Putting Residents First
February 2026
PUTTING RESIDENTS FIRST
Exploring a new way of climate planning … letting community members guide the process from the start
The LA Cool Capital Stack is a program funded by the California State Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program (ICARP). The program focused on four communities across L.A. County, including unincorporated areas (West Whittier and East L.A.) and incorporated neighborhoods (City of Paramount and the Panorama City neighborhood in the City of L.A.). The project served as a test --- exploring a different way of doing climate planning, one based on residents’ lived experiences. The focus is on what communities say they need most — more shade, safer streets, better stormwater systems and access to green space.
The ICARP project has just wrapped up, and we are excited to be able to share the results. Visit the website of our partner Infrastructure Justice For Los Angeles (IJLA) to view the project concepts for East LA, Panorama City, Paramount, and West Whittier. These concepts show how strategies such as tree planting, stormwater management, pedestrian improvements, and more can provide community-serving benefits and enhance climate resilience.
What are LA Cool Capital Stack’s overarching goals? What purpose does it serve?
- Co-creating climate solutions with communities, not just asking for feedback on pre-designed projects
- Building capacity among local community-based organizations, so they can continue climate resilience work beyond this project
- Creating a pipeline of implementable, community-supported projects that local governments can champion and fund in the future
These goals are not just about better projects, but stronger partnerships and trust between communities and local government.
What are smart cities doing to better prepare residents and infrastructure to better withstand inevitable climate impacts?
The communities that are most successful at planning for climate impacts recognize that climate resilience shows up in everyday places — on neighborhood streets, at bus stops, in parks, and along walking routes to school or work. Through this project, residents consistently identified these types of practical needs: more trees and shade along high-traffic corridors, safer walking and biking conditions, better drainage to reduce flooding, and public spaces that stay usable during heat waves. These are not abstract climate strategies. They’re improvements that make daily life safer and more livable now, while also reducing future climate risks.
What are some important “wins” that it’s helped bring to life throughout the state?
Over the course of the project, the project team worked with residents in four highly climate-vulnerable communities — East Los Angeles, Panorama City, Paramount, and West Whittier. Local community-based organizations led 17 engagement events, collecting nearly 450 surveys and hosting hands-on workshops where residents mapped problem areas and proposed solutions.
Those conversations led directly to four neighborhood-specific, multi-benefit project concepts, each grounded in community priorities and technical feasibility. Instead of one-off ideas, the project produced integrated concepts — combining trees, shade, stormwater capture, safety improvements, and public space upgrades — that can move forward into funding and implementation.
How does this work support L.A. County’s overall resilience efforts?
Los Angeles County faces multiple climate risks at once, and those risks don’t affect every community equally. Many neighborhoods already experience extreme heat, limited green space, flooding, and infrastructure gaps — often compounded by decades of disinvestment.
This project gave LA County a tested model for how to center equity in climate adaptation: using data to identify high-need areas, but relying on residents to define what resilience should look like on their streets. The result is a clearer path from community concerns to real projects that can be championed by County departments and partners.
How did Chief Sustainability Office interact with the ICARP program?
The LA Cool Capital Stack project was a true partnership. While the CSO served as the grant holder and helped align the work with County priorities, the project was co-led alongside the Infrastructure Justice for LA Coalition (IJLA), with critical support from Metro. CSO partnered closely with IJLA to shape the project’s overall vision: rethinking how climate-resilient infrastructure projects are developed by starting with community knowledge rather than top-down designs. At the neighborhood level, IJLA member organizations worked hand-in-hand with local community-based organizations to lead engagement, build trust, and translate resident input into project ideas.
Each pairing brought together policy and technical experience with deep local relationships:
- Climate Resolve partnered with Inner City Struggle in East Los Angeles.
- Pacoima Beautiful partnered with Plaza Comunitaria Sinaloa in Panorama City.
- Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust partnered with Comite Pro Uno in Paramount.
- Conservation Corps of Long Beach partnered with Heart of Compassion in West Whittier.
Across all four communities, local CBOs led the engagement on the ground: hosting events, collecting surveys, facilitating workshops, and serving as trusted messengers. IJLA organizations provided strategic guidance, technical support, and coordination. CSO, Metro, and other government partners stayed engaged throughout by reviewing concepts, offering feasibility input, and helping position projects for future funding and implementation.
What did we learn from the community engagement?
The engagement made clear that climate resilience is inherently local. Residents talked about overheated streets with no shade, unsafe crossings, flooded roadways, and the lack of nearby parks or cooling spaces. We also learned that trust and accessibility matter. Engagement worked best when led by local organizations that residents already knew, using multilingual materials and hands-on tools. Flexibility was critical, especially when workshops were disrupted by real-world events like federal immigration enforcement activity. Adjusting timelines and formats helped maintain trust and participation.
Where might we see this catalyzing effort come to life in our region?
One of the four project concepts aligns closely with work that is already getting underway. In East Los Angeles, residents consistently identified the need for more tree canopy. They shared concerns about extreme heat, lack of shade along neighborhood streets, and limited access to greenery. Those priorities closely track an urban greening effort now moving into implementation. A local urban greening nonprofit called Northeast Trees is leading East LA GROW (Greening, Resilience, Opportunity, Workforce Development), a community tree-planting initiative funded through a CAL FIRE grant. The project will plant 500 street trees and 500 trees on private property throughout East Los Angeles. While East LA GROW was planned prior to the ICARP engagement, the community input gathered through ICARP reinforces the importance of this investment. It also helps demonstrate how listening to residents can affirm and strengthen climate resilience efforts already in motion.
What are some things that residents can do to make sure that we keep our communities as climate resilient as possible in face of more intense and frequent impacts?
Residents play a vital role. Staying engaged in local planning efforts, supporting neighborhood greening and safety projects, and sharing lived experiences all help shape better outcomes.
Climate resilience grows strongest when communities stay connected. That means checking on neighbors during heat waves, advocating for safer public spaces, and supporting local organizations doing the work on the ground. Together, these everyday actions help build neighborhoods that can withstand a changing climate.