People in cities have a love-hate relationship with alleys. The Elmer Paseo in North Hollywood, California, is a case in point. It was choked with trash and tended to be underwater when it rained. But it also served as a main pedestrian route through the neighborhood, especially for middle school students. A few years ago, the surrounding neighborhood underwent a "retrofit" to reduce flooding and improve residential street facades, but the alleys were left out of that project. Neighborhood activists, aided by the nonprofit Council for Watershed Health, or CWH, began to clamor for improvements to Elmer Paseo-and to modify the original designs.
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