpose recreation.

After eating lunch at Library Park in Monrovia, the students heard a presentation from Monrovia planners on the Historic Downtown Commercial District in Monrovia. The students then went on a walk and were asked to think about scale, urban design, public spaces, mixed used development and public art.

To end the day, the students toured the Duarte Bike Trail and heard from local community group, ActiveSGV about the SGV Greenway Network. As part of the discussion, students were asked to consider places in their community where they might propose multi-functional recreation trails that provide opportunities for bike riding, walking, or riding a horse.

The field trip was the first of a two day immersive planning lesson for the students. Through this experience students learn to think critically about the built environment and think about solutions for improving their communities. Stay tuned for more updates on day 2!