North Park Residents and Qualcomm Volunteers Take Back the Alley

Media Arts Center San Diego’s (MACSD) initiative, Take Back the Alley, kicked off on May 14 in North Park with nearly 50 community members and Qualcomm volunteers. Take Back the Alley started in 2011 and aims to help redefine and transform alleys into safer and friendlier areas of congregation.

Community members and volunteers painted fences and light posts with bright and inviting colors, cleaned up brush and gardened. Aside from creating positive community spaces, MACSD Director Ethan van Thillo, said that the clean alleys provide children places to “hang out and play.”

There will additional renovation events in North Park on May 15-16 and City Heights on May 29.  Radio Pulso del Barrio, Bread & Salt and Roots Factory will be hosting an event in Logan Heights on May 16, featuring a variety of free activities, including exercise classes by Lululemon and Stay Classy, an open art gallery inside Bread & Salt and live music.

Community members are encouraged to participate in this effort to improve San Diego’s public spaces, with volunteer opportunities to include painting, gardening  and construction. For additional information and to register people can visit the Take Back the Alley website or the event’s  Facebook page.