Building for positive local change
SAM URETSKY
Starting as a native New Yorker, with a brief stop in the Ohio, Sam Uretsky has made Larchmont Village his home for past 26 years. “It was good fortune to be here. The weather is too intoxicating,” said Uretsky. He feels lucky to have found this neighborhood through his wife’s cousin, who lived in Windsor Square. Upon moving here, Uretsky and his wife, Barbara, bought the house they still live in.
Disney recruited him in 1999 to organize their broadband internet group. He stayed for a couple of years, built the group he was asked to build, then left to be on his own and start his company.
Uretsky ran his own management and consulting firm, dealing with media marketing. It’s no wonder his emails are so easy to read and act on! His work took him around the globe. He liked being on his own, without the bureaucracy he experienced at Disney. He retired gradually from 2014 to 2017.
Uretsky’s involvement in the neighborhood started in 2020, when a house on his block was being rented out by event organizers hosting large, loud parties. As he said, “It ignited something in me. I have a great love for the neighborhood and wanted to make a difference.”
Maneuvering through numerous agencies that were needed to make a change—Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles City Council Districts, Los Angeles Dept. of Building and Safety, Larchmont Village Neighborhood Association (LVNA), Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Association (GWNC)—opened his eyes to the local organizations and government departments he didn’t realize were surrounding him.
His goal was to shut down the party house. It was illegal and intolerable to live near. His persistence and dedication to the project paid off when the house was finally shut down by the city just under two years later.
Now that his passion for helping the community was lit, he worked with a neighbor who had started a text chain for his area. She and Uretsky merged their efforts and formed Lucerne Arden United (LAU). According to Uretsky, “[It’s] the best organized neighborhood in L.A. The model should be rolled out throughout Larchmont.”
LAU is comprised of 150 neighbors within six blocks that all look out for each other, have block captains, help with babysitting in a pinch and have neighborhood walks with their senior lead officers. These walks have strengthened the fraught relationship between police officers and residents in recent years, according to Uretsky.
In 2023 and 2024, Uretsky was instrumental in helping North Plymouth Boulevard shut down its party house, which had plagued their neighborhood with crowds, reckless driving, noise and trash. This time, it was a much shorter process. Having done it once, he knew what was needed and what had to be documented to help agencies cease its operation.
Uretsky sits on the Transportation Committee of the GWNC and served on the board of the LVNA for a few years. He’s also recently formed two advocacy groups for the area. One is Fight Back!, an informal group that deals with state bills along with local security issues. The other is Reboot Larchmont, which is working to make positive changes to the housing and real estate landscape ofupper Larchmont Boulevard. With Reboot Larchmont, he has connected with the Livable Communities Initiative to create Larchmont 2030 and inform neighbors about a way to thoughtfully expand housing and retail (see Page 1 for more information).
But what Uretsky is most proud of is the creation of the Larchmont United Neighborhood Association (LUNA), a neighborhood group for Larchmont Village formed with other members of his community earlier this year. As president, he said, “LUNA is growing daily; we have monthly events that build neighbor-to-neighbor connections.” The group recently organized a couple of happy hours at Tu Madre on the Boulevard that he described as “joyous and hours of fun.” He believes that the more residents are engaged in the area, the better the neighborhood can be.
“It all plays into the fact that I love the community,” said Uretsky. “This is a wonderful, special and valuable part of L.A.”
Category: People
