As a young girl growing up along Ventura Avenue, Alexia spent countless hours riding the bus with her mom and grandmother—every day after school and on quiet Sunday mornings before church. Now she shares that routine with her own daughter. “Having a bus stop on Warner has been very beneficial. Riding the bus teaches her independence,” she says.
Today, Alexia lives at Ventura Housing’s Westview Village, the city’s first public housing community, originally built in the 1950s and recently transformed into 286 modern, affordable homes with supportive services. Walking distance from the busy Ventura Avenue corridor, the neighborhood is surrounded by some of the county’s most active pedestrian, bike, and transit routes.
Since 2019, Gold Coast Transit District has partnered with Ventura Housing to strengthen that access—building 11,000 feet of new sidewalks, adding two miles of bikeways to close network gaps, and upgrading shelters along Ventura Avenue.
Alexia’s grandmother, now 76, still rides the bus to church, to appointments, and to visit family. Together, they make up four generations of women riders who show how affordable housing and reliable transit open doors to opportunity.