This past Tuesday, Fullerton City Council voted to permanently shut down the Walk on Wilshire. On January 31, the street will reopen to vehicle traffic.
Join the Peaceful gathering today, Saturday, January 25, 2025. Meet your neighbors and fellow community members. Bring your Save WoW signs.
“We are deeply disappointed that Mayor Jung and Council Member Valencia voted against the will of over 70+ local businesses and an overwhelming majority of residents and visitors.
Thank you all for your incredible support over the past six months. While we are deeply saddened by the loss of Walk on Wilshire, we are immensely grateful to have stood alongside our community members in the fight to protect this special space.
Throughout this journey, we had the privilege of meeting incredible neighbors, students, visitors, PokemonGo players, and business owners who share a deep love for our community. We remain committed to supporting those who brought the same energy and care to Walk on Wilshire.
Though the vote did not go as planned, we hope this loss inspires you to keep shaping the future of Fullerton into a more vibrant, connected, and walkable city. Stay tuned for updates on our future endeavors.”
Save Walk on Wilshire is an entirely volunteer group of Fullerton residents partnering. With residents and Fullerton businesses interested in keeping Fullerton walkable, family friendly, and vibrant to help save WoW! localorganizations,
For Questions or Suggestions email us at savewalkonwilshire@gmail.com or DM us on Instagram @savewalkonwilshire.
Save Walk on Wilshire is deeply concerned by the actions of our elected officials in Fullerton throughout the past year. To read more about Tuesday’s City Council meeting and background information on what may have influenced it, we recommend reading:
• Fullerton Councilmembers Jung & Valencia Kill Walk on Wilshire; Angry Audience Walks Out (Fullerton Observer)
• Council Member Valencia Returns Campaign Contributions Amid Controversy (Fullerton Observer)
• Downtown Fullerton’s Walk on Wilshire set to expire at end of month (LA Times)
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Categories: Arts, Downtown, Local Events, Local News
I guess the main issue would be access to the parking lot. Dunno what could be done to have both.
Hi Leo! Didn’t realize you were back in town! That Villa del Sol entrance to parking could be an issue with closing down the whole street – but is not an issue with keeping the 200-foot existing WoW as is. Left as is it doesn’t impede that or any other parking lot. However keeping it as is wasn’t one of the choices though it should have been.
I will miss this place so, so much.
ED COMMENT: Amy – hard to give the 200-foot WoW up. The WoW committee worked so hard and really made the case to keep it open but I noticed keeping that part and improving it was not considered as a choice. Maybe those wanting that should contact their councilmembers to get that on the agenda before the city and those businesses who made investments in parklets spend the money to destroy it and make it ordinary again.
Your idea is not wrong and it’s always worth it to try. That said, the likelihood of success is low. Dunlap will recuse himself. Jung and Valencia will vote it down yet again. The odds of them changing their mind are extremely low.
It’s worth a shot but these two seem to have made up their minds, and all the reasons they gave for voting it down were just smoke screens to obscure their real motivation for their stance.
I think the only way they will change their mind is if Bushala ‘allows’ them to, which is not likely.
ED comment: This is not the first time a council has gone against the public. Councils in past came down on wrong side of cleaning up McColl dump site, appproving the tall as Matterhorn Flour Mill, saving Coyote Hills, saving the Fox Theater, building the SRO, saving the Museum Center and park and plaza, and more recently the UP Trail. Residents were persistent and finally won those battles. Sometimes we give up too soon.
Thanks for the inspiration. I’ll keep trying.
Of note, we didn’t win UP Trail because Jung, Whitaker, and Dunlap suddenly decided to do the right thing. They deigned to authorize it because staff revised the plans to reserve almost half the trail to future commercial endeavors that supposedly don’t exist. That is, they basically donated a public easement to Bushala, and Bushala must have ‘allowed’ them to vote for it.
It is not the win we were hoping for to allow commercial activity along a nature trail. It was legalized corruption.
I’m not interested in similar ‘compromises’ for WoW that embolden and essentially give a handout to the Fullerton’s biggest welfare queen.
“It is not the win we were hoping for to allow commercial activity along a nature trail. It was legalized corruption.”
I wouldn’t go that far. I don’t like Bushala’s outsized influence. But business interests are still community interests, and I have no problem with inviting business to participate in public spaces, provide concessions, etc.
Our representatives just need to do far better job of balancing the interests of all stakeholders.
It seems like that balance has tilted too far to those spending too much on political influence in our city to the detriment of actual voters.
It’s crazy how badly the city council wants downtown to fail, and always has. Let’s go back to the 90s when downtown was a place you just didn’t go at night, right? More salons and tattoo shops, heaven forbid we try to develop and actual neighborhood people might want to stroll and explore with their family.