High-school teams present East El Segundo redevelopment plans; student ballot selects Period 2 project as winner

Student teams presented competing, multi-year visions to remake East El Segundo during the City’s Civic Day, outlining housing, transportation, sustainability and cultural strategies and answering questions from council representatives and peers.

The event opened with roll call and a presentation rundown before five class projects—Periods 4, 2, 3, 1 and 5—delivered videos and live summaries explaining proposals to add mixed-use housing near transit, reduce surface parking by reusing underutilized lots, and build parks, markets and performance venues to activate the East Side.

Period 4 described rezoning focused on walkability and a ‘missing middle’ housing strategy: “Our objectives for housing are to increase foot traffic to support small businesses and public events, decrease car dependency… and address the missing middle of housing,” the Period 4 lead said. Their plan included mixed-use housing near Boeing and along Mariposa, underground parking under some mixed-use buildings, maker-space conversion of unused lots, and phased implementation (site preparation, bidding, interior design, tenancy).

Presenters across groups emphasized maintaining big employers to preserve tax revenue while converting underused parking and surface lots to housing or community uses. Period 2’s pitch emphasized creating a Nash Street main-street hub, mixed-use buildings to capture local spending, and incentives for businesses; presenters cited survey and revenue estimates to argue the project could boost local taxes.

Transportation and public-space proposals recurred in several presentations. Committees proposed separated bike lanes, rentable electric bikes and scooters, a transit hub at North Nash and Alsaguenna Boulevard with bus storage, and a tram loop to link shopping and employment centers. On transportation, the Period 4 transportation lead said the transit hub “will also have a bus depot here to have the buses kept overnight,” and cited survey support for added bus stops.

Sustainability measures included living roofs and walls, expanded solar on school and corporate rooftops, composting stations, bio-wells to capture stormwater, and solar-powered streetlights. One presenting team proposed using recycled water to irrigate new parks and noted tax incentives such as the federal Investment Tax Credit could lower solar installation costs.

Officials and classmates pressed students on implementation details. Multiple questioners asked where displaced parking for major employers would be accommodated; a presenter replied they anticipated taking “around 30% of the lot space” in some underutilized areas while adding multi-story parking structures and relying on a mix of preserved employer parking and new garages. Other questions focused on maintenance for bio-wells, advertising strategies for events (social media, bus ads, flyers), liability for autonomous vehicles (students said operators would be liable), and upfront funding for additional emergency services such as a new fire station.

A classroom voting process followed the presentations. The moderator explained first-round ballots would not allow students to vote for their own period; ballots were tallied in a public count. After the first round of student ballots, the moderator announced Period 2 had earned a clear majority and was declared the contest winner.

The meeting closed with thanks to the students, city staff and the cable office for coordinating the Civic Day project. The presentations and the students’ poll-based research highlighted recurring tradeoffs—retaining large employers and tax base, finding space and funds for new housing and parks, and funding operations and maintenance for new public infrastructure—without producing binding city decisions during the session.