The free, wireless service now provided in downtown Pershing Square in Los Angeles will be extended in downtown Los Angeles into the Bunker Hill, the financial district, the historic core and Little Tokyo areas under additions and changes to existing contracts approved prior to Christams by the Board of Commissioners of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA).

Subject to City Council approval, separate contracts totaling $225,000 will enable new content and marketing materials to be created for ExperienceLA.com, an Internet site that provides cultural event content and cultural destinations within CRA/LA project areas.

New Wi-Fi equipment will be mounted in surrounding downtown areas and Wi-Fi security cameras will be placed in Little Tokyo and Angels Knoll Interim Park. "For the past couple of years, the CRA/LA has been using ExperienceLA.com to spread the word about our cultural activities in our redevelopment project areas and ExperienceLA Wi-Fi has been providing free Internet service at Pershing Square," said CRA/LA chairman William H. Jackson. "We've demonstrated that these new technologies have a place in development work and we're providing further funding and expansion to build on that beginning."

Specifically, the contract changes provide for a $115,000 increase to a total $417,286 contract with Civic Resource Group for web-related services and collateral marketing material. The firm will add additional content for the ExperienceLA.com website and Wi-Fi portal entry pages for the expanded areas.

In addition, JoVoGo Communications, which mounted Wi-Fi radios and equipment in Pershing Square, will, under a $165,000 contract renewal, purchase and install the additional equipment need to reach new target areas.

The equipment will enable free Internet access in those neighborhoods and provide Wi-Fi surveillance cameras at Angels Knoll Interim Park and in Little Tokyo in partnership with the Little Tokyo stakeholders and the Los Angeles Police Department Central Division, which will receive the camera feeds and monitor them. The equipment will also allow for an expansion of public Wi-Fi in Little Tokyo, as provided by Little Tokyo Service Center.

The CRA/LA's involvement with new technologies began as an attempt to promote various neighborhoods and attract visitors to CRA/LA redevelopment areas. As part of the effort, the CRA/LA created content for ExperienceLA.com. Funded by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) in partnership with other agencies and cities, ExperienceLA.com went online in 2003.

The website is a tourist- and transportation-oriented site providing information about events throughout the region and the use of public transportation. The ExperienceLA project was recognized by PC Magazine as being among the best city guides on the Internet. The content provided by the CRA/LA contains information on redevelopment project areas and activities, plus Wi-Fi "entry pages" for CRA/LA and City of Los Angeles demonstration public Wi-Fi projects at Downtown's Pershing Square and the Van Nuys Marvin Braude Constituent Center in the San Fernando Valley.

In coordination with the City of Los Angeles Information Technology Agency, Department of Water and Power and Department of Recreation and Parks, the Agency set up free, public Wi-Fi Internet service at Pershing Square and the ExperienceLA Wi-Fi entry page for Van Nuys.

Expansion of public Wi-Fi into Bunker Hill, the Financial District, Historic Core, and Little Tokyo will allow new partnerships with Los Angeles Police Department, the Downtown Business Improvement District, the Historic Core Business Improvement District, and possibly the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation. KW