And with a growing population, there will only be more demand for continuing education in this city. That education will include classes that offer skills to enable that population to work and live in this city.
The Garfield campus — which offers free classes focusing on computer, business, language and office skills — is a hub in South Glendale for those seeking to improve their lives with education.
As they improve their lives, Glendale will improve. A strong education system is vital to that improvement.
An investment such as expanding the Garfield site will foster it.
Without such an investment, potential students will look outside of the area for education alternatives.
An expanded campus is a way for the college to compete with those alternatives.
Certainly, as is the case with this plan, a new classroom building would be a better environment for learning than the mobile bungalow, now parked on the south portion of the campus.
In this plan, bungalows will be replaced with new classrooms, laboratories and a multi-purpose room.
Built in 1994 as an extension site for the community college, the Garfield Campus must grow if it is to meet the demands of a growing city. Those demands include a growing need for parking and, in South Glendale particularly, a growing need for park space.
It's true, a greenbelt of trees and walkways taking up part of what is now a street wouldn't necessarily be a park, but it could be vital public green space available for residents and students.
As for parking, it's clear from a look at the block on a weekday afternoon that the street is congested with traffic. More parking could help reduce the congestion nearby residents worry about, and the newly created green space could provide safer and more efficient ways of getting around on the campus.
It is also worth noting that the expansion goals envisioned for the Garfield site include input from South Glendale residents and businesses.
In 2005, interviews with area residents and merchants found that more parking, a community police center, a joint-use library and open, green space were at the top of the list.
Garfield's expansion seems like a good start, as well as a way for the college to offer more comprehensive services to another part of the city.
Ultimately, the expansion proposal is a chance for various interests in the community to work for Glendale's good.
College officials would have to get the approval of the City Council to close the street and they will have to work with property owners to convert properties into parking areas. And ultimately, the public will have to sign off on this.
But that's just the kind of community effort and partnership that can make Glendale better and allow its education institutions to thrive.
