New pedestrian-only Broxton Plaza aims to revitalize Westwood

Broxton Avenue, the site of the future Broxton Plaza, is pictured. The plaza will begin construction in September and aims to make Westwood a more pedestrian-friendly space. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Katy Nicholas
Aug. 29, 2024 7:19 p.m.
Broxton Avenue will close to vehicle traffic starting in September to make way for the Broxton Plaza, a pedestrian-only area with programming, lawn games, outdoor seating and free Wi-Fi.
By September, Broxton Avenue will only be accessible on foot, marking the beginning of a two-year trial period initiated by the Westwood Village Improvement Association that has the potential to become a permanent change.
Michael Russell, the executive director at the WVIA, said the association has planned events and programming to draw crowds to the new plaza, including a Cinema Under the Stars event with live music, raffles, activities and a 20-foot inflatable screen, as well as a vintage clothing market every third Friday of the month.
[Related: Cinema Under the Stars kicks off summer movie series in Westwood]
“It’ll be fun for families and students to come out and spend some time in the plaza, grab some food from the local restaurants or coffee, and just spend more time here,” Russell said. “It’s a safe space where people can sit without worrying about traffic or cars.”
Russell said the organization is working on installing two pedestrian access gates by the Broxton parking structure and by Kinross Avenue, and it will then launch the new plaza in conjunction with the UCLA Westwood Village Block Party in September. He added that he hopes the new open space will encourage students to spend more time in the Village, seeing it as a hang-out spot as opposed to just a place from which to get food delivered.
As a draw to students, there will be free Wi-Fi and outdoor study spaces to increase dwelling time in the Village, Russell said. Steven Sann, chair of the Westwood Community Council, added that he hopes these features encourage students to branch out from libraries and coffee shops and use the plaza as a study space.
Bobby Zole, the owner of Splatterz!, an art studio on Broxton Avenue, said he is excited to draw more people into the Village so they can try new businesses.
“It’s going to reinvigorate the area and bring people back to how it was back in the ’80s and ’90s, of how Westwood was the center of entertainment in Los Angeles,” Zole said.
Sann said this project has been over 50 years in the making. He added that there was a time when Westwood was as popular as the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica with bowling alleys, movie theaters, bookstores and a large amount of foot traffic around town, and he hopes that this plaza is the first step to bringing Westwood back to that position.
“What Westwood had been in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s was this major pedestrian-oriented walking zone where people would come out on evenings and weekends and walk around,” Sann said. “I think now that the Village is doing this Broxton Plaza, hopefully we can recapture some of that and enliven Broxton Avenue.”
Although some business owners are skeptical about how the food delivery business will adjust to the new plaza, Russell said the WVIA is working on employing more delivery robots so that there are fewer single-driver delivery cars delivering to students who live nearby.
The Broxton parking structure will continue to be available to visitors of the new plaza, according to the WVIA website, offering the first two hours free so that people can take their time and explore all Westwood has to offer.
“These have been steps that have been taken over the decades to really beautify Broxton and to make it more and more of an inviting place for pedestrians, and that’s been the goal,” Sann said. “The final step is to fully close the street to vehicles. … The hope is that this will really activate the street.”