Lighting and Enhancements Bring New Glow to 7th Street in Downtown
Brand new cafe lighting between Figueroa and Hill Streets will bring a new shine to Downtown L.A. commencing with an Oct. 16 lighting ceremony at The BLOC . A total of 29 cafe light-filled trees will be illuminated for the first time during the event, followed by a silent disco. DTLA Alliance Placemaking and Events Director Gabriel Yeager says the cafe lighting is the icing on the cake of DTLA Alliance's work in the area, which aims to put a holistic focus on the public experience. The new lighting area in the 700 and 800 blocks of Seventh St. are made possible through the combined efforts of the DTLA Alliance, Councilmember Kevin De Leon's Fourteenth District office and the Bureau of Street Lighting and Urban Forestry. Before this improvement, Yeager says a large part of the lighting in the area was down. In addition to the cafe lights, the $12 million ongoing project approved in April 2022, will add "pedestrian and bicyclist safety improvements, including pedestrian lighting, bus islands and trees." With concerns about safety and cleanliness in the area as top priorities, the cafe lighting is meant to draw pedestrians and make it inviting. "How do we address public safety without necessarily [having] armed officers on the street?" Yeager says. "So there's different ways; there's environmental ways that we can kind of deter crime, and lighting is first and foremost on that list." A member of the Los Angeles City Council and a former member of the California State Senate, de Leon was in the spotlight for the City Hall recording controversy, but he's been on a mission to reconnect with voters since then. His district covers El Sereno and Lincoln Heights in the north, to Northeast LA, Boyle Heights and Downtown L.A. DTLA Alliance, formerly known as the Downtown Center Business Improvement District, also has a Halloween festival for kids coming up on Oct. 31. Thursday's 7th Street GLOW: Silent Disco runs from 6 -9 p.m. and offers dueling turntablists DJ Monalisa and DJ YNOT. Attendees can reserve free spots through Eventbrite .
