City Streets Picked for Makeover Treatment : Renewal: Each of eight blighted Los Angeles areas is expected to get a $250,000 federal windfall. Residents will suggest the improvements to be made.

Hoping to create a more friendly, “Main Street” ambience along some of Los Angeles’ grittiest thoroughfares, Mayor Richard Riordan on Thursday announced an infusion of federal funding to help build new storefronts, plant trees, install benches and make other improvements.

The Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative will begin with eight main drags in the city, allowing residents and business people to recommend the improvements they want to make.

Each of the eight areas is expected to receive $250,000 this year and up to $2 million next year from the Federal Transit Administration for the revitalization efforts.

The program is the latest attempt by the Clinton Administration to show support for Los Angeles and California--considered crucial to the President’s reelection chances--without a massive expenditure of federal funds.

Riordan announced the program near Virgil Avenue in east Hollywood, one of eight areas that is to receive the federal money and one that has already elected a local board to help decide how to spend it.

Riordan called the program “the beginning of a neighborhood renaissance that will sweep throughout our city.” He stressed the importance of everyday people deciding how to improve their neighborhoods.

But activists in the neighborhoods--many of whom have organized block clubs and watch groups for years--said their organizations can only go so far without the government money.

“Everyone is excited that we are finally getting the attention,” said Geoff Saldivar, head of the Rampart Rangers watch group in the Virgil Avenue neighborhood. “That is what is creating the buzz.”

However, he said improvements along Virgil--with its worn thrift shops, car repair outlets and other small storefronts--will have to be made carefully so as not to exacerbate problems with loitering and drug dealing. Benches that might be welcome in some neighborhoods could become roosting spots for drug pushers, he said.

“We will have to be very careful to make sure that we get things that are pedestrian-friendly, but also practical for the neighborhood,” Saldivar said.

Deputy Mayor Rae James, who conceived the program, said the city hopes to receive other federal highway funds, state grants and donations from private firms. Gannett Outdoor has already committed to installing uniquely designed bus shelters in each of the neighborhoods, she said.

But James conceded that most of the funding is yet to be guaranteed, despite the apparent goodwill of the Clinton Administration.

“We have to keep pushing for the money,” James said.

Designated for the projects are: Virgil Avenue in east Hollywood, between Melrose and Lockwood avenues; 1st Street in Boyle Heights, between Boyle and Evergreen avenues; Figueroa Street in Highland Park from Avenue 50 to Avenue 57; Jefferson Boulevard in South Los Angeles from Arlington Avenue to Crenshaw Boulevard; Crenshaw and Leimert boulevards in the Leimert Park section of Southwest Los Angeles; Magnolia and Lankershim boulevards in North Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District; around Sunland Boulevard and San Fernando Road in Sun Valley; Vermont Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles, between Vernon Avenue, and 54th Street and neighboring Vermont Square.