
Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
California’s $2 billion Last Mile Federal Funding Account Grant Program (FFA) has announced another $207 million in new broadband grants across Amador, Los Angeles, and Solano Counties.
The FFA program, part of a broader $6 billion California “Broadband For All” initiative, is aimed at boosting broadband competition and driving down costs statewide.
According to the state’s announcement, $61 million in new grants were awarded by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for five Last Mile FFA broadband infrastructure grant projects in Amador and Solano Counties, bringing affordable fiber Internet access to approximately 10,000 Californians.
The CPUC award details indicate that the grants will be awarded to the Golden State Connect Authority (GSCA) and the City of Vallejo to help bring fiber access to 2,278 unserved locations in Amador and Solano counties.
The City of Vallejo will leverage $3.8 million in state grants to complete four different projects laying predominantly underground fiber, with the city retaining ownership of the finished network and Smart Fiber Networks providing last mile consumer-facing service.
On a map, the Crenshaw District is a 2.9 square-mile neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles, home to nearly 30,000 mostly black residents.
In the popular imagination, Crenshaw is the backdrop for the Oscar-nominated movie "Boyz In the Hood" – the real life neighborhood that cultivated the likes of former Los Angeles Mayor Thomas Bradley; rappers-turned-actors Ice Cube and Ice T; and the late rapper/entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle.
But on the streets of Crenshaw, a transformative vision is unfolding – an initiative local leaders describe as “a reparative development project.”
The idea is to inspire and empower neighborhood residents with strategic investments rather than displace them through gentrification. The effort is being led by Destination Crenshaw, a nonprofit community organization established in 2017 to celebrate the history and culture of Black Los Angeles.
The most visible part of the vision is to create the largest Black public art project in the nation along Crenshaw Boulevard, the 1.3 mile spine of the neighborhood – or what Destination Crenshaw describes as an “open air museum” centered around “pocket parks” and a “comprehensive streetscape design” that will feature commissioned murals and sculptures from local Black artists.