Doug Suisman

With limited exposure to the Middle East, Doug Suisman has drawn on his experience designing public spaces and transit systems for Los Angeles to help him with a daunting task: envisioning the new state of Palestine. In years past, the idea of an independent and economically viable Palestine seemed too far-fetched to contemplate.

With limited exposure to the Middle East, Doug Suisman has drawn on his experience designing public spaces and transit systems for Los Angeles to help him with a daunting task: envisioning the new state of Palestine. In years past, the idea of an independent and economically viable Palestine seemed too far-fetched to contemplate.

In the middle of the well-groomed block on South Ridgeley Drive--a self-assured, composed neighborhood in the Miracle Mile district--there is a two-story Monterey-Colonial duplex for sale. The postcard the Realtors mailed out to advertise the property presents an image of half a house. On view are a pair of plantation doors flanked by shutters opening onto a pink-hued second-floor balcony. The first floor is entirely hidden behind an 8-foot hedge.

What good news that the much loved Lawry's complex is to be converted into a Los Angeles River Center (Nov. 20). The project will not only save a landmark building and gardens from destruction, it will convert them from private to public use. Even more significant, the center itself, to be administered by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, is a major step toward the reclamation of the Los Angeles River as one of the city's major natural and...

Since I read Greg Goldin's article about hedges, I have been completely bewildered while driving around the city ("The Paradox of the Hedge," Home Design Issue, May 22). Just how many ghastly frontyards can the citizenry tolerate? Homeowners, you should be ashamed! I'm serious. If we can't legislate that weedy, sunburned lawns be plowed under and replanted with attractive, drought-resistant foliage, then they should be banished behind Indian laurel. Furthermore, to those who are intimidated by a neighboring hedge, perhaps if you made a sincere effort to get to know who lives behind it, you would discover what an embracing environment such places can be. If your worst suspicions turn out to be correct and the inhabitants are thoroughly unrepentant louts, well, wouldn't you prefer not to see them?

On Friday nights, the Central Court at Los Angeles County Museum of Art is transformed into an extraordinary happening. Tables and chairs are laid out, and food and drink. The museum and its shop stay open, and a free jazz concert is open to all. People come to listen, shop, dine or stroll through the sculpture garden, soon to be expanded to connect with the adjacent grounds of Hancock Park.

In beautiful downtown Burbank, the road to recovery was paved with brick. Hoping to lure shoppers back to the flagging downtown, city leaders worked from the ground up by installing jazzy brick-trimmed sidewalks and crosswalks along once-deserted San Fernando Boulevard. The result: "It's changed from like a street in Mayberry to like a street in Westwood," said Mitch Siegel, manager of the Book City bookstore. "I still notice the bricks myself. They look real nice."

In beautiful downtown Burbank, the road to recovery was paved with brick. Hoping to lure shoppers back to the flagging downtown, city leaders worked from the ground up by installing jazzy brick-trimmed sidewalks and crosswalks along once-deserted San Fernando Boulevard. The result: "It's changed from like a street in Mayberry to like a street in Westwood," said Mitch Siegel, manager of Book City. "I still notice the bricks myself. They look real nice."

As part of the Community Redevelopment Agency's design team for the Grand Avenue streetscape plan, I welcome The Times' coverage of the project ("Grand Change for the Avenue?," by Nicolai Ouroussoff, Dec. 19). Our team--which includes landscape architect Laurie Olin, lighting designer Francis Krahe and artist Kim Yasuda--believes that on public projects, informed debate is essential.

A billion-dollar development boom is underway in the Civic Center, fueled by the need for new or upgraded government office space. The city, county, state and federal governments all have plans for the Civic Center area. Close to 40 projects are under discussion for the next decade or so, said Dan Rosenfeld, assistant general manager of the city's Department of General Services, charged with managing the city's real estate.