Meet the New Los Altos Village Neighbors Group

What if everyone in Long Beach wanted to gather together to make a tangible difference in our city? Where would you start? 

Wouldn’t you start where you live? Wouldn’t you start by teaming up with the neighbors around you who care about your neighborhood too?

This seems like the simple, logical first step to making a difference in the community. Making a difference litterally begins at your door step with your neighbors.

We Love Long Beach would argue that this is why neighborhood associations and groups are so vital to the communuity. They are the primary groups of neighborhood leaders who care about where they live and want to make their community even better. 

The challenge is that many neighborhood groups in our city and around the country think that they need to first focus on neighborhood problems and issues in order to make a difference. We wholeheartedly disagree.

We Love Long Beach believes that we need to focus first on our relationships with our neighbors. We need to begin to get to know our neighbors and over time build trust with them. It is primarily our relationships that are at the core of building safer, healthier, and happier communities. It is not that we don’t care about problems and issues, but it is not where we start. If we start with relationships with our neighbors and not the problems and the issues, we lay a healthy foundation for generations to come and all of our neighborhoods would flourish.

With that said, we are excitied to announce the Los Altos Village Neighbors Group. This is a group that wants to lead with building strong relationships and connections, and for We Love Long Beach that is music to our ears. We are excited to know that some of their lead team are also We Love Long Beach block leaders.

Here is a brief interview with the Los Altos Village Neighbors Group. The interview and introduction is by Scott Jones, the Executive Director of We Love Long Beach.

 

Why did your team start the Los Altos Village Neighbors Group?

There was a void in Los Altos Village for connecting neighbors and planning events for the neighborhood to create a stronger sense of block and neighborhood identity with our neighbors. This pocket of Long Beach has such a rich history with the Los Altos Shopping Center, Whaley Park and CSULB that many residents don’t know about, that we wanted to share.

Who is on the lead team currently for LAVG?
Our lead team is currently Michele “K” Kreinheder, Joe Mello, Holli Applegate, and Richie Brand

What is the the vision and purpose of the group?

We have a motto – perserving our past, connecting the present, and building our future. We think that captures our vision and purpose pretty well.  We aim to connect the neighbors of Los Altos Village while staying true to every part of that motto. Our logo, which is on t-shirts and flags that we sell, is a throwback to the vintage Los Altos Village logo and the historical significance of the Los Altos area.

Why is neighborliness important to your group?

Neighborliness is important because it brings people together.  A neighborhood like Los Altos Village is a community where all its residents are proud to live. If our group can help better facilitate neighbors connecting with one another, caring for one another, and encouarge neighbors to use their gifts, skills, and resources for the well-being of the greater community, then we will have accomplished our goals as a group.

What are the geographic boundaries for Los Altos Village Neighborhood Group?

Our group boundaries are Palo Verde to the East, Atherton to the South, Clark & Los Coyotes Diagonal to the West and the 405 freeway & Willow to the North.

How do neighbors in Los Altos get connected to your group?

They can visit and join our Los Altos Village Neighbors Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LosAltosVillageNeighbors

You can email losaltosvillage@gmail.com to get involved or attend events like our upcoming Ice Cream Social @ Whaley Park on June 24th.  We’ll also have a booth set up from 11am-5pm at Whaley Park during Beach Streets University on April 29th wherem we will be selling our Los Altos Village t-shirts and flags!  All proceeds go to the group and support ongoing neighborhood activities.