[dragonsky]

Project will let Pasadena venue shine
The city's convention center expansion includes a restored ballroom and designs that showcase the 1932 Civic Auditorium.
By Nancy Wride, Times Staff Writer
February 21, 2007

The $121-million expansion of the Pasadena Convention Center will include new buildings but will also showcase one of the city's treasured landmarks: the 1932 Civic Auditorium.

The ornate Italian Renaissance building, which opened 75 years ago this month, is the centerpiece of the current expansion project. It is expected to be completed in the spring of 2009.

The expansion will add 55,000 square feet of exhibit space and include new entrances on each side of the auditorium that will better frame the building.

"These new … flanking buildings will lead the eye and draw your attention toward the Civic Auditorium," said Sue Mossman, executive director of Pasadena Heritage, which promotes historic preservation. "The current buildings are these bunker-like, very low-scale odd buildings. So getting rid of those is definitely a plus."

Some see another bonus in the plan.

The project calls for relocating the city's ice rink from the rear of the auditorium so the original ballroom that graced "the Civic" until 1976 can be restored, said Michael W. Ross, chief executive officer of the city organization that operates the site. During the big band era, dancers glided across the ballroom's wood floors.

"Saving it was a high priority for us and a low priority" for others at the start, Mossman said of the old ballroom, "but it has ended up being a high priority for everybody now, so that's cause for celebration."

Over the years, the Civic has served as the city's cultural anchor.

The 3,000-seat theater, whose walls and ceiling are adorned with hand-painted murals of mythological Greek figures, has played host to concerts, Broadway musicals and numerous Hollywood awards shows. Live radio broadcasts of ballroom dances in the 1940s made Pasadena a household name across the country.

On Tuesday, TV host Don Cornelius met with Richard Barr, general manager of the auditorium, about the March 10 taping of the "Soul Train" awards show.

From the beginning, the building has been a source of great pride.

On its grand opening on Feb. 15, 1932, The Times noted the devastating economic period in which the Civic was dedicated.

"This city scored a hit on old man depression's jaw tonight when more than 3,000 residents celebrated the formal opening of Pasadena's new $1.3 million Civic Auditorium," the newspaper story stated.

The article goes on to say that "the completion of the auditorium culminates a twenty-year fight on the part of local organizations to obtain an adequate convention headquarters."

The city's need for more convention space is what drove the current expansion project, Ross said.

As Pasadena competes with cities such as San Jose, Sacramento and Long Beach for more lucrative conventions, he said, it must have larger and more modern exhibition and meeting spaces. A Sheraton hotel is on the site.

In addition to two new exhibit halls, the expansion project will include a new 25,000-square-foot ballroom and the restored 17,000-square-foot ballroom. A new parking garage also is planned.

The city hopes the project will generate an additional $24 million annually for local merchants.

"It will allow Pasadena to grow stronger as a destination both for work and for tourism," Mayor Bill Bogaard said.

Preservationists are pleased with how things turned out. Early expansion plans were far too modern, Mossman said, and Pasadena Heritage strongly objected.

The current project will better spotlight the Civic, she said.

"There is very little Italian Renaissance architecture in Pasadena from that time, which is one of the reasons [the auditorium] is so exceptional," Mossman noted. "So keeping that a showcase is what makes sense for the whole project, makes it worthwhile."

[LosAngelesBeauty]

^ I love Pasadena! I'm also very excited about the new Pasadena Playhouse expansion that Frank Gehry is designing PRO BONO!

[dragonsky]

From chop suey to Chiu Chow
By Charles Perry, Times Staff Writer
February 21, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2007-02/28021020.jpg

AT Mission 261, in the century-old building that once served as San Gabriel's first city hall, waiters in suave gray suits are taking orders for steamed chicken breast rolled around bamboo pith and custard-filled dumplings shaped like tiny rabbits — a very au courant sort of dim sum in Hong Kong.

Now that a quarter of a million people of Chinese ancestry live in this area, our local Chinese food scene is buzzing with energy. From Monterey Park and the Alhambra-San Gabriel-Rosemead corridor to Rowland Heights and beyond, suburban Chinese neighborhoods are home to a lively, ever-changing crop of restaurants and talented chefs.

FOR THE RECORD:
Restaurant history: An article in Wednesday's Food section on the history of Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles said that after the original Chinatown was torn down, the New Chinatown shopping district opened in 1939 in a formerly Mexican American neighborhood. In fact, it was built in Los Angeles' Little Italy. —


"Trends among Chinese restaurants often mirror with what is going on in Taipei, Hong Kong and, to a lesser extent, mainland Chinese cities," observes Carl Chu, author of "Chinese Food Finder: Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley." A recent wave of overseas-owned restaurants, including hand-pulled noodle shops, sweet shops and seafood houses, he says, "illustrates a focal shift from the mom-and-pop eateries of yesteryear."

To say the least, it wasn't always like this.

And so it begins

OUR first Chinese restaurants, probably opened in the 1860s, when L.A. was a cow town of about 5,000 inhabitants, didn't have all the rare ingredients available now. There were no trained chefs, either — the cooks were just men who had come here to be gold miners or railroad workers and decided to open chow-chows (cook shacks marked with a traditional yellow banner).

L.A.'s original Chinatown had been a single block of cheap lodgings just south of the Plaza. In the 1870s, it started growing and spread eastward but in 1882, anti-Chinese zealots managed to get a national Chinese Exclusion Act passed. As a result, Chinatown's population stagnated at around 2,000 from 1890 to 1920.

The earliest restaurant known by name is Man Jen Low, simply because it survived down to 1987 (by then known as General Lee's Man Jen Low). In the 1950s, its menu gave the restaurant's founding date as 1890.

What sort of restaurants were they? Many were humble noodle shops, but Yong Chen, co-curator of the exhibition "Have You Eaten Yet? The Chinese Restaurant in America," which has appeared around the country in recent years, says they weren't all holes in the wall: "Some 19th century restaurants were very grand inside, with carving and traditional furniture. Others were just a booth extending into the street from the shop front.

"Very early menus show shark's fin and bird's nest, important luxury items for the Chinese and the Cantonese in particular. But they quickly found that Americans weren't interested."

Early on, in order to please non-Chinese customers, restaurant owners developed bland, often sweet versions of Chinese dishes. Somewhere along the line, some cook introduced an inoffensive stir-fry he called chop suey (from Cantonese tsa sui, meaning various pieces): meat, celery, onions and bean sprouts, well doused with soy sauce.

"Chop suey is in a way American," says Chen, "but it is also Chinese peasant food — a very simple dish, like a way of using leftovers." He points out that you can still find it on Chinese menus, because many Cantonese restaurants have continued to serve cautiously Americanized food to non-Chinese.

In the early 20th century, Los Angeles started "discovering" Chinese food. Newspapers published chop suey recipes, over the years working in Chinese ingredients such as bean sprouts, "suey" sauce and "Chinese potatoes" (water chestnuts). But outside Chinatown, such ingredients were hard to get, and one newspaper article suggested that readers talk their Chinese laundryman into selling some of his personal stash.

By 1904, L.A. already had its first Chinese food snobs — eager, smug and tragically less sophisticated than they hoped. A non-Chinese society woman was said to visit a chop suey joint where many of the customers were hookers and opium smokers. She would sweep in wearing a white opera cloak and a corsage and imperiously proclaim, "Pigs! All of you, pigs!" apparently miffed that the diners did not appreciate the gastronomic masterpieces they were eating. She genuinely loved the cook's chop suey, putting away two or three bowls a night. But after all, it was just chop suey, not at all a dish for connoisseurs.

As another sign that Chinese food was joining the mainstream, Chinese American restaurants started opening in the downtown business district around 1905. The menus were literally Chinese American — you could get steak or roast chicken there as well as chop suey. But Chinese dishes must have been an attraction, because that year a downtown French restaurant started advertising that it had chop suey.

Chinese immigrants and their descendants had dominated vegetable farming in Los Angeles since the 1870s. In 1909, because of ill treatment by the old produce market, Chinese growers transferred their business to the new City Market at 9th and San Pedro streets downtown. A neighborhood known as Market Chinatown grew up along San Pedro across from the market. Merlin Lo, whose family has run the Hong Kong Noodle Co. on 9th Place since 1913, believes there had previously been two Chinese restaurants at its address.

During the 1920s, there was a general craze for ethnic food, and more Chinese restaurants opened than any other kind. For the novice, their menus offered set dinners with, say, egg drop soup, chow mein, a meat dish such as pork stir-fried with snow peas, rounded out with fried shrimp, rice and egg foo yung.

If you felt adventurous, there would be grander dishes such as almond duck, sweet-sour pork and soy sauce chicken; fish was rarely served. Many places offered a mix-and-match scheme: Pick one item from column A, one from column B and one from column C, all for a single price. Though the food was still Americanized, the dining public was tolerating novel ingredients such as yard-long beans and "white mustard" (bok choy).

In the 1930s, Hollywood started patronizing the top Chinatown restaurants, and you might see Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet, Walt Disney or the Marx Brothers showing off their chopstick skills there. In gossip columns and movie magazines, Tuey Far Low was mentioned alongside showbiz hangouts such as the Brown Derby, Sardi's and the Coconut Grove. (One attraction was that it stayed open till 5 a.m.)

Celebrities also flocked to Man Jen Low and the Dragon's Den. Mae West's favorite was Man Fook Low in Market Chinatown, one of the first places to feature the dumplings we now know as dim sum.

These were all grand places — Tuey Far Low resembled a pagoda — but serious Chinese food lovers also sought out humbler eateries. A 1937 story about an unnamed restaurant (probably Yee Hung Guey) recorded that "day after day and night after night, people who could afford to eat in luxurious and lovely places drive down into one of the dingiest parts of town, stand in line in a queue which stretches around the corner, slowly shuffle their way in through the kitchen and finally, after half an hour of standing in line, rejoice at being allowed to take their places on stools at oilcloth covered tables."

These were the last years of L.A.'s original Chinatown, because the owner of the land had sold it to the railroads for building Union Station. Some Chinese merchants and residents relocated in Market Chinatown, but more moved into the formerly Mexican neighborhood on upper Broadway and Hill streets where the ethnic mall known as New Chinatown opened in 1939.

In the '50s and '60s, Cantonese food saw a revival under a new name — "Polynesian" cuisine. Top-rank Polynesian restaurants such as Trader Vic's and the Luau, both in Beverly Hills, sometimes offered Peking duck alongside the usual sweet-and-sour pork, lobster Cantonese, fried rice and pupu platter. (And the rum drinks and hula music, of course.)

Setting the standard

OTHER elegant presentations of Cantonese food were appearing outside China- town. In 1954, when Panorama City was a raw new suburb, Korean American actor Phil Ahn opened Moongate, serving upscale Cantonese food in a serene setting dominated by its circular entrance gate. Arthur Wong's Far East Terrace drew customers from nearby Universal Studio in North Hollywood.

But New Chinatown still flourished as a dining destination. "General Lee's was cutting-edge in those days," recalls Eugene Moy, vice president of programs for the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California. "It had Rudi Gernreich design sharp waiters' jackets for it." Gernreich's fashions epitomized the jazzy, swinging California style of the '60s.

Around 1963, Angelenos started hearing rumors about something called Mandarin cuisine. The Shanghai Inn, a tiny place on Hollywood Boulevard around Western, made a big splash, starting your meal with sizzling rice soup and ending it with deep-fried snapper, and it was known for its Peking duck too. Hollywood flocked there. The next year, Peking Mandarin Cuisine opened in Inglewood, and we had a trend on our hands.

Food writers in L.A.'s newspapers and magazines of the era could tell Mandarin food was not Cantonese, but they couldn't put their fingers on the difference. It was said to involve more meat and spices and pay more attention to color, but it largely seemed to be about that sizzling rice. It was a category that glossed over the differences between all non-Cantonese styles of cooking, just as "Northern Italian" would later lump together a number of regional cuisines in the 1970s.

Some time in the mid-1960s, actor Cary Grant came into Madame Wu's Garden in Santa Monica, raving about a chicken salad he'd had at another restaurant. Sylvia Wu, the daughter of a wealthy and politically connected family in China who had opened a grand (and non-Americanized) Cantonese restaurant in 1961 and immediately become a favorite of Hollywood society, adapted a Cantonese banquet dish of shredded chicken with almonds, fried noodles and won ton chips as Chinese chicken salad, and her recipe soon conquered the world.

When President Nixon returned from his celebrated 1972 trip to China and remarked on how good the food was there, one result was the decade's explosion of interest in authentic Chinese cuisine. Another, due to his trade liberalization policy, was the availability of ingredients such as wood ear mushrooms and golden needles (day lily buds) — which, in themselves, made possible a craze for moo shu pork.

Foodies demanded to know what Chinese regional food was really like, and the "Mandarin" category was unpacked into the now familiar Sichuan (Szechwan), Shanghai, Beijing, Hunan and other schools. Sichuan, popularized in 1974 by Cathay de Grande in Hollywood, struck a particular chord around here; the word became a virtual synonym for "spicy." Kung pao chicken ruled the roost.

In the early '80s, taking advantage of liberalized immigration policies, a great influx of Taiwanese turned Monterey Park into the nation's first suburban Chinatown. Here were practically the first American Chinese restaurants that did not inherit the tradition of serving Americanized food. They served honest, savory Taiwanese cooking; the iconic dish was pan-fried clams in garlic black bean sauce.

Around the same time, several big seafood restaurants opened back in downtown's Chinatown, above all the famous Mon Kee, which drew the sort of adventurous diners who also ate at the period's French-influenced nouvelle cuisine restaurants such as Ma Maison. Overnight Angelenos became acquainted with shrimp in pepper salt. Menus went on with page after page of sea cucumber and crab dishes.

In the later '80s, prosperous Hong Kong immigrants created the explosion of Chinese restaurants along Valley Boulevard in Alhambra, San Gabriel and Rosemead. Here you could find Chinese Islamic cuisine and Shanghai restaurants and cookery of the Chiu Chow people, who had sojourned for centuries in Vietnam and Thailand. At one of the new restaurants, the former chef of Chinese premier Chou En-lai would cook you as fancy a dinner as you were willing to pay for (a high-end meal included a lot of vegetables marvelously carved into dragon and phoenix shapes). When the Empress Pavilion opened in downtown's New Chinatown, the victory of sophisticated Hong Kong-influenced cuisine seemed complete.

Buzzing with energy, that's our Chinese food scene today. When a new restaurant opens, flocks of people rush to check it out. Serious eaters follow chefs from restaurant to restaurant, the way foodies followed nouvelle cuisine chefs in the 1970s. There's an enthusiasm for all the ancient riches of Chinese cuisine — and the latest developments from Hong Kong.

"Sometimes, if you grew up here," says Moy, "you feel nostalgic for those old dishes like chop suey and egg foo yung.

"But then you order them, and you realize the food is so much better now."

[dragonsky]

Proposed L.A. Coliseum Olympic Enhancements Combine Historic Integrity and Modern Offerings

Temporary Structure to Add Suites and Olympic Flair for 2016 Games;
Elements Preserve Landmark’s Historic Appeal

Los Angeles, Calif. – February 22, 2007 – As part of its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games (SCCOG) today unveiled the architectural plan for a temporary addition including amenities such as luxury suites to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum without altering the structure of the venue listed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks. The Coliseum is among the most revered and recognized sports monuments in the world and is the only facility to host two Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies, two Super Bowls (including the first) a World Series and a host of significant entertainment, political and religious events.

“The Coliseum has been the site of incredible events for more than 80 years, but it never shines brighter than during the Olympic Games,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “In 2016, the newly designed Coliseum will glow spectacularly.”

http://www.sccog.org/webapp/servlet/images/stories/2016/coliseumrendering2.jpg

[dragonsky]

February 28, 2007
A makeshift idea for the Olympics
Chicago and L.A. have the same notion for the 2016 Summer Games: temporary stadiums.

By Christopher Hawthorne, Times Staff Writer

For decades, cities have seen Olympic bids as among the most effective ways to jump-start civic ambition. Barcelona used the run-up to the 1992 Summer Games as an occasion to reinvent its waterfront, among other expensive improvements. And Beijing is remaking itself at a breakneck pace as it gets ready for the Olympics next year.

But as Chicago and Los Angeles jockey for the right to hold the 2016 Summer Games, a different vision of what the Olympics mean for cities is emerging. It is decidedly modest. This pair of American cities, so different in so many ways, seem to agree that the best way to win the Olympics — and to pay for them — is to design a sort of pack-and-go games. Put aside any notions of an Olympics that might spur interest, here or in Chicago, in new subway lines or massive architectural icons. A central goal in both bids is to avoid the white elephants that have plagued Sydney and other host cities.

ADVERTISEMENT
Nowhere is the shift more obvious than in the stadium designs that lie at the heart of the Chicago and Los Angeles plans. Both cities have proposed an architectural big-top approach, with facilities that can be assembled and disassembled in a matter of months.

In Chicago, it's an attractive temporary stadium in Washington Park designed by the Shanghai-based American architect Ben Wood and the local firm Goettsch Partners; it would hold 80,000 for the Olympics and then be transformed into an open-air amphitheater seating just 5,000. Even that disappearing act isn't complete enough for some Chicagoans. They think even the amphitheater, which would carve a hole in the middle of a meadow designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, is too much to leave behind.

Decision due next month

In Los Angeles, meanwhile, Olympic boosters last week unveiled their own spin on the temporary stadium idea: a proposal to add a superstructure to the Coliseum that could be removed after the athletes have left town. Designed by local architect David Jay Flood and budgeted at $112 million, the stadium addition would essentially float above the existing stadium's neoclassical bowl. A series of steel-frame towers would rise along its periphery and hold 204 luxury boxes; vinyl fabric stretched between the towers and decorated with the Olympic rings and other designs would provide shade.

The U.S. Olympic Committee members are visiting Southern California this week and will meet with Flood on Thursday. They will choose between L.A. and Chicago next month, and the U.S. nominee will then go up against a group of world cities that could include the global heavyweights Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Rome.

In part, the portable stadium designs can be explained by a funding loophole: According to International Olympic Committee guidelines, cities draw directly from Olympic operating funds to pay for temporary structures, while money for permanent buildings has to be raised separately. And in L.A. there is also the fact that the Coliseum, as a historic landmark, can't be permanently altered.

The preservation story line adds an intriguing twist to any architectural comparison of the stadium plans. Wood is best known in this country for his 2003 renovation to Soldier Field, longtime home of the Chicago Bears, which involved lowering a futuristic steel-and-glass addition right onto the classical seating bowl. The design has its champions — it is certainly among the boldest attempts in an American city to combine neoclassical and digitally derived architectural forms — but has proved deeply controversial in Chicago.

And apparently in Washington, D.C., as well: Just before leaving office last month, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton decided to strip Soldier Field of its status as a national historic landmark.

Wood is taking an altogether different tack this time, producing a stadium that might as well be stamped, like a carton of milk, with an expiration date.

Flood, for his part, made sure that the L.A. Conservancy, the leading preservation group in town, had signed off on his Coliseum proposal before it was released to the public. In both cases the idea is to produce a stadium that appears to hover weightlessly over the existing city rather than squashing it.

There is a lot to recommend this approach. It avoids the political and financial pitfalls that go along with building a new stadium from scratch — the very pitfalls that doomed San Francisco's 2016 bid when negotiations involving the city, the 49ers football team and Olympic planners fell apart last year. And temporary stadiums are certainly more environmentally friendly than permanent ones, particularly when the materials that make them up can be easily dismantled and reused.

Flood's proposal even includes a nod to the Coliseum's most important tenant, the USC football team. His design is so modest that work on the stadium wouldn't have to begin until January 2016, just six or seven months before the opening ceremonies and after USC's 2015 home football schedule is safely complete.

There is also a whole emerging category of temporary-chic architecture that the two cities might tap into. The Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has proved lately that reconfigurable structures built with cardboard tubes and plastic soda crates can be as beautiful as anything made of steel and glass. So-called pop-up stores by retailers including Camper, Commes des Garcons and Target have turned their short life spans into a marketing angle, making a virtue of the fact that they're fleeting.

Unfortunately, the slapdash Coliseum renderings Flood released last week had none of those temporary projects' charismatic appeal. After hosting the games in 1932 and 1984, we hardly seem desperate, as a city and a region, to win the same right again — and Flood's renderings have emerged as the perfect visual symbol of our general lack of interest. It didn't help that the scheme was unveiled during Oscar week, when all local eyes were trained on the intersection of Hollywood and Highland; there was more ink spilled on whether Ellen DeGeneres would wear sneakers onstage than whether we had a shot for 2016.

In Chicago, on the other hand, where winter has yet to break and dreams of any midsummer celebration have an intrinsic appeal, Olympic fever is rampant. Wood's sleek renderings of his temporary stadium scheme reflect the passionate hopes of a city that is sports-obsessed and has never played host to an Olympics. The elegant design begins with a steel frame covered with taut fabric roof. Slots in the exterior suggest an abstracted version of a classical colonnade. From above — as seen from, say, a blimp hovering in the sky to provide dramatic shots for broadcast — the asymmetrical stadium would suggest a giant letter C, for Chicago.

If Flood's design spells out anything it is e-n-n-u-i. It is baffling that in the middle of what is essentially a marketing battle between two cities we would send his renderings into the media maw. We live in an era when architectural image can be as important as the finished product. And even if the Olympics are no longer seen as a fail-safe way to catalyze large-scale civic projects, the games are at heart about publicizing a vision of one city to viewers around the world.

The view from above

That's why Athens, the 2004 summer host, spent a good chunk of its Olympic budget hiring the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava to add a stunning, bone-white roof to an existing stadium: Its organizers understood, as Chicago clearly does, that the way the building looked from above, on worldwide television, was just as important as how it appeared to fans in the seats.

Of course, the wisdom of building icons that do little for a city once the Olympics are gone is debatable — and, in general, the pragmatism apparent in both American bids makes sense. But the process of selling a city to national and then international Olympic gatekeepers is almost by definition one ruled by visual conjecture: To succeed means creating an effective collage of how your city might look a decade or so in the future.

Perhaps the USOC committee that's in town this week will look past the renderings and recognize that in terms of infrastructure and existing facilities our bid has a number of advantages. But if they don't, and if they hand the 2016 nomination to Chicago on a silver platter, we can hardly claim to be surprised.

[dragonsky]

Watery Disputes

Controversy and Complaints Follow New L.A. River Plan

by Evan George

Last month, the City Council rolled out an ambitious plan to revitalize the Los Angeles River from Canoga Park to Downtown. The massive report capped an 18-month campaign of unprecedented community outreach.
An image from the recently released L.A. River plan. A coalition of Latino groups claims many of its suggestions have been ignored. Rendering by Bureau of Engineering

Now, less than two weeks before the draft plan enters its final stage, the most vocal and well-organized coalition involved in that process is up in arms, claiming its input has been marginalized.

Though city leaders and others strongly defend the document, some acknowledge that improvements to the final plan are necessary.

Leaders of the Alianza de los Pueblo del Rio, a loose coalition of Latino organizations, last week said the plan focuses too much on beautifying the concrete channel's riverside property and not enough on the mostly poor, park-starved communities that surround it.

"The plan as it stands now could be called the L.A. River Gentrification Master Plan," said Robert Garcia, executive director of the nonprofit City Project, which provides legal and research aid to the Alianza. "It's utterly incomprehensible why they would have ignored all of our input, not cited any of our work, not cited any of our maps and our statistics on children's health and the lack of parks."

Leaders of the Alianza scrambled last week to put together a rebuke of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan before public comment on the draft ends March 27.
*

The group finds itself in a strange position: once heralded by city leaders for generating excitement and feedback about the master plan and now on the offensive for more input.

The report, which Garcia said will be released this week and presented formally to the Council's Ad Hoc River Committee, assails city officials for paying lip service to issues like public health and gang prevention in urban communities without offering detailed solutions.

"One of our biggest concerns is that it utterly disregards human health and the need for places for physical activity in parks and schools to improve health," Garcia said.

The plan identifies 239 improvement projects along a 32-mile stretch of the river. They include everything from pocket parks to creating more than 4,600 housing units near Chinatown. Implementing all of them would cost more than $2 billion.

However, only two of the 87 proposed park projects include any sports fields or facilities.

Councilman Ed Reyes, who chairs the Ad Hoc River Committee, defended the plan even as he praised the Alianza's success in garnering feedback. He acknowledged the need for more active parks, but said those uses must be balanced with other concerns, like flood control.

"Where possible I will advocate for the active space," he said.

Additionally, Reyes said, two obvious sites for heavy recreation use - the new Los Angeles State Historic Park at the former Cornfield and the Rio de Los Angeles State Park at Taylor Yard - are overseen by the state Parks Department, not the city.

"What it speaks to is the need to have the state redefine its definition of parks," Reyes said, "especially in the urban centers, and that's a cultural shift for the state."

Making Waves

The complaints don't stop at more soccer fields.

Last week officials with the William C. Velasquez Institute, a nonprofit Latino policy center and member of the Alianza, criticized the plan's environmental impact report for using demographics that, they say, grossly underestimate the impact on Latinos.

The study looked only at neighborhoods within a half mile of the river, while Latino leaders say the city should consider the overwhelmingly Latino neighborhoods within one to three miles that would be affected.

City officials have said they will include broader statistics but not redo any of the analysis.

The master plan has also been attacked for failing to include specific measures to help spur local jobs and build more affordable housing.

Alianza leaders said they have been championing these issues to city officials for 18 months at more than 50 meetings. By organizing families to participate in the city-sponsored workshops, and even spearheading their own well-attended meetings, the Alianza became the overwhelming voice, said Reyes and others.

Reyes added that the Alianza's input will inform future details. "The implementation arms... the governing structure itself, I believe, is where you're going to see those details emerge," Reyes said.

Garcia is skeptical.

"If that's their approach than why are they so specific as to everything else, such as pocket parks, paseos, promenades, linear parks and ecological restoration?" he asked.

While Alianza chafes at the plan, other groups who participated - as well as some that didn't - applaud the initial results.

Russell Brown, president of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, said his group is impressed by the overall concept, though they disagree with some of the details.

Brown called the plan "an interesting first step," and said many of the DLANC members were "surprised it was this far along," because they had been less involved in the process. The Friends of the Los Angeles River, a longtime activist group, has also signaled its approval.

James Rojas, a planner for MTA who runs Spring Street's Gallery 727 (where a current exhibit allows visitors to make their own models of the river plan) takes issue with the complaints of those who are upset with the master plan.

"Some of the funnier critiques I've heard is that it's not going to solve gang violence. That's not the river's problem, or a design problem, that's a much larger social problem," Rojas said. "It's not going to solve world hunger."

[DJM19]

^I dont really see what they are complaining about. The plan seems pretty solid to me. This is a park revitalization, its a shot in the arm, but a magic cure to everything they deem wrong with their neighborhood. Good parks generate activity, which generates buildings, which generate jobs and housing.

[dragonsky]

Commission Gives Westfield Go Ahead

By Traci Kratzer

Glazer said because the EIR previously completed by Westfield is seven years old they should be required to complete a new EIR.

“We all know what this is about,” Glazer said. “Westfield doesn’t want to spend the money or the time to provide details on how much they want to build.”

Stephanie Eyestone-Jones, a principle with PCR Corporation, said she completed the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review for the addendum of the expansion and assured the commissioners that the report was “reviewed twice under CEQA guidelines.”

One of the biggest concerns for residents with both the Westfield expansion and the Caruso/Santa Anita racetrack project is traffic. Pat Gibson, a traffic and parking analyst, said that the traffic mitigation measures related to the proposed expansion have been studied and no significant impacts were found.

The city staff report did include a list of mitigation measures that remain outstanding and stated that each of the measures are under the jurisdiction of either Caltrans or Los Angeles County.

Resident Mary Doughtery said she had hoped to be supportive of the project but urged the commission to reject the addendum until “Westfield makes a cooperative and collaborative effort to control traffic impacts.”

“Westfield has good traffic, everyone else has bad traffic,” Doughtery said. “I can’t subscribe to that.”

Discussion on the expansion will go before the city council for a public hearing on April 3.

The architectural design review for the 100,800 square foot second expansion of the Westfield Santa Anita Mall received unanimous approval from the Planning Commission Tuesday night.

The commissioners also accepted the addendum to Westfield’s certified Environmental Impact Report (EIR) from 2000.

“We are consistently improving and investing in the community,” said Ken Wong, President of U.S. Operations for Westfield. “Our plan for the future is to approach that in a phased and logical manner.”

Wong said the expansion, which has been named “The Promenade,” will consist of five blocks of retail buildings in the southwest quadrant of the property south of Nordstrom and west of Macy’s. Wong said “The Promenade” will generate $540,000 annually to the city.

In a ten page letter to the members of the planning commission, Patricia Glazer, lawyer for both The Turf Club and Santa Anita Companies Inc., said that the addendum to the project is “flawed” and “inconsistent” with the City’s General Plan for several reasons. Included in those reasons was what she called the “shifting and understated size of the project.” She said the project appears to have grown in scope by approximately 200,000 to 400,000 sq. ft. She added that the certified 2000 EIR looked at a project with a floor area ratio (FAR) of .44, and the expansion as it is today looks to be over the allowed .50 FAR.

However, according to city staff reports, Westfield’s original request for an additional 600,000 sq. ft. of Gross Leasable Area (GLA) as analyzed in the 2000 EIR, shows that the expansion is below the allowable FAR of .50.

[dragonsky]

Mall wars take aim at Arcadia City Hall
By Kenneth Todd Ruiz Staff Writer

ARCADIA - The latest salvo in this city's mall wars is aimed directly at City Hall.

Opponents of the proposed Caruso Affiliated development near the Santa Anita Park race track have filed a complaint accusing the City Council of breaking open-meeting laws.

An attorney for Arcadia First! asked the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office to investigate whether negotiations between the city and Caruso violated the Brown Act because they were held outside of public view.

Arcadia First! receives funding from Westfield, which aggressively opposes construction of the 800,000-square-foot shopping complex adjacent to the mall it owns.

City Attorney Stephen Deitsch said Wednesday the discussions were "lawful and appropriate."

The Brown Act provides limited reasons for public bodies to meet in private, so the public is privy to their decision-making process.

The specific matters discussed - which Deitsch said he could not elaborate upon - likely related to a long-negotiated development agreement between Caruso and the city.

Hypothetically, Deitsch said, if such deliberations included the purchase, lease or exchange of real estate, "then it would be lawful and appropriate to discuss the price and terms of payment in closed session."

Sung Tse, spokeswoman for Arcadia First!, challenged the council at a recent meeting to conduct its business in the open.

According to published agendas, City Council members met privately with city staff, track owner Magna Entertainment Corp. and Caruso Affiliated to discuss "price and terms of payment" for the "southerly parking area" of the track.

"I understand they are allowed closed sessions," she said of the council, but questioned why the Caruso firm was allowed to participate when it doesn't own that land. "What does he have to do with these closed sessions?"

Councilman Bob Harbicht said Wednesday he could not go into the specifics of negotiations, but added that the reason for holding a closed session would be clear once a draft of the development agreement is made public.

"It's one of those things that's hard to defend yourself because the only way to defend yourself is to disclose what was said in closed session," he said. "And then it's no longer a closed session."

A draft of the agreement could be made public as early as next week, according to Assistant City Manager Don Penman.

Two weeks later, on March 19, Caruso's proposal goes before the Planning Commission. If the City Council subsequently approves the plan, Westfield is expected to initiate a ballot initiative to let voters second-guess the council's decision.

Meanwhile, the next phase of Westfield's expansion plans were approved by the Planning Commission on Tuesday night, despite urging by Caruso that a new environmental impact report be prepared.

City staff concluded that the Promenade expansion, which would add 100,000 square feet of open-air commercial space and a two-level parking structure, was covered by a previous impact study.

But a Tuesday report to the Planning Commission refuted the mall owner's published claims last fall that its ballot measure to limit signs would "apply to all of Arcadia's businesses - including Westfield Santa Anita."

"Despite what this campaign literature stated, the measure clearly applied only to the Racetrack property and not other properties," the report said.

Voters narrowly passed Measure N in November.

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City Council denies meeting allegations
By Kenneth Todd Ruiz Staff Writer

ARCADIA - Members of the City Council never met in private with a developer and property owner, city officials said Thursday.

Refuting allegations made by opponents of Caruso Affiliated's The Shops at Santa Anita, Councilman Bob Harbicht said the council did meet in closed sessions, but only with city staff to discuss land located in the parking lot of Santa Anita Park.

"The council has never met privately with Magna or Caruso," Harbicht said. "The only people in the closed sessions were council, city staff and the city attorney."

Council agendas published by the city list Caruso and racetrack owner Magna Entertainment Corp. among "Negotiating Parties" in regard to what is described as the "southerly parking area of Santa Anita Race Track."

The meetings, held in December and January, are believed to relate to a development agreement under negotiation between Caruso and the city in tandem with the

developer's proposal to build an 800,000-square-foot outdoor mall on property owned by Magna Entertainment Corp.

Westfield has been highly critical of - and has organized community resistance to - the project, which is proposed for a site adjacent to the Westfield mall on Baldwin Avenue.

The closed-session meetings prompted the spokeswoman of Arcadia First!, a Westfield- funded community group, to ask why Caruso and Magna representatives were involved.

Julie Wong, Caruso spokeswoman, said there's a simple explanation - they weren't.

"We never had anybody participate in these closed-session meetings," she said. "This is another example of Westfield misleading Arcadia residents with false accusations."

The council acted within the law by not including outsiders in the meetings, said Terry Francke, counsel for Californians Aware, an open-government advocacy group.

But the discussion could not have strayed from the specific price and terms of the land deal in question, Francke added, or extend to any other terms of the development agreement.

"When it says price or terms of payment, that's exactly what it means," he said, referring to the description published on the council agenda.

Douglas Carstens, a lawyer representing Arcadia First!, filed a complaint with the District Attorney's Office. The complaint is under review.

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The Shops at Santa Anita
http://www.shopsatsantaanita.com/

[dragonsky]

Tuesday, February 20, 2007
CALIFORNIA’S THREE MAJOR HORSE RACING ORGANIZATIONS ANNOUNCE SUPPORT FOR THE SHOPS AT SANTA ANITA
California Horse Racing Board Chair also announces endorsement for outdoor retail center at Santa Anita Park

Arcadia – California’s three major horse racing organizations today announced their support for The Shops at Santa Anita, the outdoor, upscale shopping and dining center proposed by Caruso Affiliated. The Shops at Santa Anita is being proposed in partnership with the owners of Santa Anita Park and would be constructed on the parking lot south of the grandstand.

The Thoroughbred Owners of California, California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, and the California Thoroughbred Trainers say they are supporting The Shops at Santa Anita because they believe it will help ensure the long-term viability of Santa Anita Park and the sport of horse racing in California.

“In our view, this plan is precisely the type of project that can bring new energy to Santa Anita Park, and that can improve its long-term viability as one of California’s – if not the nation’s – premier racetracks,” wrote Thoroughbred Owners of California President Drew J. Couto, whose organization is certified by the California Horse Racing Board to represent Thoroughbred horse owners. “This is critical both to the industry and, we understand, to the City of Arcadia, which has always been very supportive of our industry.”

“We believe that this project, to be built adjacent to Santa Anita Park, would greatly enhance the race track as well as provide further economic benefit to the industry. We commend both you and the ownership of Santa Anita Park for undertaking such an important development, which would help ensure the long-term viability of live racing at the historic venue,” wrote California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Burge, whose organization has represented California breeders and thoroughbred farms for more than 60 years.

“Ensuring the long-term viability of Santa Anita Park is critical, and we believe your project will do that,” wrote California Thoroughbred Trainers Executive Director and General Counsel Edward I. Halpern, whose organization represents hundreds of thoroughbred trainers throughout the state. “The project, in our view, will architecturally complement the racetrack and has taken into account to the greatest extent possible the operational needs of the horsemen.”

California Horse Racing Board Chair Richard Shapiro also joined the organizations in supporting the project saying that he looks forward to its “swift approval and development.”

“I believe strongly that [The Shops at Santa Anita’s] development would be a great benefit to the long-term viability of Santa Anita Park and to California’s horse racing industry. I appreciate the steps you have taken to address all parties’ concerns including the design of the project, which will be a complement to the beauty and tradition of Santa Anita Park,” wrote Shapiro.

“Caruso Affiliated has been working closely with our partners at Santa Anita Park to ensure that The Shops at Santa Anita will enhance the viability of the track and horse racing by introducing new generations of families to the sport of kings,” said Rick Caruso, Founder and CEO of Caruso Affiliated. “We are proud that California’s leaders in horse racing are supporting The Shops at Santa Anita.”

“Santa Anita Park is proud to be part of California’s horse racing heritage and we are grateful for the support we have received from horse racing organizations. We want to ensure that the racetrack is a strong business for many years. Our partnership with Caruso Affiliated is an important part of our long-term plans,” said George Haines, Vice President and General Manager of Santa Anita Park.

The Shops at Santa Anita is supported by Arcadia organizations including the Arcadia Firefighters Association, the Acadia Police Officers Association, the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, the Rancho Santa Anita Residents’ Association, and the Arcadia Unified School District.

The Shops at Santa Anita will provide new upscale shops, unique outdoor restaurants, lushly landscaped park-like settings and promenades where Arcadians can come to walk around, relax, and enjoy each other’s company. At the request of Arcadia residents, the project will include a community performing arts center where school and community organizations can hold performances. The center would be built and maintained at no cost to taxpayers. Also at the request of Arcadians, The Shops at Santa Anita no longer includes housing of any kind.

[dragonsky]

Silver Streak transit service set to launch
By Nisha Gutierrez Staff Writer

. Video: 3/8: Silver Streak buses

EL MONTE - Foothill Transit is launching what officials are touting as a cutting-edge bus service expected to give commuters a quicker and smoother ride into downtown Los Angeles and other major station stops.

Transit officials unveiled the new Silver Streak Thursday at the El Monte Bus Station and said it will hit the streets March 18.

"This is a commuter's dream," said Wilfred Briesemeister, Foothill Transit executive board president. "These are not the buses of yesteryear."

The 60-foot tandem buses will be equipped with free Wi-Fi service to allow riders to do work, surf the Internet or check e-mails. The agency's Smart Bus Equipment, which includes an automatic vehicle location system, will provide automatic stop announcements, automatic passenger counters, on-board security cameras and station stop bus arrival displays.

Briesemeister said the 30-bus fleet also features comfortable seating, capacity for up to 58 riders and provides people with an opportunity be more productive and relaxed on their commute.

Felicia Friesema, Foothill Transit spokeswoman, said the new service will cost $6.5 million per year to maintain operation and will be paid for through state and local funding sources.

"The idea was to create a high-capacity people mover to alleviate some of the crowding we were seeing on Line 480, which is our most popular line, and meet the greatest needs, which is why it is stopping at major station stops," Friesema said.

Friesema said the Silver Streak will give riders a quicker commute time by eliminating some local stops that Line 480 makes and by spending only about 5 percent of its total trip on surface streets. Instead, it will travel primarily on the San Bernardino (10) Freeway and HOV lanes.

In addition to Los Angeles, the Silver Streak also will take customers to major station stops in Montclair, Pomona, West Covina and El Monte.

When the Silver Streak begins service, Friesema said Line 480, which stretches from Montclair to Los Angeles, will no longer travel into downtown Los Angeles.

John Fasana, a board member and Duarte City Councilman, said the Silver Streak will help improve transportation in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys.

"This is important for our valleys because it's going to get people out of their cars and onto public transit and give them a quick ride to work, which will help ease congestion on the freeways," Fasana said. "If you think about the cost of parking downtown and sitting in traffic, this is really a great savings."

Officials said the Silver Streak will provide daily service running every 10-12 minutes, 24 hours a day.

The Silver Streak bus fare will cost riders $2 each way and 31-day passes will be $80. Seniors, people with disabilities and Medicare cardholders can ride for $1.

To help promote the new service Foothill Transit is offering free rides on the Silver Streak from March 18 to April 1.

Foothill Transit now operates 35 fixed-route local, express and rail-feeder lines, covers 327 square miles, and serves 15 million customers each year.

[dragonsky]

Hopes high for low-profile mall
A developer seeks to give Santa Monica Place an open-air redesign. It drops high-rise plans.
By Martha Groves, Times Staff Writer
March 5, 2007

A long-awaited remodeling of aging Santa Monica Place could begin as soon as a year from now if the city approves a design by Macerich Co., the mall's owner, to peel off the roof and open the center to ocean breezes and the Third Street Promenade.

Macerich executives say they expect to meet today with city officials, and then on Tuesday submit plans detailing how they would update the shopping center, which opened in 1980 and was an early project of architect Frank O. Gehry.

The "adaptive reuse" plan marks a significant scaling down of a 2004 proposal by Macerich that called for tearing down the flagging mall and replacing it with a 10-acre complex of high-rise condos, shops and offices.

Many community members protested the prospect of such a grandiose project, saying it would ruin the city's generally low-rise ambience and exacerbate traffic congestion. Chastened, Macerich last June scrapped those plans and began diligently seeking community input to ensure that its replacement design would meet with approval.

"What we're trying to accomplish is to convert this suburban shopping center … to fit more with the urban fabric of the city," said Robert D. Aptaker, vice president of real estate for Macerich, based in Santa Monica.

A city official said previews of the proposal indicated that Macerich had tried to satisfy community desires. "It looks like they spent a lot of time listening to the community," said Andy Agle, director of housing and economic development. "It looks to be more in line with some of the feedback we've heard."

Victor Fresco, co-chairman of the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City, agreed. He said he was pleased that the new plan would slightly decrease, rather than dramatically increase, the center's size.

"An addition would have had huge negative impacts on traffic and parking," Fresco said. Already, he added, "downtown has become almost impossible to navigate."

The remodeled center, only 47% of which is leased, now has 570,000 square feet.

Aptaker cautioned that the design for the center, which Macerich bought in 1999, was still evolving. But he listed a number of elements that he said were integral to the new concept. In addition to stripping away the roof, the company plans to create public walkways, large gathering places and a third-floor dining deck with ocean views. Other amenities would include a children's play area, a public art installation and a gallery for exhibiting artists' work.

Aptaker said Macerich expected the renovated mall to "be a partner with the Third Street Promenade" but with more distinctive, upscale retailers for a "more mature customer." He said many retailers had expressed enthusiasm about being in Santa Monica, but he said the company had not yet signed any new leases.

Once construction gets underway, Aptaker said, all shops except for Macy's department store would close. The two parking levels, with just under 2,000 spaces, would remain open. If construction begins in early 2008, as Macerich hopes, the mall would reopen in fall 2009.

"It won't feel like a mall anymore," Aptaker said. "We want it to feel like part of the community."

Agle said the city would analyze the project according to the guidelines of the California Environmental Quality Act.

Because the revamped mall would be smaller, he said he doubted that Macerich would have to complete an environmental report.

The approval process, he said, could be completed by late summer.

[dragonsky]

March 9, 2007
Billionaire's buying has the town talking
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's purchases may help remake a piece of Malibu. So far he's submitted plans for two new restaurants.

By Martha Groves, Times Staff Writer

For years now, software magnate Larry Ellison has been on a spending spree in Malibu that has caused even his fellow billionaires' tongues to wag.

By some accounts, he has shelled out as much as $200 million for more than a dozen properties, including five adjacent residential parcels on Carbon Beach, two nearby restaurants, the Casa Malibu Inn and a vacant gas station or two that he apparently intends to use for customer parking.

Carbon Beach, which runs east from the Malibu Pier for about 1 1/2 miles, is also known as Billionaires Beach thanks to its lineup of denizens including philanthropist Eli Broad, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, television financier Haim Saban, producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, the music magnate who famously battled the state over public beach access.

So far, Ellison, 62, has submitted plans to the city of Malibu for two new restaurants, including one expected to feature ultra-high-end Japanese cuisine. That would be in keeping with his affinity for the finer things in life and for all things Japanese.

The Oracle Corp. chief executive — who, according to Forbes magazine, is worth nearly $20 billion — spent 10 years and a reported $200 million re-creating a Japanese village on his 23-acre estate in Woodside, south of San Francisco. And Rising Sun was the name he chose for his 454-foot yacht, said to be the world's longest privately owned boat.

Jefferson Wagner, owner of Zuma Jay surf shop on Pacific Coast Highway, speculates that Ellison wants to "control this end of town" because of his restaurant plans.

"He's buying what he needs to create his little world," said Wagner, whose store is across the street from some of Ellison's commercial parcels. "I'm not knockin' it. It's an upgrade as far as local merchants are concerned."

Ellison's representatives did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Meanwhile, Geffen is renovating the nearby Malibu Beach Inn, which is taking online room reservations for June.

"Geffen will raise the bar on what has been a dated hotel but a great location," said Tony Dorn, a longtime Malibu resident and commercial real estate broker.

Geffen and Ellison are changing what has been, commercially speaking, a rather forlorn stretch of the highway, an odd state of affairs considering the immense collective wealth of the locals.

Dorn said Geffen and Ellison were drawn to the properties because there are so few commercial parcels on the beach side of PCH. "The Malibu commercial environment is so tight, and there are no [new] permits available right now," Dorn said. "That's what makes it attractive to these people."

Residents and real estate agents say houses on Carbon Beach, even the few remaining "shacks," would start at $20 million. Courteney Cox and David Arquette recently put their four-bedroom, five-bathroom showcase house, with 80 feet of frontage, on the market for $33.5 million.

Ellison's buying binge started in 2003, when he paid $65 million for five adjacent residential properties on Carbon Beach. Next, a couple of restaurants at the beach's western end near the pier caught his eye. According to local scuttlebutt, in early 2004 he paid nearly $30 million for the Pier View Cafe and Cantina and the Windsail. Both have been shuttered since. City officials say Ellison recently bought the Casa Malibu Inn, a beachfront getaway that opened in 1949 and is near the restaurants. In addition, he reportedly purchased a $20-million home in a gated hillside community just west of Malibu Pier.

The situation is once again turning a spotlight on Malibu's rich and famous and their hunger for land. One resident who socializes with Carbon Beach's well-heeled residents and asked to remain anonymous said of them: "They're sort of in this club. They walk on the beach and schmooze. What they all talked about was how to get more property on Carbon Beach. They're asking each other if they'll sell their place for any amount of money."

Since Ellison began popping into town to conduct business and relax, Malibu residents have engaged in the game of Larry-spotting. Wagner ran into him at the local Ralphs and jokingly asked, "On that real estate thing, have you left anything for me?" He said Ellison replied, "I hear your building's for sale." Wagner promptly found a partner, who helped him buy the building that houses his surf shop for $4.2 million. "I could just see the glint in his eye," Wagner said of Ellison.

Last week, the City Council, on a first reading, narrowly approved a zoning change that would allow Ellison to proceed with plans for a commercial enterprise on one of his restaurant sites. That change, known as a local coastal program amendment, faces a second vote by the council and then would need to be approved by the California Coastal Commission. The other restaurant has already been approved by the city planning commission.

Mayor Ken Kearsley, who voted against the amendment, said he fears that the restaurants will cause a traffic backup on the highway. He also said Ellison should honor a development agreement between the city and the previous owner, who had promised to donate $400,000 to local schools and include a community room in his proposed beach club and spa.

"At this point, he hasn't brought anything to the table," Kearsley said of Ellison, adding that, for the billionaire, $400,000 would be "couch change."

For a time, rumor had it that Ellison would try to lure Nobu, a celebrity hangout in the Malibu Country Mart, to Carbon Beach. Whether it's that or another upscale eatery, some business owners are cheering him on.

"Put the restaurant back, whatever it is," Wagner said. "I'll never be able to afford to go there, but at least sushi will smell better than the septic."

[dragonsky]

Silver Streak buses start Montclair-L.A. run
Foothill Transit wants Caltrans to restrict access to carpool lanes during peak hours so its new freeway flyers can make good time.
By Jean Guccione, Times Staff Writer
March 19, 2007

As traffic congestion through the Pomona and San Gabriel valleys worsens, the promise of a quicker commute — and amenities such as free wireless Internet service — should lure some solo motorists onto the new Silver Streak rapid buses.

But the success of the new service from Montclair to downtown Los Angeles, which started Sunday, rests on whether the 60-foot buses will be able to bypass traffic by racing down the San Bernardino Freeway carpool lanes.

Like the rest of the freeway, the high-occupancy vehicle lanes are getting crowded, whether from more carpools or solo drivers in hybrid vehicles using the dedicated lanes.

"There are just too many cars," said Doran Barnes, executive director of Foothill Transit, the public agency that runs the Silver Streak bus service.

So Barnes and other local transit officials are asking the California Department of Transportation to restrict access to the carpool lanes for at least two more hours each workday.

Vehicles — except hybrids — with fewer than three people are already banned during peak traffic hours, weekdays from 5 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.

Even with those restrictions, it now takes a bus two hours at rush hour to travel the same Montclair-to-downtown route that took 94 minutes a decade ago. Travel times have increased seven to 10 minutes in the last 18 months, transit officials said.

The Silver Streak is expected to reduce travel times to as little as about 90 minutes by stopping only at major transit hubs.

Buses have barreled past cars on the 10 Freeway east of downtown Los Angeles in their own dedicated lanes, known as the El Monte Busway, for most of three decades. But although the lanes were built for buses only, political pressures soon converted them into carpool lanes as well. That change came with a hitch, however: Vehicles had to carry at least three people, rather than the two that is standard for other such lanes.

After a failed experiment to open the lanes to vehicles with two or more people, a compromise was struck a few years ago, allowing such vehicles back in but only during off-peak hours. The busway is still one of the state's few sets of carpool lanes requiring three or more people per vehicle, if only during peak hours.

But transit officials say that compromise is no longer working. Like the buildup of residential developments along the bus route, rush-hour traffic on the San Bernardino Freeway is sprawling.

"Even with three in the carpool lane, we are seeing challenges," said Barnes, whose agency moves 15,000 commuters a day along the busway.

To keep its buses running on time, Foothill Transit wants to extend the morning restrictions to 10 a.m. and begin the afternoon peak period an hour earlier at 3 p.m.

"We need to get aggressive about trying to protect the integrity of the busway," said John Fasana, a Duarte city councilman who sits on the boards of Foothill Transit and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Caltrans officials say they are studying the idea. They are also working to secure funds to complete the stretch of carpool lanes between the 605 Freeway and the San Bernardino County line.

Fasana knows that plush new buses and free Internet service won't persuade motorists to give up their car keys unless they can get to work a little faster and on time. And that's where the Silver Streak comes in: It should take as little as 91 minutes to travel the 40 miles from the Montclair TransCenter to its last stop at Grand Avenue and Olympic Boulevard in downtown L.A.

Buses will operate around the clock and are scheduled to run every 12 minutes in peak time. The other stops are in Pomona, West Covina and El Monte, and at Cal State L.A., County-USC Medical Center and Union Station.

Besides providing Internet connections, the new buses are equipped with GPS and security cameras. An automated system will announce station stops and display bus arrival times.

The fare is $2, with discounts for eligible seniors, people with disabilities and Medicare cardholders. But until April 1, passengers can ride free.

[dragonsky]

Proposed Mall Near Santa Anita Racetrack Draws Fire
Created: Monday, 19 Mar 2007, 1:10 AM PDT

ARCADIA -- Those for and against a proposed high-end shopping center at a mostly unused parking lot at the Santa Anita racetrack in the San Gabriel Valley will be able to express their opinions at public hearings that begin Monday.

Developer Rick Caruso, who turned the parking lot at Farmers Market into The Grove, has set his sights on the unsightly asphalt next to the historic park. The planning commission in Arcadia will let residents comment on the plans tomorrow night at a public hearing that is expected to draw hundreds of people.

The adjacent cities of Pasadena and San Marino have weighed in with concerns about traffic, housing and other worries.

"Air pollution from additional traffic, the congestion from traffic, and blocking the view of our mountains and of the historical landmark (racetrack) would change forever the way of life in suburban Arcadia," said Jeff Schenkel, a spokesman for Arcadia First, a group opposing the plan.

As envisioned by Caruso, and his firm, Caruso Affiliated, The Shops at Santa Anita would be built next to the historic horse track, which was a major location for the hit movie "Seabiscuit." A letter from the firm to Arcadia residents promises to "build on the rich heritage of the track and provide upscale shops, unique outdoor restaurants, and lushly landscaped park-like settings and promenades."

The firm has sweetened the pot for Arcadia residents with promises of a community performing arts center and 25,000 square feet of office space for the Arcadia School District headquarters.

But opponents said they worry about a 98,000-square-foot off-track betting parlor that would be built in the mall, using the track's racing license. In addition, Schenkel said the center would snarl traffic at 20 nearby intersections, as the project would be 61 percent larger than The Grove in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles.

The Westfield Group, owner of a large shopping center next to the racetrack, has already said it opposes the project. Caruso spent millions in Glendale battling a different company over a Caruso project called The Americana that eventually was approved by Glendale voters.

San Marino city planners have told Arcadia they worry about mall-related traffic on already-congested Huntington Drive, and Pasadena officials said they are worried about snarls at Colorado Boulevard and Michillinda Avenue during peak hours.

Pasadena officials have also asked Arcadia to include affordable housing in the plan. The housing was part of the mall's original plans, but dropped after Arcadia residents objected.

[dragonsky]

Arcadia planning panel approves proposed mall
The action is a setback for the Westfield Santa Anita shopping center, whose owner opposes the project by developer Rick Caruso.
By Tony Barboza, Times Staff Writer
March 23, 2007

Arcadia this week came one step closer to approving an 830,000-square-foot outdoor shopping center near the Santa Anita racetrack, the latest round in a bitter fight between two prominent mall companies.

For more than two years the normally sleepy San Gabriel Valley city has been embroiled in a battle between developer Rick Caruso, who is known for his signature open-air shopping villages such as The Grove, and the existing Westfield Santa Anita Mall, a traditional indoor mall that opposes a new neighbor.

The Arcadia Planning Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to recommend approval of The Shops at Santa Anita, the new mall, to the City Council.

The proposal is expected to be approved by the council next month, city staff said.

But the proposal probably will hit some bumps after that: Opponents plan a ballot referendum against the mall later this year.

They say that not enough demand exists for new commercial space and cite concerns about traffic, pollution and crime.

"It just doesn't make sense to have another mall next to an existing mall in a community of 25,000 homes," said Sung Tse, a member of the executive board of Arcadia First!, a group funded by Westfield that opposes the development.

The 4,000-member nonprofit has inundated residents with full-page ads in local newspapers and has mailed letters, postcards and DVDs to residents several times a week as the City Council moves closer to reaching a decision, Tse said.

Caruso Affiliated has countered with its own newspaper ads.

Rick Caruso said the new development would boost business at the existing mall and racetrack.

He said Westfield's opposition to his development was anti-competitive, based on fear of lower leases.

"Westfield is scared of it because they're living in a past world where all these indoor malls had these little fiefdoms," he said.

Westfield officials could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

Wednesday's Planning Commission meeting was the second of the week on the issue.

After 750 residents showed up to raise impassioned pleas on both sides at a city Planning Commission meeting Monday — prompting supervision by police and the fire marshal, Assistant City Manager Don Penman said — a second meeting was convened Wednesday.

The conflict echoes Caruso's fight to build the Americana at Brand project in Glendale.

That project is under construction next to the Glendale Galleria.

[dragonsky]

History, density are uneasy neighbors in Pasadena
Residents say a pair of developments planned near Old Town threaten the district's character. City officials say they favor smart growth.
By Tony Barboza, Times Staff Writer
March 23, 2007

Before Disney Hall and Segerstrom Hall, Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena was renowned as one of the premier concert halls in Southern California.

Now it is at the center of tensions over the development of one of Old Town Pasadena's last relatively open spaces.

The 1,262-seat glass-and-concrete structure, surrounded by an elegant reflecting pool, opened in 1974 and is now owned by Harvest Rock Church, a nondenominational Christian congregation that draws about 1,000 worshipers each Sunday.

The auditorium is the cultural heart of the former Ambassador College campus, a 48-acre parcel that was owned by the Worldwide Church of God until 2004, when it began selling off the land in chunks to Harvest Rock, a school and two developers.

One of those developers, Pasadena-based Dorn Platz, plans to build more than 300 condos and apartments on 20 acres of the property. The bulk of Ambassador West, as the project is called, would be a six-story senior housing complex next to the auditorium. The plan has church officials feeling boxed in. Although they do not oppose the project, they say it will dwarf their worship space, which doubles as a concert venue for the California Philharmonic and other area orchestras.

"Why does it have to be so big?" asked Doug Huse, director of operations for the church. "It's too huge. It's too massive. It overpowers the neighborhood."

The project is one of two major housing complexes slated for the campus, where lush gardens with fountains and manicured lawns are dotted with well-kept period-revival mansions that used to be part of "Millionaires' Row" along Orange Grove Boulevard. Together, they will bring more than 1,000 new dwellings to Pasadena, a city of 141,000 that for decades has been described as built out.

"There are certainly no other 20-acre parcels sitting around," Mayor Bill Bogaard said.

The Pasadena City Council is expected to approve the new project, which has the support of historic preservationists and the West Pasadena Residents' Assn., on April 2.

In September, the City Council approved the development of an "urban village" of 820 residences and 22,000 square feet of commercial space, called Westgate, at the eastern end of the campus. It will be the largest housing development in the city's history and is expected to break ground this fall.

Those projects will complement Old Town's commercial space, placing consumers within walking distance of Colorado Boulevard's shops and restaurants, and giving them less reason to drive, said Mike Winter, a senior vice president of Sares-Regis, the developer of Westgate.

But some are concerned that the housing will further increase the density of the already traffic-congested downtown and change the character of a historic area. Pasadena has in recent years embraced smart growth — building high-density condos and apartments near commercial areas and transit lines. The city's downtown development boom has taken place alongside criticism that its growth model is unrealistic and that the new condos and lofts detract from the city's stately past.

Chris Sutton, a land-use attorney who grew up in the neighborhood and has represented anti-development residents, called the promises of high-density growth "inconsistent" and "hypocritical."

"Wealthier people see their city becoming more congested and overbuilt, and poorer people see the city becoming too expensive to live in," he said.

Sutton also doubts that new residents will abandon their cars in favor of the nearby Gold Line. "The people who can afford that level of payment and rent are going to buy two Mercedes-Benz and drive to downtown L.A.," he said.

"The community has known for years that the property was going to be developed," said Greg Galletly, president of Dorn Platz. "The plan that we've brought forward fit within the community's expectations."

A General Plan allowing higher-density, mixed-use development, adopted in the mid-1990s, was the harbinger of the move toward smart growth in Pasadena, Bogaard said. The intention, he said, was "to reduce dependence on the automobile. The hope is that our downtown will be vital and exciting."

Since then, there has been a surge of mixed-use, high-density development centered around the city's Old Town district along Colorado Boulevard. Among the projects is Del Mar Transit Village, a now-completed housing complex built around a Gold Line station a few blocks east of Ambassador West.

Critics say the city has gone overboard.

Sue Mossman, executive director of Pasadena Heritage, a historical preservation group, said she supports the Ambassador West plan because no historic buildings will be demolished but remains concerned about the effect it will have on the city's character.

"The lesson is that we are victims of our own success," she said. "Forty years ago, you couldn't get people to build new housing in Pasadena. Now that the community is recognized as a beautiful, economically vibrant and historic place to live, suddenly its popularity has risen astronomically. The development pressure here is tremendous."

Galletly defended Ambassador West as a modest development. Seniors, who will occupy most of the new condos, drive less and have less of an impact on traffic and noise, he said.

He also said the plan leaves 72% of the open space on the former campus intact and preserves historic mansions built near the turn of the 20th century that sit on the property.

Preservationists and neighborhood groups were satisfied with the latest development plans, which are far less ambitious than previous proposals that called for as many as 2,000 units.

Fred Zepeda, president of the West Pasadena Residents' Assn., said the effect will be minimal. "I don't know how it gets much better than this while still having development."

[dragonsky]

L.A.'s Olympic bid gets AEG aid
March 27, 2007

The people who brought Staples Center and the Home Depot Center to Southern California, Anschutz Entertainment Group, gave the people who are trying to get the Olympic Games back in Los Angeles in 2016 some extra ammunition Monday.

Rod O'Connor, general manager of the Home Depot Center, announced at a news conference that, were Los Angeles to get the bid for the 2016 Games, his company would expand his facility with a 125-acre project that would include a training facility and hotel/conference center.

The price on that project was put at $50 million to $60 million and the combination training center and hotel was seen as an enhanced attraction to athletes from afar with an on-site place to stay.

The Home Depot Center in Carson is a hotbed of Olympic-sport training, with facilities for soccer, tennis, track and field and velodrome cycling.

The timing of the announcement appeared to be for maximum impact on United States Olympic Committee decision-makers, who will decide April 14 on whether Los Angeles or Chicago is put forth as the U.S. candidate city in the international race for the 2016 Olympic bid.

If the 2016 bid doesn't go to Los Angeles, O'Connor said AEG would "revisit our options."

[luckyeight]

tomorrow 6:30 p.m. at Bunker Hill West Towers

800 W. 1st Street

possible actions on 20 or so projects throughout downtown.

Anyone here knows what's a CUB application about?

:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

[luckyeight]

alright I got it

conditional use beverage permit....
quite a bit of applications being submitted
for approval in around south park

hearing also around Hope Street development, L.A. River,
L.A. Central project, etc.....

:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

[dragonsky]

Mar. 28, 2007
L.A. Olympics bidders hope LV glitz increases odds to land 2016 games
By BENJAMIN SPILLMAN

Backers of Los Angeles' bid for the 2016 Olympic Games are betting on Las Vegas to add glitz -- and about 200,000 hotel rooms -- to their proposal.

Leaders of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games visited Sin City on Tuesday to detail just how Las Vegas fits into their pitch for the 2016 summer games.

The California organizers are using the final weeks before April 14, the day the U.S. Olympic Committee is set to select an American contestant for the upcoming event, to polish their bid as much as possible.

They hope including Las Vegas as a venue for preliminary soccer events will add a bit of shine that distinguishes Los Angeles from Chicago, the other American hopeful.

"Southern Nevada will absolutely be central to what we are doing," said Barry Sanders, chairman of the Southern California Olympics committee.

According to organizers, Las Vegas would be one of three cities outside Los Angeles -- San Francisco and San Diego are the others -- that would host preliminary soccer events.

If Los Angeles is chosen over Chicago in April, it would be America's nominee to compete with cities such as Madrid, Spain; Prague, Czech Republic; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Rome; Tokyo and New Delhi.

The International Olympic Committee's final decision on the 2016 games is expected in 2009.

The Las Vegas matches would be at Sam Boyd Stadium, site of University of Nevada, Las Vegas home football games, which could add about 7,500 temporary seats to its 30,000-seat configuration for the events.

Although the schedule for the games isn't complete, organizers estimate Las Vegas would host eight to 12 men's and women's matches before and during the Los Angeles event, which would be from July 22 to Aug. 7, 2016.

The games would be organized through Los Angeles, with support from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for events in Southern Nevada.

The Los Angeles bid doesn't call for any public financing.

But the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which is supported by hotel room taxes, would likely spend money marketing Nevada events, said Rossi Ralenkotter, president of the authority.

Ralenkotter said he didn't know how much the organization would spend on marketing.

"It is too soon to speculate on that," he said.

The soccer matches would attract from 250,000 to 500,000 fans to Las Vegas, organizers said.

The higher number would represent more than three times the number of people who attended the recent NASCAR races at the Las Vegas Speedway.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority estimates that by 2016 Southern Nevada's hotel inventory will be about 200,000 rooms, up from about 130,000 today.

Visitation in 2016 is projected to be around 55 million people annually, up from about 39 million in 2006.

About 10 million of those visitors will be from outside the United States, which would fit nicely with the international appeal of the Olympic Games, organizers said.

"The world will want to come here if it is going to the Olympic Games," Sanders said of Las Vegas. "The world will want to come to the Olympic Games because it wants to come here."

If the world does come to Las Vegas in late July and early August of 2016, it will likely be very hot and oppressively humid.

The timing of the games coincides with the annual monsoon season, a shift in weather patterns that brings humidity and thunderstorms to the desert in addition to the typically scorching heat.

Brian Fuis, spokesman for the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Las Vegas, said high temperatures around the dates of the summer Olympics are about 105 degrees and low temperatures are about 80 degrees.

"The temperature comes down, but the humidity comes up," said Fuis. "It is still going to feel hot, but more oppressive."

[dragonsky]

Swap of North Hollywood parkland is sought
A firm would build on green space and create a new park and condos nearby. It's called the only such deal in recent memory.
By Sharon Bernstein, Times Staff Writer
March 28, 2007

As part of the city's move toward a denser urban environment, officials are lending support to an unusual land-swap plan that would allow a developer to build on a five-acre park in North Hollywood.

Under the proposal, the developer, J.H. Snyder Co., would replace part of Valley Plaza Park with a parking structure for a new mega-development rivaling The Grove shopping center in square footage. In exchange, the company said it would build a new park a few blocks away, adjacent to a 700-unit condominium and apartment complex that Snyder also plans to build.

The parkland swap, approved in concept by the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, is the only such transfer in recent memory, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

It has sparked concern among some local residents, who worry that the developer ultimately will not build a new park as promised.

They point out that city officials talked for years about creating a park just south of City Hall, then decided to build the new Los Angeles Police Department headquarters there.

"I want a thorough airing of how a private developer can acquire public parkland," said Ronald Bitzer, a local resident who serves on the advisory board at Valley Plaza Park. "I don't trust J.H. Snyder to proceed with caution when it comes to tampering with dedicated parkland."

The land swap is a small part of a much larger development project to be built on the site of Valley Plaza shopping center on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, south of Victory Boulevard. The 1955 shopping center, one of the San Fernando Valley's first, has been decaying for years, and has been scheduled for redevelopment since it was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Snyder's project would involve tearing down the center and replacing it with nearly 800,000 square feet of retail, commercial and entertainment businesses, including a Macy's department store and a multiplex movie theater. It would be designed by Massachusetts-based Elkus Manfredi Architects, the firm that designed The Grove.

Immediately to the southeast at Laurel Plaza, the site of a former May Co. building that now is a Macy's store, Snyder hopes to build condominiums, apartments and the new park.

The redevelopment agency, which is helping to build the commercial portion of the project, hopes the renewed Valley Plaza will be a catalyst for development along a stretch of Laurel Canyon that, though once prosperous, has been blighted for decades.

Los Angeles Councilwoman Wendy Greuel sees the commercial project and the nearby residential one as part of the city's push toward so-called smart growth, in which people live in condos and houses that are near shops, offices and entertainment and are along transit lines.

Laurel Canyon, a major north-south street in the Valley, is served by buses that connect to the popular Orange Line busway and such destinations as Ventura Boulevard.

The city needs to look at developing "places where people can get public transportation and where they can walk across the street to go to a grocery store, walk across the street and go to a Macy's or a coffee shop," Greuel said.

Citing neighborhood concerns that the project might be too big, Greuel said that she supported the plan in concept, but that she would continue to review it as the proposal advanced.

Cliff Goldstein, Snyder's project manager for the two developments, said the company's goal was to develop Valley Plaza as a gathering place or town center for the eastern part of the San Fernando Valley.

He was scheduled to present the company's proposed design for the two sites to a nearby homeowners group Tuesday night. It would include a plan for an open-air courtyard in the center "the size of a football field," Goldstein said, with parking for Macy's and other stores in a separate structure on the site of the former park.

Goldstein said it was not yet clear when the company would build the new park, because the logistics of relocating it to the Laurel Plaza property are complicated.

On one hand, he said, the company needs to build on the side of the existing park as part of its overall development of the site. But Macy's does not plan to move out of its property across the street until the new store in Valley Plaza is ready to open, which could make it difficult to build the park early in the process.

He said the company plans to make the new park much nicer than the existing one, which is essentially a five-acre strip of trees and grass next to the 170 Freeway. The existing park was once part of the larger Valley Plaza Park and recreation center. But the wedge-shaped parcel was cut off after the freeway was built through the center of the bigger park acreage.

Under the current proposal, the new five-acre park would include trees and walking paths and possibly a water feature, Goldstein said.

He said the company would not renege on its promise to build the park.

"That has never been an option and that is not an option," Goldstein said.

But Suzanne Stinson, who lives about a block from the proposed residential part of the development, said it is just not right to pave over an existing park — even if new development is desirable at Valley Plaza.

The community recently planted dozens of trees on the site of the old park, and there are many tall, mature trees.

"Although it's not used that much, it is a park; it's an existing green belt," Stinson said. "If it's been dedicated as park, it shouldn't be sold to the highest bidder and then have some crappy little park put somewhere to replace it."

The old park also has a parking lot, Stinson said, but the new one would have only a few spaces. Without a play area for children or other amenities, the new park would not serve the community well, she said.

Stinson said she had "great trepidation" about the development. Like other residents, she worries that despite the developer's promise of a high-end development on par with The Grove, the neighborhood will wind up with a collection of big-box stores.

Already, she and others said, Costco Wholesale Corp. has expressed interest in the development, indicating to some in the neighborhood that instead of a pedestrian-friendly shopping area, Snyder will build a behemoth, suburban-style mall.

"We just don't want something rammed down our throats," Stinson said.

[dragonsky]

Inland areas called key to state's future
The vast, fast-growing regions need a strong economy and solutions to environmental problems, study says.
By Gary Polakovic, Times Staff Writer
March 28, 2007

California's vast inland valleys, from Redding to Riverside, remain the fastest growing regions in the state but already face serious economic and environmental challenges that could determine the state's future, according to a study released Tuesday.

Developing an economy that can sustain this rapid population growth with well-paying jobs is the challenge facing these communities and will determine whether California will continue to prosper, according to the report by the Brookings Institution.

Although often maligned as poor, ugly and polluted, the inland area, spanning 75,000 square miles, is the key to California's future. One in three Californians calls it home. Four of the nation's 10 fastest-growing cities — Riverside, Bakersfield, Sacramento and San Bernardino — are there.

High-priced real estate forced many families to flee coastal urban areas and pursue their dreams inland during the past decade. Inland California "represents not so much a break with the California dream, but its new homeland, the state of opportunity for a new generation," the study said.

Sustaining the dream without ruining the environment or agriculture will determine if California remains competitive and a beacon for opportunity in the 21st century, experts say. The San Joaquin Valley already rivals Los Angeles for some of the smoggiest air in the country.

"When you get that many people and that much economic power inland, you better take a look at it and understand it because that's where the future of the state is," said John Husing, president of Redlands-based Economics & Politics Inc., an economic research firm unconnected with the study.

The report paints a portrait of a region at the crossroads. People move inland largely to find affordable housing in the Inland Empire, Central Valley and Sierra foothills.

The population in those regions has increased 14% between 2000 and 2005, four times the rate of the rest of the state, the study said.

But the inland region's rapid growth brings serious challenges.

More than half the new arrivals are Latino, and many new residents are poor and significantly less educated than in the Los Angeles region or the Bay Area.

They need good jobs, but employers aren't likely to relocate until there's a capable, high-skilled workforce in place. Many companies are more likely to relocate to Reno, Las Vegas or Phoenix than to inland California, the study said.

"When we think of the future of California, most people think about what happens in Silicon Valley or Hollywood. But for most Californians, the issue is what happens in the middle-class areas," said Joel Kotkin, an author of the study. "Will they be the new vital centers for California's middle class or will they become crabgrass slums with high unemployment and poor living conditions?"

The study recommends three approaches to help transform inland boomtowns into more livable and economically sustainable cities:

• Create more amenities that appeal to families, skilled labor and industries, including more open space and parks, better entertainment and retail centers and improved infrastructure.

• Create upward mobility for residents by offering more work-force training and better schools.

• Build on optimism to create political consensus for leadership and positive change. The study notes that, despite the region's maligned reputation, 75% of Central Valley adults rated their community as good or excellent — providing a basis for political will.

"It's up to them whether the area continues to perform to the low expectations as viewed by many commentators or begins to forge a future that will preserve the middle-class 'California dream' for at least another generation," the study said.

William Frey of the Brookings Institution and Kotkin, experts in demographics and urban development, wrote the 20-page paper.

The Brookings Institution is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

[dragonsky]

Finally, Venice gets its solar streetlight
By Steve Hymon, Times Staff Writer
April 2, 2007

About four years ago, members of the Presidents Row Neighborhood Assn. of Venice decided they wanted more streetlights.

Like many places in Los Angeles, their neighborhood had never been fully rigged for lights. That was annoying on several fronts, particularly to those who walked their dogs at night or grew weary of waiting for lost pizza deliverers.

Residents also wanted to be progressive and asked that the streetlights be solar-powered, and, back in 2005, then-Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski agreed to help fund a test program with one….



And how did that work out?

After overcoming the usual bureaucratic hurdles, the city's first solar streetlight blinked on a few weeks ago and has been going strong since, lighting a small patch of Victoria Avenue.

Residents have even given their new light a name: Plexus, as in the muscle.

The set up is pretty simple. A small solar panel sits atop the pole with a small battery tucked underneath it. The panel collects the rays, the battery stores the energy and at dusk — ta-da! — the light comes on.

--

Why did it take so long for the city to install a single solar streetlight?

City rules.

Even though members of the neighborhood association did research and had selected a solar light, the city then had to do its own research. Many moons passed.

The city installed two other solar streetlights — another in Venice, the other in the San Fernando Valley. As a result, three of about 250,000 streetlights in Los Angeles are now powered by the sun.

--

Is this the wave of the future?

Some Venetians hope so. Plexus may not be quite as bright as a conventional streetlight, but it does an admirable job.

"We love it. We don't need to land aircraft on our street. We just need to walk our dogs and have guests be able to find their cars," said Lindsey Folsom, a member of the neighborhood association.

The big hope, Folsom says, is that the city uses more solar lights in the future to save electricity and a few bucks. The average streetlight in L.A. consumes about as much electricity as a TV set, and it currently costs residents about $17 million a year to keep the streetlights on.

Sol Inc. of Palm City, Fla., manufactured the light being used on Victoria Avenue. J.R. Finkle, a sales associate with the firm, said the light in Venice costs $3,500 to $4,000 — more than most streetlights — but the devices usually pay for themselves in five to seven years because the sun's rays don't come with a price tag.

--

And the big picture here?

You may have heard the phrase "global warming" in the news lately. Assuming it is really happening, one big cause is believed to be the burning of fossil fuels.

About 76% of the electricity used in Los Angeles comes from burning fossil fuels — 47% of that is coal and 29% natural gas. Coal, in particular, is a big greenhouse gas producer.

To simplify its strategy, the city wants to reduce significantly its use of fossil fuels before we either: A) run out of fossil fuels, or B) the Earth's polar ice caps melt and the sea rises, sweeping Venice and Plexus to a watery grave.

At this juncture, the Department of Water and Power says that 8% of its power is from such renewable and clean sources as hydroelectricity.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is pushing to have 20% of the city's electricity come from clean sources by 2010 — something the agency hopes to accomplish by purchasing clean energy on the open market and by building new facilities.

--

So why does the DWP leave the lights on at its building at night?

DWP spokesman Joe Ramallo couldn't wait to answer that one — seriously.

Among his answers: Most of the lights are programmed to be turned off between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. However, some remain on for around-the-clock operations and maintenance. City building codes also dictate that some security lights stay on.

Ramallo then launched into a soliloquy over the building's super-efficient fluorescent lights. And, leaving no bases uncovered, he also said the agency will be installing low-flow toilets in the building.

A skeptical observer may suggest that it waited for many homeowners to get them first.

[dragonsky]

City seeks parking report before approving mall
By Kenneth Todd Ruiz Staff Writer

ARCADIA - City Council members want Westfield to show them the parking.

After strongly criticizing the mall owner, council members late Tuesday night attached one more condition before it would approve construction of a proposed expansion dubbed The Promenade.

"When they opened the first phase of their expansion, the biggest complaint we heard was about their parking," Councilman Bob Harbicht said Wednesday, referring to the mall's first phase of expansion, which opened in 2004.

By the end of the meeting, Westfield agreed to submit specific plans for accommodating the loss of parking during the project's construction, which based on its estimate for the city is between 600 and 800 spaces.

Although city staff recommended approval of the project, which the council will likely confer after approving the parking plan, traffic anxiety and pent-up frustrations over Westfield's battle with developer Caruso Affiliated made for a tense exchange at Tuesday's meeting.

Westfield spokeswoman Katey Dickey said the company would comply with the request and was looking forward to coming back before the council.

Westfield America President Ken Wong was traveling and couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday, one day after taking his lumps from the council with a smile.

"After we finally got done with all the questions, I scolded Westfield Corp. for the fact they've been a terrible corporate citizen and are trying everything they can to tear this community apart," Harbicht said.

Notwithstanding that, Harbicht said he told Wong, "I love your proposal and I think it will be great for the city."

The 100,000-square-foot expansion will add premium retailers in an outdoor setting above two levels of parking.

[dragonsky]

New York Times
Friday, April 6, 2007
Square Feet; A Glimpse of a More Vertical Los Angeles
By TERRY PRISTIN
Published: March 21, 2007

Long before ''the new urbanism'' became a tired phrase, Playa Vista, the last remaining large tract of undeveloped land on this city's traffic-choked West Side, was envisioned as a place where people could live, work, shop and play without leaving their neighborhood.

Now a community of 4,500 people, Playa Vista is situated between Westchester Bluffs and Marina del Rey, about a mile from the Pacific Ocean. It is dotted with small parks and made up of blocks of four-story buildings, mainly condominiums, in styles that include Spanish, Art Deco and contemporary, and will eventually contain nearly 6,000 units of housing.

With about 32 units to an acre, according to Steve Soboroff, the president of Playa Vista, it is one of the densest residential communities in Southern California and a harbinger, some say, of Los Angeles's vertical future.

Though Playa Vista encourages its residents to travel around their new neighborhood in electric carts, it has yet to free them from their cars. Commercial development has been confined so far to a smattering of retail storefronts and a glassy complex at the intersection of Jefferson and Lincoln Boulevards that has been leased since 2003 by Electronic Arts, the video game manufacturer.

But a new stage in the community's evolution is about to arrive. Two major developers are planning large Silicon Valley-style projects that they hope to lease to the type of new-media companies that have been flocking to the West Side.

In February, Tishman Speyer, the company that owns Rockefeller Center, and its financial partner, Walton Street Capital, acquired a 64-acre site near Jefferson and Centinela Avenue, on the eastern edge of Playa Vista, for $200 million. It is the same site where DreamWorks, the movie company, once intended to build a studio that would have been Playa Vista's showpiece. But those plans were shelved in 1999. A couple of years later, the office market went into decline.

The timing is right for Tishman Speyer to begin developing a 1.1-million-square-foot campus of low-slung buildings, said John R. Miller, a senior managing director.

''It's only recently that this made economic sense,'' Mr. Miller said. The complex will surround a nine-acre park with ball fields and tennis courts to be developed by Playa Vista.

Symantec, the Internet security technology company, is building a campus on nine acres near Playa Vista in Fox Hills, and Yahoo took 256,000 square feet of space at the former Colorado Center in Santa Monica in 2005.

Though the vacancy rate on the West Side is less than 6 percent, new construction has been hindered by a scarcity of land and strong public resistance to development. Only 65,000 square feet of new space was added to the market in 2006, according to the CoStar Group, a real estate research company in Bethesda, Md.

Playa Vista sits on land once owned by Howard Hughes, the eccentric aviation pioneer and filmmaker. The Tishman site includes 16 structures that were built from 1941 to 1953 for the Hughes Aircraft Corporation, including the hangar where Mr. Hughes created the flying boat known as the Spruce Goose. Because of their role in the development of the aerospace industry in Southern California, most of these buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and must be preserved.

Mr. Miller acknowledged that it would have been easier to start with ''a clean slate.'' But he said his company was toying with the possibility of modernizing the Spruce Goose hangar, which has been used as a soundstage in recent years for movies, including ''Titanic'' and ''World Trade Center.''

Near Tishman Speyer's site, another national developer, the Lincoln Property Company of Dallas, has begun driving piles into the ground for the first phase of Horizon at Playa Vista, which will consist of two five-story buildings totaling about a million square feet of office space, also for prospective new-media tenants.

Playa Vista has ''a lot of things that are un-L.A. in a good way,'' said David S. Binswanger, an executive vice president at Lincoln. ''We looked at the Playa culture and we looked at the culture of the tenants, and we decided they matched awfully well.''

Another selling point, he said, was the Village at Playa Vista, the new town center that Rick J. Caruso, the developer of the Grove, the popular open-air retail-and-entertainment center near the Farmers Market on Third Street and Fairfax Avenue, plans to build on an 11-acre site near the office complexes.

Mr. Caruso said the new center would have a ''beachier'' atmosphere than the Grove and would be smaller and more locally focused, with an upscale supermarket, 175 luxury rental apartments and a movie theater. Construction has been delayed by a long-running environmental lawsuit concerning the cleanup of gases emitted at the former industrial site.

In 1978 a previous owner, the Summa Corporation, a company managed by the Hughes heirs, announced plans to develop Playa Vista, prompting one of the most protracted development battles in the history of Los Angeles. Opponents said the project would destroy the fragile Ballona Wetlands to the east of Lincoln Boulevard and would have devastating consequences involving traffic and air pollution.

In the intervening years, the project has been vastly reduced in scale from the huge commercial development that Summa intended to build, and more than 600 acres of land have been preserved as open space.

In 1989, a new owner, Maguire Thomas, brought in a group of architects from the fledgling New Urbanist movement, including Andre's Duany and Stefanos Polyzoides, to design a mixed-use village inspired by pedestrian-friendly places like Santa Barbara. ''Playa Vista was the beginning, of the recognition that planning standards from the post-World War II era were wrong and counterproductive,'' said Nelson C. Rising, who managed the project for Maguire Thomas.

But litigation tied up the project for years, and Maguire Thomas lost control of it in 1997. The current owners, Playa Capital, a group led by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, hired a management team from Orange County with a more suburban orientation than Mr. Rising, said Ruth Galanter, a former City Council member who was elected because of her opposition to Summa's plans for Playa Vista. Land was sold to 15 separate builders and the design standards were sacrificed, she said.

Many design and planning specialists fault Playa Vista for its narrow sidewalks, the uniform height of its buildings and architecture they regard as uninspired. ''It's such a comedown from what Maguire Thomas initially proposed,'' said Richard S. Weinstein, a professor of architecture and urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles. ''It's one of the biggest pieces of undeveloped land of any city in the U.S., and you build exactly what you would produce on any corner lot.''

But Mr. Soboroff, a former president of the City Parks Commission, who joined Playa Vista in 2001 after the project was under way, dismissed such complaints as the grumbling of purists. ''This is not a purebred, this is a Prius,'' he said. ''If we were doing pure, we'd still be an airport.''

And Ms. Galanter, who was instrumental in forging a plan to save much of the wetlands from development, said there was still much to admire in Playa Vista, including a new fresh-water marsh, a first-rate water management system and housing discounts for police officers, firefighters, nurses and teachers.

''Playa Vista fell short of what it could have been,'' Ms. Galanter said. But, she said, it was ''a lot better than any other development of the same size that I know of, certainly in Southern California.''

[dragonsky]

State park to open near L.A. River
Rio de Los Angeles State Park is a symbol of the revitalization of a once crime-plagued neighborhood.
By Steve Hymon, Times Staff Writer
April 16, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2007-04/29081843.jpg

Just a few decades ago, the Taylor Yards was a two-mile-long expanse of railroad tracks where trains were coupled together to connect Los Angeles industry to the rest of the nation.

Today, most of those tracks and grimy rail yards are gone, and something else has risen in their place: a 40-acre state park that is intended to revive the working-class neighborhood of Cypress Park in northeast Los Angeles and be part of the "emerald necklace" of parks the city envisions one day lining a rejuvenated Los Angeles River.

The Rio de Los Angeles State Park opens Friday, complete with soccer fields, baseball diamonds, a playground and a new community center — not to mention vast expanses of grass and a field strewn with wildflowers.

"This park is a symbol; it's almost like a fresh start," said Gus Lizarde, president of the Greater Cypress Park Neighborhood Council and a longtime business owner in the community. "It brought us together because it was such a long fight to get it."

A little more than a decade ago, Cypress Park was in the news for all the wrong reasons. In 1995, 3-year-old Stephanie Kuhen was killed after her family's car was struck by a hail of bullets fired by gang members. The shooting also became a symbol for the long decline of Cypress Park.

Union Pacific phased out most of the rail yards in the 1970s and '80s and began moving those operations to the Inland Empire. Soon the city began pushing a plan to create new jobs and amenities by allowing nearly all of the area to be developed as warehouses, commercial sites and a multiplex theater. The proposal spurred a lawsuit by a coalition of community groups who argued that the city should have required a proper environmental review of the project.

In July 2001, a judge agreed with the groups.

"There would not be a park here if not for the community," said Melanie Winter, a Los Angeles River activist who helped bring the suit against the city. "The residents are the reason that there is something to celebrate."

The court ruling opened the door for the state to purchase the land from funds generated by a $2.1-billion parks and water bond measure approved in 2000. The money enabled the state to purchase 40 acres for the new park, a 17-acre parcel along the river that hasn't been developed and to acquire the Cornfield — another abandoned rail yard next to Chinatown — for the Los Angeles State Historic Park, which is being designed. But there was a problem: Nearly all of the state parks in California are intended to protect landscapes and ecosystems. The community wanted something different: playing fields. Over the years Cypress Park business owner Raul Macias, a Mexican immigrant, had organized a nonprofit youth soccer league with hundreds of players who desperately needed a place to play.

The matter was resolved when legislators devised a way for the city to lease the land and build much-needed playing fields. In addition to the five soccer fields — including one with a synthetic surface — and two baseball diamonds, the new park features an expansive children's playground and walking paths through an area of natural-appearing grasslands.

City parks General Manager Jon Mukri called it "the greenest park from an environmental standpoint we've designed," from the waterless urinals in the community center now under construction, to the park's permeable parking lots, intended to absorb storm runoff.

Ruth Coleman, chief of the state parks system, said that she views the local park as a return to an earlier time.

"Really, this is a new vision for state parks to create large-scale places of beauty and nature in the city because the cities are so park poor," Coleman said. "It's kind of going back to the vision Frederick Law Olmsted had for Central Park" in New York. "These parks can become community centers if they're done right."

One question that remains is whether the city or state will be able to acquire a key parcel, owned by Union Pacific, that separates the new park from the Los Angeles River.

"We are still assessing any impacts to the environment that may have taken place over the years in the areas where rail cars and locomotives were serviced and repaired," wrote Mark Davis, a Union Pacific spokesman, in an e-mail. "This property may be retained for railroad uses."

River activists covet the property because it is a site where the river channel could potentially be widened to create more riparian habitat. The feasibility of reworking that stretch of the river is under study by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Even if the land were acquired, there would be challenges. Union Pacific and Metrolink commuters use tracks that form a barrier between the new state park and the parcel along the river. That corridor also is being considered for a proposed high-speed rail system tying Los Angeles to Northern California.

City Councilman Ed Reyes, whose district includes Taylor Yards, is still hopeful that something can be done to make the tracks less of an obstacle. Reyes grew up three blocks from the new park and came to be a supporter of it after initially working on building proposals for the site as a deputy to former Councilman Mike Hernandez.

Reyes said he appreciates Cypress Park's railroad legacy and the jobs it provided, but he has come to believe there's a greater need now for open space for today's youth. Like many others, he also grew up hearing the clang of railroad cars being coupled together day and night and was a little shocked to see the yards gone.

"I went down there after they had finished the cleanup of the site and had taken the tracks out," Reyes recalled, "and it just blew me away because we're actually living in a beautiful valley here. I never appreciated it before."

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[dragonsky]

Arcadia City Council OKs Plan For Shopping Center
Council Objects To Plan For Off-Track Betting Facility

POSTED: 6:36 pm PDT April 17, 2007

ARCADIA, Calif. -- After a marathon debate that spanned two meetings and included comments from dozens of residents, the Arcadia City Council unanimously approved plans Tuesday for a high-end shopping center at a mostly unused parking lot at Santa Anita racetrack.

The council objected to plans for a 98,000-square-foot off-track betting facility in the development, and deleted it from the project.

That deletion was a minor victory for opponents of the development, who descended on the Arcadia City Council during two meetings to voice their distaste for the project. Many members of the opposition group Arcadia First! spoke to the council during a marathon meeting last Wednesday that stretched into the early hours of Thursday morning.

Jeff Schenkel, spokesman for Arcadia First!, said the group's executive committee would meet as soon as possible to discuss options -- including a possible referendum or litigation.

"It's still unknown, but it's up to them," Schenkel said.

The Shops at Santa Anita will be built by developer Rick Caruso, best known for turning the parking lot at Farmers Market into The Grove. This time his development would fill a rarely used parking lot next to the race track that served as a major location for the hit movie "Seabiscuit."

Caruso has repeatedly denied opponents' allegations that the project would generate more traffic than the area can handle or turn into a full-blown casino center.

"Nobody can come up here and say that Santa Anita intends to or has the right to expand gaming," Caruso told the council. "They don't intend to. We're not going to. And I've been on record saying -- and I will not support it. And I will come out against it because that's not what we're intending to do."

A letter from Caruso's firm to Arcadia residents promised to "build on the rich heritage of the track and provide upscale shops, unique outdoor restaurants, and lushly landscaped park-like settings and promenades."

The firm sweetened the pot for Arcadia residents with promises of a community performing arts center and 25,000 square feet of office space for the Arcadia School District headquarters.

The adjacent cities of Pasadena and San Marino have weighed in on the issue with concerns about traffic, housing and other worries.

Opponents argued that the center will snarl traffic at 20 nearby intersections, as the project would be 61 percent larger than The Grove in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles.

The Westfield Group, owner of a large shopping center next to the racetrack, has already said it opposes the project.

San Marino city planners have told Arcadia they worry about mall-related traffic on already-congested Huntington Drive, and Pasadena officials said they are worried about snarls at Colorado Boulevard and Michillinda Avenue during peak hours.

[dragonsky]

From the Los Angeles Times
January 30, 2006
A Vision for Keeping Flower Fields Forever


As housing plans move ahead in northern L.A. County, students push to create a preserve for the wild blossoms that cover Gorman Hills in spring.

By Gary Polakovic, Times Staff Writer

The hills on Los Angeles County's northern frontier are barren now, but spring will soon coax a brilliant display of orange, purple and yellow wildflowers across miles of the Grapevine region of Interstate 5.

The annual floral show is one that few sites in Southern California can match.


But some worry that development pressures threaten the flower fields in the Gorman Hills, the same landscape that inspired environmental artist Christo to mimic the spring bloom in his famous "Umbrellas" project in October 1991.

Developers hope to construct one of the largest planned communities in Los Angeles County history, with 23,000 homes on a portion of the vast expanse of neighboring Tejon Ranch. A Tustin-based builder is also seeking permits for 191 homes on the northern edge of the wildflower site.

Eager to stay ahead of the building boom, a Los Angeles city planning official and a group of his UCLA Extension students advocate establishing a vast, new Gorman wildflower preserve that would stretch several miles east of Interstate 5 and north of California 138.

Planner Mike O'Brien said he has always admired the spring bloom on travels to Northern California. He sees the preserve as an antidote to urban sprawl creeping up the Tehachapi Mountains, connecting the Los Angeles Basin to the San Joaquin Valley.

"Whole new communities are being built in the middle of nowhere," he said. "That's urban sprawl. Do we really want everything built from San Clemente to Bakersfield?"

Among the proposed development projects is Centennial, a "new town" of 70,000 people that would be built on Tejon Ranch, which straddles Los Angeles and Kern counties. Other plans call for building hundreds of more homes near the top of Tejon Summit near Lebec.

"This entire area is really about to be changed forever because of development," said Patric Hedlund, managing editor of the Mountain Enterprise newspaper in Frazier Park. "It represents economic opportunity, but people came here to enjoy places like the wildflower lands."

Potential advocates for a preserve include the California Native Plant Society and the state parks department, and more are expected, O'Brien said. Residents in the mountain communities are just learning about the proposal from local newspaper articles and town hall meetings.

But there are many obstacles to creating a wildflower preserve. Cost is chief among them.

No one knows just how much money would be needed to establish a preserve, but the price tag would probably be millions of dollars. Most of the money would go toward purchasing developable properties.

The UCLA students are counting on organizations such as the Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land and the Sierra Club to step forward and work with local officials to raise money for the project. The Gorman Hills are a checkerboard of parcels owned by 22 parties, not all of whom may want to relinquish their parcels.

Matthew Shaffer, spokesman for the Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit group that promotes open space, said the trust has championed student projects before, most notably in Atlanta, where a term paper by a Georgia Tech student became the blueprint for a network of parks, trails and commuter rail lines.

"It's a familiar proposition to take a vision worked on by students and make it happen," Shaffer said of the UCLA proposal. "It sounds like something we might want to consider."

The UCLA students spent the fall quarter preparing their report, which is a roadmap for carving out 2,800 acres of flower-dappled hills at the junction of I-5 and California 138 southeast of Gorman. They advocate building trails, interpretive signs and a visitor center.

"For generations, this spring display has drawn lovers of wildflowers, particularly devotees of the state flower — the California poppy," the students' report states. "Conventional wisdom holds that man's hand has weighed so heavily on the land that little remains of California's original state. Yet … Gorman Post Road is considered one of the best wildflower sites in Southern California."

In winter, the Gorman Hills are tawny heaps of nothingness, dotted with power poles, barbed-wire fences and juniper bushes. But the hills looming over Gorman Post Road, a country lane astride a slit in the San Andreas fault, explode in color when spring conditions are right.

Motorists park their cars and step into a dreamscape of poppies, lupine, owl's clover, goldfields and desert suncups that spill over slopes and into canyons.

June Furman, 72, has lived on Gorman Post Road for decades. She said she has to shoo away tourists who cross her 13-acre ranch to see the wildflowers in springtime. She worries that more houses in the area would spoil the land.

"I'd rather see wildflowers than houses," she said.

Builders are carefully studying the Gorman wildflower preserve proposal. Jeff Haspell, project manager for Rox Consulting, said the Tustin company wants to build homes on 10% to 15% of the land identified for the preserve. But he said the two projects would not conflict.

"This is going to be easy to work out," Haspell said. "There's lots of room to work and be flexible. I don't see a problem that won't allow both to work together."

Barry Zoeller, spokesman for Tejon Ranch, which seeks to develop 5% of its substantial land holdings in the Tehachapis, said he also doesn't see a problem with establishing a preserve. "We see the value in it," he said. "It's consistent with what Tejon Ranch is."

Plans to develop houses or the wildflower preserve in the Grapevine have lately engrossed the mountain communities' residents, who realize, after 50 years of sitting on the sidelines as growth swept over Southern California, that change is coming to their hills.

Said local newspaper editor Hedlund of the proposed flower preserve: "People are beginning to talk for the first time about what ecotourism opportunities there might be. The preserve could be a real jewel in the center of that.

"It's like we're at this trembling moment, to invent new understandings of what is economically viable, and yet there's this race against time."

http://www.feralflowers.com/gorman.htm

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[dragonsky]

Battling the monster on the hill
Publishing tycoon Duane Hagadone's Palm Desert neighbors consider his dream castle a $30-million offense against nature.
By Valerie Reitman, Times Staff Writer
April 20, 2007

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NEAR the 18th hole of the Bighorn golf course in Palm Desert, publishing tycoon Duane Hagadone laid out his vision for a dream home to his architect. It would be set high on the bald mountain rising near the green yet be so inconspicuous that he'd have to point it out even to golf buddies.

Hagadone wanted "a residence that blends into the mountain, that is very subtle, not a pinnacle seen from all angles," his assistants explained to Palm Desert officials as they sought the go-ahead for the subsequent design.

The $30-million-plus home would feature a copper roof composed of "angles and curves" that mimicked the ridge of the mountain, while its rock walls would be molded from those on the hillside.

The spectacular architectural plans and model so dazzled city officials that they granted Hagadone an exemption from a preservation ordinance that caps hillside homes at 4,000 square feet. Hagadone wanted his castle to be eight times that size — 32,016 square feet.

Before that vote in 2004, one City Council member envisioned write-ups "in every architectural magazine around the world"; another said he'd already inquired about using this "jewel in our crown" as a venue for fundraising events for the local theater. "We'll all be bragging about it," a third council member said.

Instead, the home has brought a load of grief for this city now that it is just about complete. Visible from miles away and set on a prominent ridgeline, its frame resembles a wayward space station parked amid the picturesque foothills.

Hagadone and his representatives declined interview requests. But upset residents have flooded the city with e-mails, branding the house "an unsightly scar on the hill," "a blight," "a monstrosity," "a pimple" and an "abortion" of city planning.

"We had an untouched ridgeline, untouched," lamented resident Larry Sutter.

Residents complained that their views of the Santa Rosa Mountains, which enfold the city like a clamshell, had been ruined. The bare, unlit peaks are lovely at dusk, silhouetted against the desert's twilight hues, and residents particularly dreaded how the house would look lighted up at night.

The outrage crescendoed last summer when city officials discovered that Hagadone had graded 64,000 square feet — double what the city had approved — to add unauthorized gardens, a sports court, koi pond and sidewalks.

Some residents demanded that Hagadone rip out unauthorized additions.

"The natural beauty of the desert and the mountains should be there for everyone … not just the few super rich," wrote James C. Owens. "Have the guts to tell Mr. Hagadone NO! NO! NO!"

WHEN it comes to golf and water — and most everything else — Hagadone, 74, lives large.

Take Lady Lola, the 205-foot yacht Hagadone had custom-built with what he called the world's only floating 18-hole golf course — so he could play while cruising around the world with the boat's namesake, wife Lola. Golf tees sprouted from the deck for Hagadone and friends to hack toward 18 buoys his crews anchored at various distances. A supply vessel followed behind toting other toys: a helicopter and landing pad, several speed boats (for crew members to retrieve the floating golf balls), sailboats, kayaks and a three-man submarine.

"We're a very active family. We love water sports," Hagadone told Showboats International yachting magazine in 2004. "No yacht really gives you the opportunity to carry a full complement of toys."

His extensive holdings in his Idaho hometown, Coeur d'Alene, which include restaurants, condominiums and a golf resort, have led some critics to dub the town "Coeur Duane." Hagadone raised hackles there a few years ago by proposing to replace two blocks of its busiest downtown street with a $20-million garden honoring his parents, but he dropped the controversial idea.

Hagadone wasn't always rich, according to his biography on the Horatio Alger Assn. of Distinguished Americans website. He dropped out of college to sell advertising for the eight-page daily Coeur d'Alene Press, where his father had risen to publisher. After his father died at age 49, Hagadone became publisher, and later owner, of the Press and 18 colorfully named dailies and weeklies in Idaho and Montana such as the Hungry Horse and Whitefish Pilot.

For more than 30 years, Hagadone — like thousands of other snowbirds — has traded frigid winters for the Coachella Valley's sun and more than 100 golf courses. His most recent base was in Indian Wells at the Vintage, a country club development that once made news for reprimanding one of its best-known homeowners, Bill Gates, for teeing off in a T-shirt rather than the requisite collar or turtleneck.

In 2004, Hagadone sold his boats for a reported $90 million and bought a plot at the Bighorn club.

The original design comprised five wings interspersed with interior streams and built-in aquariums. It featured his-and-her lap pools, an infinity-edge pool and several patios and terraces. Natural light would flood in from more than 110 glass windows and doors — some as large as 80 square feet, arced like half-moons, or opening at the touch of a button to let the outdoors in.

On the lower, entrance level: a huge garage for cars and golf carts, servants quarters, an elevator and a food preparation kitchen that appears big enough for Emeril, the audience and the band.

As the frame of Hagadone's home rose, residents of nearby gated communities and trailer parks dubbed Hagadone's home "the flying saucer" and "Neverland Ranch." Blinding glare from the desert sun glanced off the rounded, floor-to-ceiling glass windows of Hagadone's office, a round building in front of the main home.

It is "like a lighthouse with one major difference — there is no public benefit from its location," Jane and Paul Mueller, who live nearby, wrote to city officials.

Only a handful of residents expressed support for the project. One, Bighorn resident Edward Burger, e-mailed city officials that it would be Palm Desert's equivalent of the iconic home of Bob Hope, built three decades ago in nearby Palm Springs on a far less prominent peak. "I'm proud to have it in my community."

Bighorn rivals the Vintage and a few other clubs as the desert's toniest residential golf development. "Ultimately," the club's literature boasts, "it isn't the club you carry, but the one where you belong."

So many members drive $170,000-plus Bentley Continental GTs that it has its own Bentley Club. Bighorn also has an exclusive Starbucks, thanks to the chain's former chief executive — and Bighorn homeowner — Orin Smith. Other residents include producer Jerry Weintraub and "Entertainment Tonight" host Mary Hart.

A few miles from El Paseo, the desert's Rodeo Drive, Bighorn straddles Highway 74, the mountain route to Idyllwild and San Diego. A path under the highway allows golf carts to easily cruise between their homes and two world-class 18-hole courses, huge spa and boardroom-for-rent. Anteing up the $350,000 initiation fee, $25,000 annual charges, and $1,000 yearly "golf cart charge" gets a couple entry into those facilities and the Pour House restaurant.

Late last summer, Palm Desert associate city planner Tony Bagato discovered in an inspection that initial construction blueprints understated the home's square-footage by nearly 13,000 square feet: It was actually 44,870 square feet. But Hagadone had built beyond even that, grading land for a koi pond, a sports court and gardens not approved by the city. Now, the home was 64,000, twice what had been approved.

Hagadone's representatives called it a mistake and blamed their initial engineers — since replaced — for miscalculating the size. They submitted permit applications to cover the additions.

On Oct. 26, the day of the council showdown over the mansion, Hagadone got up at 4:30 a.m. to fly from Idaho. First stop: Ironwood, the gated community of more than 1,500 residents that lies in the shadow of his mansion, among his most vociferous opponents. He was met by four representatives from Ironwood in golf carts.

Hagadone "wasn't lawyered up," resident Larry Sutter recalled later, but came alone. He rode shotgun with Sutter, as the mini golf-cart parade cruised by modest two-bedroom condos and through the backyards of the million-dollar-plus estates that now look directly up at the colossal home. They pointed out how the infinity pool's straight edge wildly contrasted with the ridgeline's natural terrain.

They repaired to the fitness center to talk more. Hagadone said he would get his "rock guy" to soften the impact, Sutter recalled. Hagadone "certainly had opinions," Sutter said, but was "open and engaging and willing to take these steps, and we appreciate that."

HOURS later, the council hearing began, and members were quick to express frustration about their limited options.

"The first time I approved this, I didn't think I was approving anything that could be seen over the ridgeline," said Councilman Richard S. Kelly. "What's my guarantee?" he asked, in regard to approving the additional square footage, "because I thought I had a guarantee once before." Once something was built, he said, he couldn't imagine the council demanding the applicant tear it down.

If Hagadone ignored the limits on his original permits, why should the city trust him to abide by the permits he wanted for the sports court and other extra additions? Kelly asked Hagadone.

Councilwoman Jean M. Benson questioned why Hagadone should be granted anything else, considering "all that stuff he's done illegally already."

"We take some poor guy that doesn't have a nickel and make him tear down a house and rebuild it because he did it without a permit," she said. Hagadone's representatives "stood up there and blatantly lied to us."

City Atty. David Irwin said the original permits contained no provisions specifying that the house wouldn't be visible. With or without the new permits, Irwin said, "we have very limited ability to impose conditions on the original permit that was issued." If they granted new permits, however, they could attach conditions that he must modify what had already been built.

Hagadone then addressed the council, telling members that "we are very proud of the home" and hadn't broken any promises.

"I certainly have not ever proposed or commented that the building would not be seen at all," Hagadone said.

He said he had "worked hard" to make the property as "environmentally positive-looking as I possibly could," investing $360,000 in modifications, "all to become a better neighbor," and getting up before dawn that morning to address the concerns of Ironwood residents.

Hagadone urged the council to approve the sports court and other additions immediately, saying he now had large crews working to finish the house within a few months. He promised to work with a special aesthetics committee appointed by the council if they gave the go-ahead.

"When you're my age, you don't want to miss another winter in the desert," he said.

Jim Ferguson, the mayor, sided with Hagadone. "You seem like an honorable guy," Ferguson told the publisher. "You've worked well with us, and you didn't do anything that we didn't tell you you couldn't do."

With Benson dissenting, contending they were being "blackmailed," the council voted 3 to 1 to issue the additional permits.

Some residents now say the home is much less offensive with the total $700,000 that Hagadone says he has spent trying to make it less noticeable, including improvements to the home's rock walls and changes to the "Batman's ears," as some referred to the stonework around the office. Others think the faux rocks make it look worse.

Gloria Petitto, 80, whose home was built in 1956, said she remembered when Bing Crosby, Randolph Scott and other celebrities lived just down the street and "everybody was family, whether you were a ditch digger, a teacher or an entertainer."

Instead of the "majesty" of "God's nature" she could see from every room, she sees the Hagadone mansion.

They have "no consideration, no care for anybody else; they just want to be high up and look down," Petitto said. "I'll tell you," she said, that's "what money does for you."

Last week, the City Council approved an ordinance to prohibit building on or across ridgelines for new lots. In addition, residents living within 4,000 feet of any proposed hillside homes must be informed while city officials consider approval. But it appears that exceptions could still be made, just as was done in Hagadone's case.

Since selling his Vintage Club residence for about $5 million two weeks ago, Hagadone has begun moving into his dream castle. The lights have kicked on for the first time on the mountain, pouring from all the glass walls. The sight fills Ironwood resident Waldo H. Shank with fury "to look up on that ridge all lit up like a carnival each night and know that it was all accomplished by their pushing and shoving and ignoring all the rules."

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[LAMetroGuy]

Powerhouses
By DANIEL MILLER - 5/7/2007
Los Angeles Business Journal Staff

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A rendering of the 42-story condo tower to be built in Century City.

Los Angeles has long been known as a city where the ultra rich purchase expansive homes on the beach or a gated compound in the hills.


But the mega wealthy will soon have a new kind of place to live – over-the-top urban penthouses.


Top-floor condominiums costing up to $9 million or so have been around for decades in Los Angeles, mostly on the Wilshire Corridor in Westwood. But the latest wave of development is promising a slew of penthouses with staggering views and staggering price tags that are double or triple the prices of old units.


About 30 ultra high-end penthouses are expected to come on the market in the next three years, according to local real estate industry figures. Priced at up to $25 million with talk of $28 million, these units will crown new high-rise buildings in Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood.


“These penthouses are like rare gems,” said Steve Fifield, president and founder of Fifield Cos., which is building Club View, a high-end condo tower just east of the Los Angeles Country Club. “They are like large De Beers diamonds; they sell at a factor that is different from regular real estate.”


For all that extra money, buyers will get huge units in new, tall buildings, several of which command views of the ocean, downtown and the mountains.


Some of the typical features include five-star hotel-style services, cathedral ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, marble staircases and multiple terraces. In addition, some of the buildings are being designed by world famous architects.


Aside from the general run-up in real estate prices over the last several years, multiple factors are at play in creating a market for the penthouses, as well as the less expensive but still multi-million dollar units located on lower floors.


To begin with, improved amenities and cultural options have made urban living in Los Angeles more appealing to prospective buyers – as worsening traffic has made it less attractive to live in suburban locales.


There’s also the buoyant stock market and L.A.’s reinvigorated, tech industry, which have created a new class of millionaires. Many of them are older baby boomers whose children have left home and for whom a penthouse, rather than a house, is attractive. And as Los Angeles has matured, it is attracting more international buyers accustomed to vertical, urban living and who have no problem paying big sums for a condo.


“In the 1980s, it was a tough time. The mentality was, who would ever give up their suburban home and give up their big house and big yard?” said Bill Schwarz, chairman of Wilshire Realty Co., who has brokered the sales of several penthouses. “Now people are more than willing to go vertical.”


Present perfect

Currently, most of Los Angeles’ high-end penthouses are situated on the Wilshire Corridor, from the western border of Beverly Hills to Westwood proper. Over the years, several have traded in the $6 million to $9 million range. Many of these buildings include 24-hour valet service and full security teams. Marquee units can be found on the corridor in the Remington, the Californian, and the Wilshire House.


It is difficult to say what the record price is for a Los Angeles penthouse because the buyers can work to keep their purchase prices hidden. But Stephen Shapiro, chairman of Westside Estate Agency Inc., a high end residential brokerage, says his firm sold two penthouse units in the Remington condo tower in 2003 to the same buyer for a total of $14 million. The buyer combined the units for a total of 15,000 square feet of space.


Still, the new class of buildings is something else.


For example, the Century, a development by Related Cos. in Century City, is designed by acclaimed architect Robert A.M. Stern and includes almost four acres of “estate grounds.” Then there’s the Montage Hotel and condo development by the Athens Group. It is set in the heart of Beverly Hills and condo residents will have full access to the hotel’s amenities. And the Carlyle on the Wilshire Corridor by Woodridge Capital LLC will include private wine cellars.


So far, it appears the priciest unit to go on the market will be a 12,000-square-foot penthouse at the Century, a 42-story condo tower under construction at One Century Drive, site of now razed St. Regis hotel. Related has not released specific plans for the unit, but sources said it’s expected to be priced at $25 million, and be completed in the first quarter of 2010.


Related will not confirm the price, but David Wine, vice chairman of the New York City-based company, said there has been a sea change in recent years as Los Angeles has emerged as a gateway, international city.


“You have international people who need residences in L.A. in a way that they didn’t before,” Wine said. “We are very confident that our building will redefine peoples’ ideas of what condo living is about.”


Related, also the lead developer of the $2 billion Grand Avenue development in downtown Los Angeles, has experience building and selling ultra high-end penthouses. Penthouses in the company’s Time Warner Center in New York sold for $25 to $50 million, Wine said.


However, Los Angeles is still not New York, where the highest-end penthouses often fetch $4,000 per square foot. But things are changing in Los Angeles, with the current crop of units expected to easily top $2,000 per square foot, and in a few cases hit or exceed $4,000.


“By most standards around the world, we look pretty inexpensive,” said Schwarz of Wilshire Realty, comparing Los Angeles to London or Tokyo. “But it seems that all of a sudden we have been able to break through almost a glass ceiling in terms of the product that is desired by this market.”


Big plans

Indeed, Fifield’s 35-unit 1200 Club View tower in Westwood will include a penthouse that is said to be for sale in the $18 million range. At that price, the 8,328-square-foot penthouse would sell for $2,161 a foot.


But with the rush of multiple high-end projects expected to hit the market the company is actually considering raising prices. The top five floors of the 21-story building will be penthouses, with just one unit per floor. The condo tower is scheduled to open in fall 2009.


“Our market is primarily in their 50s and up; it is a wealthy crowd and they don’t want to cut corners. They want space. But they want services they can’t get in their 20,000-square-foot home, like valet service and full security,” Fifield said.


Also underway is the Carlyle, Woodridge Capital’s Wilshire Corridor project that is expected to be completed in mid-2009. According to Schwarz, whose company is marketing the project, the 23-story building will include a minimum of four penthouse units.


“It is acceptable now to live in a very, very, fine high-rise building. You will find that the upper end of our market is not only accepting it but pursuing it,” he said.


The penthouse units at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills are somewhat of a wild card – the building tops out at eight stories, making the project shorter than many of the buildings slated for Century City or Westwood. However, the project includes just 20 condo units that sit atop a first class hotel.


Slated to open October 2008, the development will include two 5,700-square-foot penthouse units on the top floor. Jay Newman, chief operating officer for developer Athens Group, said that his company has been receiving offers in the $4,000 per foot range for units in the building. He said the penthouses may sell for $5,000 a foot, or about $28.5 million.


“That is on par with what people are paying for condos in London or New York City,” said Newman, Athens Group’s project manager for the development. “It’s Beverly Hills, and it’s the only project in the (Golden Triangle) amenitized with a five-star luxury hotel.”


Another unique project is 9900 Wilshire Blvd., which made headlines last month when London developer Candy & Candy bought the property from New Pacific Realty Corp. for $500 million.


The project, which is still awaiting final approvals from Beverly Hills, is designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier and is slated to include a few two-story penthouses. Those units could easily hit $15 million.


“The Beverly Hills corridor is becoming an international city,” said Harvey Englander, spokesman for Candy & Candy.


Despite the glamour of big-money penthouses, some in the business wonder whether all of the planned projects will actually be built. The late 1980s also saw numerous plans for posh Wilshire Corridor high-rises, some of which were not completed for years after the real estate market collapsed in the early 1990s.


“I think the jury is out,” said Shapiro, the broker. “At some point, the absorption will not be equivalent to the new amount of inventory. If you go back to when this happened last, there were a couple of arrested structures on Wilshire Boulevard that just sat there.”

[KeithLS]

But they want services they can’t get in their 20,000-square-foot home...

Thank God their needs are finally being met.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

I'm glad LA is finally fetching prices this high. It gives LA the kind of respect from the discriminating uber-rich that did not exist before.

[solongfullerton]

I'm glad LA is finally fetching prices this high. It gives LA the kind of respect from the discriminating uber-rich that did not exist before.

are you kidding me? I don't think anyone thinks LA is cheaps by any means. In fact, LA is one of the most expensive places to live in the world, even without the fancy westside highrises. i think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks otherwise.

[dragonsky]

City Council approves plan to revitalize the L.A. River
By Steve Hymon, Times Staff Writer
2:41 PM PDT, May 9, 2007

Embracing an ambitious and expensive vision, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved 12-0 a long-awaited blueprint for revitalizing the much-maligned Los Angeles River.

The plan -- which itself cost $3 million -- calls for spending as much as $2 billion over the next half century on more than 200 projects along the 31 miles of riverbed within Los Angeles' city limits.

It took five years to frame the details, but the roots of the proposed river restoration go back to a fledgling group of environmentalists who in the late 1980s began insisting that the river could be much more than a concrete-lined flood control channel.

"This is a great step," said Lewis MacAdams, founder of the activist group Friends of the Los Angeles River. "One of our first slogans was when the steelhead trout returns to the Los Angeles River, then our work is done, and to see an acknowledgment of steelhead in the plan -- well, I like that."

Echoing that thought was an ebullient councilman, Ed Reyes, who represents parts of northeast Los Angeles and is chairman of the council's river committee.

"This is now a real mandate that declares the river is a real river and we're going to give it life and support the way it supported us when Los Angeles was first started," Reyes said.

Among the proposed projects are dozens of new parks and pedestrian walkways and bridges. The plan also calls for some river-adjacent areas to be rezoned to allow for more housing to be built near the waterway and its parks.

At its most extreme, the plan proposes knocking down one of the concrete walls that contains the river to expand the channel and make it look more natural. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying that prospect.

"It's incredibly visionary and I think they've set the bar high," said Nancy Steele, executive director of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council. "The key is going to be implementation."

Steele said that both the city and region have a rich history of putting together plans for rivers and then never following through. She noted that the river plan doesn't include upstream tributaries.

Hitting on that point, Councilman Richard Alarcon voted for the plan but threatened to withhold support unless studies are conducted to include parks along tributaries in his district. "In the Valley" the river "goes through all the rich communities," Alarcon said.

Alarcon represents the northeast San Fernando Valley, which is bisected by the Tujunga Wash.

The council also committed to begin creating a three-tiered management structure to oversee the restoration plan's implementation.

A joint powers authority between the city and county would manage projects within the river channel, a nonprofit appointed by elected officials would manage and construct parks along the river, and a philanthropic organization would help raise private funds.

Other thorny issues remain: finding money for projects -- state and federal help will likely be required -- and improving water quality. The city is in the early stages of a federally ordered cleanup of several pollutants in the waterway, including trash, bacteria and heavy metals.

[edluva]

only wannabes want for their city to be expensive, if only to be able to use their city in the same sentence as london etc. what a juvenile aspiration. good thing you're not our mayor.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

^ "Unfortunately," the last time I checked, money does make the world go round, which is why Manhattan is the center of the universe to some extent. Money talks and having high-valued real estate attracts the discriminating wealthy class and their MONEY. And last time I checked, cities ASPIRE to be like London and New York (centers of MONEY), so it is no surprise that many people do strive to have their city included amongst the world's alpha centers.

Having a few more uber-luxury condos could potentially attract the kind of upper-crust executives and tycoons that bring with them, sometimes, entire industries. Part of the reason why Downtown LA has not attracted more companies to move there has to do with the lack of "executive quality" housing available predominantly on the Westside where most of the CEOs live. Uber-luxury housing in Downtown LA could attract those top execs, which could bring with them entire companies to locate downtown.

But alas! I'm sorry you dissent from my aspirations for an LA that includes a niche for uber-luxury condos! But as negative as you are on a daily basis, I think I can say confidently that everyone here on this board is glad YOU'RE NOT OUR MAYOR! ;)

[edluva]

^you and a few other LA folk represent a subforum clown-gang the likes of which have not been seen since DoubleL and co. posted on these boards
And don't think i'm negative just because i consistently oppose the stupidity and ignorance rampant in much of the LA subforum. i'm only negative to those who make idiotic statements.

and it's idiotic to ascribe LA's lack of an urbanness to downtown's lack of "uber-lux", when it's plain to see that the fundamental problem is LA's built env't and pathetic mass trans network. and London/NY are financial centers because they are home to the largest bourses in the world - not because some yuppie such as yourself decided to declare their preferred ghetto ripe for another coffee bean and tea leaf. you should also already know by now that ceo's don't have the power to move company HQ's wherever they please, especially in LA where it's generally cost-prohibitive relative to suburbs. that you overlook such common sense illustrates your image-obsessed shallowness- the kind of shallowness San Franciscans and New Yorkers label LA with (and which I now grudglingly agree LA sometimes deserves). instead, you'll continue obsessing over the notion that presenting a pseudo-downtown so that a few like-minded suburbanites can overpay to live in a 5 sq mile bubble and pretend that they live in a real city equates to "having gotten there".

but hey man, if you want I'll sell you my mom's 1500sf shithole for 4million so that you can say you're a badass, and put LA and London in the same sentence. stay positive! :tup:

[LAMetroGuy]

well... it's always easier to say what you don't like... sort like saying shit smells bad and then thinking you're a smart person for having such a poignant opinion on the smell of shit.

Sometimes I wounder why people torture themselves to "stupidity and ignorance" and keep reading the postings of the subforum clown-gang? If pie in the sky postings isn't your thang, don't follow the bouncing ball to SSP.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

^you and a few other LA folk represent a subforum clown-gang the likes of which have not been seen since DoubleL and co. posted on these boards
And don't think i'm negative just because i consistently oppose the stupidity and ignorance rampant in much of the LA subforum. i'm only negative to those who make idiotic statements.

and it's idiotic to ascribe LA's lack of an urbanness to downtown's lack of "uber-lux", when it's plain to see that the fundamental problem is LA's built env't and pathetic mass trans network. and London/NY are financial centers because they are home to the largest bourses in the world - not because some yuppie such as yourself decided to declare their preferred ghetto ripe for another coffee bean and tea leaf. you should also already know by now that ceo's don't have the power to move company HQ's wherever they please, especially in LA where it's generally cost-prohibitive relative to suburbs. that you overlook such common sense illustrates your image-obsessed shallowness- the kind of shallowness San Franciscans and New Yorkers label LA with (and which I now grudglingly agree LA sometimes deserves). instead, you'll continue obsessing over the notion that presenting a pseudo-downtown so that a few like-minded suburbanites can overpay to live in a 5 sq mile bubble and pretend that they live in a real city equates to "having gotten there".

but hey man, if you want I'll sell you my mom's 1500sf shithole for 4million so that you can say you're a badass, and put LA and London in the same sentence. stay positive! :tup:


Last time I checked, I was an active and vocal proponent of expanding mass transit in LA. The build environment? Yeah sure we're car-oriented, and to you, we'll never transition into a more pedestrian-friendly environment. You might as well give up and move to New York City. And companies aren't merely stationed on the Westside by chance because it isn't "cost-prohibitive" like how you THINK. Downtown LA offers very competitive leasing rates compared to the Westside, but the lack of amenities and lack of luxury housing (yes, luxury, not pseudo-luxury) prevent Downtown LA from attracting more companies because top execs do have say where the company goes. But as we've seen in the few months, many law firms and other companies are finally starting to make the move downtown because they sense this will be a place where "things are gonna happen." - i.e, your favorite LA Live and Grand Ave Project.

Look, you're a pretty negative guy by default. I'm not sure what you're like in real life, but it's pretty annoying having to constantly read your bullshit diatribes (why I continue to read your posts is beyond me, perhaps I am stupid for that very reason). Go out and smell the "fresh" air and get some sunshine dude! ;) And change the way you look at things perhaps. Someone once said "If you love your city, your city will love you back."

[LosAngelesBeauty]

May 3, 2007 – Ryan Gierach


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West Hollywood’s City Hall. Photo by Ryan Gierach.


He has been talking about it, hinting at its imminent arrival without bandying about figures and costs and scope, but Paul Arevalo has not been ready to announce his plans for his Make Over of the City of West Hollywood - until now.

West Hollywood’s City Manager plans no less than $125 million in expenditures over the next ten years to create over 650 parking spaces in three strategically located structures, a world-class library/community center, scores of thousands of sq ft of greenspace in our parks and a state of the art creative arts center featuring 200-seat retractable auditorium seating and a 99-seat black box theater.

Worried taxpayers take heart. “We can do this, all $125 million, without raising a single dime in new taxes,” Mr. Arevalo assured with justifiable pride in his fiscal stewardship of the town’s coffers.

Paul Arevalo told WeHoNews in an exclusive interview that the city had grown up and should act like it. “The city is maturing as an institution. In our adolescence we fought all forms of bureaucracy just to fight it. For example, we went to a paperless office at one point; we learned that going paperless meant going unaccountable, so we went back,” he said.


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It can only be said that the city’s parks are barely adequate. Photo by Ryan Gierach.


“West Hollywood, for all the attention it gets from around the world, for all its importance to people around the world, has no world-class civic facility to boast of,” he said. “For our 25th anniversary as a city we’ll celebrate by breaking ground on a series of public facilities improvements that will give us those world-class community facilities.”

His pride is justified by the results of his and his financial team’s deft touch on budget issues. According to the City’s web site, Moody’s Investors Service gives the City a credit rating of Aaa for the debt issued, and the City has never defaulted on any payments.

In addition, the City’s financial team racks up award after award, including, most recently, its 13th-straight National Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.

Mr. Arevalo says, “We are fortunate to live in an affluent community where people are willing to step up to the plate and pay for services the residents need. That means we can do all of these projects just from the revenue we expect to come in from our current tax structure and capital fundraising campaigns.”

The big news, which merchants, restaurants and residents alike will greet with huzzahs and halleluiahs, is parking, lots of it. The plans, taken together, call for the addition of over 650 new hard parking spaces (that number expand several times when valets “stack” cars at night, according to Oscar Delgado, the City’s head of Parking) in three locations – at West Hollywood Park abutting the new library, topped off by tennis courts (333 new spots), at the City Hall expansion lot (132 net spots) and at Plummer Park, where ingenious placement of the parking underground expands that lot from approximately 80 to 180 parking spots.


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A shot of the very successful Kings Road Parking lot in Mid Town WeHo. Photo by Ryan Gierach.


Because each of the lots will be accessible to the public, and at least one of the lots will be leased to valets at night, “the parking will begin to pay for itself almost immediately,” said Mr. Arevalo.

Oscar Delgado explained the approach being taken at the City Hall expansion lot. “At City Hall we’ll net 132 spaces by going up another floor of parking,” he said. “We’ll make it available to people in the neighborhood for overnight parking. It’ll be open to the public during the daytime; we’ll charge a nominal fee like we do at Kings Road.”

He also said that visitors to City Hall would be given validations for city hall business, making their parking there both easier and free. He also sung the praises of the design and its affects, or lack of them, on the immediate neighborhood. “The nice thing about it is the structure will be enclosed on three sides with the new one-stop community service center’s offices on the top floor, so it’ll be quiet,” he said.

As for how to develop a revenue stream from the extra 130 spaces, he said, “We toyed with the idea of putting valet parking there at night, but our meeting schedule goes into the night, it kind of precludes that. We might still do it, though,” he acceded.

Saying that “Planning events at Plummer Park has always been problematic because of a lack of parking,” Mr. Delgado segued the conversation over to Sam Baxter, head of facilities and maintenance for the city, who gave the presentation on Plummer Park, which included the most innovative solution to the city’s parking crunch – build it underneath the park.


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Plummer Park’s entrance. Photo by Ryan Gierach.


“We’re going subterranean, moving it underground,” he said showing the preliminary drawings. “We’re planning on building about 180 spaces [to replace the 80 there are now] in one level underground. It will extend underneath the park some ways, up to where Fiesta Hall stands.”

He explained that the park designers could “pick up about 30,000 sq ft of green space that way,” he said, “and although this plan will be expensive, we can’t buy 30,ooo sq ft of green space anywhere in the city for any price.”

According to the team, this parking will serve the surrounding neighborhood, commercial, entertainment facilities and the offices that are there now or are being built soon. To do this, he said, “We’re keeping the entrance on Santa Monica Boulevard [at the mouth of Martel].

As the plans exist now, the parking will extend to underneath Fiesta Hall, where there will be an elevator and car drop off; there will also be an elevator placed at the Community Center/Tiny Tots Building and Play area behind the Center.

The most excitement, though, seemed reserved for what the team is calling a “creative arts center” at a renovated Fiesta Hall that will include a state of the art flat floor room for public meeting use, a retractable seat auditorium for 200 and a 99-seat black box theater.


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West Hollywood Park. Photo by Ryan Gierach.


City Manager Arevalo said, “We’ve heard the need for a performance facility from the community, and we’ve developed a way to do it inside Fiesta Hall. We’ll have a multi-use, state-of-the-art black box stage and a performance stage for over 200 when we’re done with it all.”

Sam Baxter chimed in with details. “At Fiesta Hall we’re creating a multi-purpose creative art center to give maximum flexibility of the open space inside the hall. We’ll take it down to the shell, leaving the outside intact.”

Inside, he promised, things will look much different than they do now. “We’ll build a space that serves as a flat floor public meeting space for assemblies where we can set up tables and chairs,” he said. “We’ll also build a 150-200 retractable fixed seat theater. Those seats will be auditorium-style seating like they use in theaters now, just that they will retract and can be stored away.

That opens the possibility of creating yet another valuable performing space – a black box theater. “Since they are retractable,” he said, “they give us the ability to add a 99-seat black box theater to it. Of course, there will be all new lighting, acoustics, sound, etc. for that. It’ll be up to the minute.”

The overall plan for Plummer Park, he went on to describe, “is to move the hardscape, all the buildings and the play areas, from the center of the park,” he said, “to its outskirts. That gains us greenspace. Just demolishing the halls in the center of the park will create 14,000 sq ft of greenspace.”


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The current West Hollywood Public Library. Photo by Ryan Gierach.


A valuable community resource, the Russian Language Library, will be moved out of its location there by the renovation, but Mr. Arevalo said, “We’ve been working with the Russian language library to find a place to relocate them; eventually, they’ll be in the library in the Russian Collection room.”

He stressed that the library was not a library alone, but that the structure would enhance facets of community life that cannot be easily discounted. He said, “The library will serve three main functions, as enhanced community meeting space and a respectable place to hold City Council meetings, of course as a library, but also as a holding for our West Hollywood History, Russian Language and LGBT collections. And the Friends of The Library will have office and retail space right at the front door,” he hastily added.

Turning attention to the City Hall project, Sam Baxter explained that there would be an 18,000 sq ft added to the parking rooftop in the form of a full community service center. “Call it a one stop shop for all your city needs,” he said. “Right now permits are on the second floor, so when you’re done up there you have to come downstairs to pay the cashier at the City Clerk. It takes a lot of ups and downs in our elevator to get anything done now.

“We’ll be placing all the ‘connected’ service counters in the front of the house so they will be in one place. You can get your parking needs, your permit needs, planning needs, everything you’ll need from the city, taken care of all in one place,” he said. “The support staff for those things will be in the ‘back of the house’ to come out and handle things.”

He said that expansion would relieve pressure inside the city hall offices now. “This will solve the space problems we have now in City Hall,” Mr. Baxter said. “With the community service center support staff leaving our current offices for the service center, we’ll be able to add essential conference rooms that we don’t have now and add some elbow room for the staff who are now in cubicles.”


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An artist’s conception of the planned library for West Hollywood. Photo by Ryan Gierach.


Paul Arevalo added, “It’ll be open on Friday lights [the every other Fri. that City Hall closes except for a few services], too, so for departments like planning and special events, film permits and the like, it will expand hours and access by the public.”

The question hanging over the revelations of these multiple municipal masterpieces, despite the assurances it will cost the residents or businesses nothing more than they already pay in taxes, remains ‘How to pay for it all?’

Paul Arevalo said, “We have set up a portfolio to do this that includes a Capital Fundraising campaign for the library. We’ll be aggressively seeking grants for the various projects like historic preservation money for the renovation and transformation of Fiesta Hall. State funding for the library is still a possibility down the road.”

But those funds only scratch the surface of a $150 million note. Still, he and his crack finance team have a solid enough sounding plan. “I’m going to council with a proposal to carve off all the Transient and Occupancy Tax (TOT) from the three new hotels [two in the Sunset Millenium development and the James Hotel] coming online on the Sunset Strip in the next couple years to pledge toward this.”

In case anyone might wonder if that would be enough, he offered, “We project nearly $6 million a year in TOT from the three new hotels being built on the Strip. That can be leveraged into $25-30 million in debt capacity.” That makes a healthy start.


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Another view of the proposed West Hollywood Library. Photo by Ryan Gierach.

He pointed out that the library fundraising had not yet started, and could be expected to do well. The Capital Campaign for the library will net $10 million easily,” he said. Add to that the fact that the city is in prime financial condition, “West Hollywood has built itself a $50 million reserve, up from $4 million 17 years ago when I came aboard,” he said.

“We’ve got a unique economic formula incomparable to any jurisdiction in the country,” Mr. Arevalo said, “and it’s fun to make the most of it and be able to use it to build a better quality of life for the residents, especially without having to ask them to pay for it.

“Look at the constituencies that will be served by these improvements,” he said. “Our main focus is to create as much green space as we can. By transforming an acre and a half into five acres at West Hollywood Park and increasing green space in Plummer Park we benefit the entire city. And businesses will benefit from all the parking capacity we’re adding; it’ll mean more economic activity all around.”

The plan will be formally unveiled at its first commission hearing on May 9th at the Public Facilities Commission meeting taking place at 7:30 p.m. at the City Hall Community Conference Room, 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard.

Mr. Arevalo said, “Our first step is to set the plan before council for their approval and get the funding put into place. After that, groundbreaking could begin in 2009.”

He promised that the construction of the projects would not last long. “We’ll do it all at once; I’d rather have six months of pain than six years of agony,” he said. “And with construction costs going up daily we need to act fast and quickly to keep a lid on things.” :banana: :banana: :banana:

[DowntownCharlieBrown]

I was in DT Riverside today, and drove by the construction site of the proposed 10-story office building. Didn’t see any movement at the site, but there is a fence and a fairly deep hole has been dug.

Is this building still moving forward? :shrug:

[DowntownCharlieBrown]

The Getty Center at 10: Still aloof, yet totally L.A.


Robbin Goddard / Los Angeles Times

SPRAWLING SITE: Richard Meier's design for the Getty Center in Brentwood distributes more than 900,000 square feet of interior space among six separate buildings.

Design questions raised at the center's birth on a hilltop remain relevant as its relationship with the city evolves.
By Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 16, 2007

During much of the 1990s, as the Getty Center was rising on its Brentwood hilltop, a couple of stubborn questions dogged the hugely ambitious project: Would Richard Meier's design ever have anything meaningful to do with, or say about, the cityover which it loomed? Or would it exist as an expensive import, a vast collection of smooth enamel and rough travertine conjured up by a New York architect who looked west for commissions but east, to Europe and its Modernist past, for inspiration?

This weekend, as the $1.2-billion complex celebrates its 10th anniversary, those questions seem as relevant as ever.

In part that's because the answers keep changing. When Meier's design proposal was unveiled, the Getty was widely seen as an anomaly in Los Angeles, an effort to lend instant, old-fashioned respectability to an institution that craved it. Then, after it opened Dec. 16, 1997, the Getty surprised usby fitting in. And in the last couple of years it has begun to look like an anomaly all over again, though for a fresh set of reasons.

Looking back at the museum's changing reputation offers more than the chance to see how the relationships between a city and its most significant landmarks change over time. It also helps explain the various shifts -- many of them profound -- that have redefined the field of architecture, and the city of Los Angeles, over the last 10 years.

Architecture's leading figures have become global brand names, courted by commercial, governmental and cultural clients alike. L.A., for its part, has grown more vertical and noticeably denser -- and less white by the day. It takes most of its external cultural cues these days not from Europe or New York but from Latin America and Asia.

That's not to say we have given up entirely on the idea that some Old World glamour can save or redeem us. The biggest local museum commission since the Getty, the expansion and reconfiguration of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, went to Renzo Piano, 70, a talented and genteel architect who splits his time between Paris and Genoa, Italy. But the next music director of the L.A. Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel, is a 26-year-old from Venezuela. The new dean of the architecture department at USC is Qingyun Ma, a Shanghai architect who just turned 42. His counterpart at UCLA, 45-year-old Hitoshi Abe, arrived here in April from Sendai, Japan.

Though the Getty was a force for architectural and civic change, both as a model to follow and to react against, it was far from the only one. Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, among the most catalytic designs in architectural history, also opened in the fall of 1997 -- a triumph that helped get Gehry's stalled Walt Disney Concert Hall back on the track to completion.

Still, there is no question that the Getty Center permanently altered the way we think about new high-profile buildings here. The thumbnail version of its influence goes like this: The ways in which the complex successfully took advantage of L.A.'s climate, landscape and culture are worth copying; the ways in which it remained separate from the city, physically and symbolically, or tried to impose an inflexible approach to architecture better suited to Manhattan or Bauhaus-era Germany are worth avoiding.

Ultimately, however, exploring the question of the Getty's connection to Los Angeles raises another: In a global city as wildly diverse and prone to amnesia as this one, how do we define what fidelity to local context, to the spirit of a place, even means?



A curious choice

In 1984, Harold M. Williams, president of the Getty Trust, announced that the architect for its ambitious new headquarters, on 110 acres just west of the San Diego Freeway, would be Richard Meier, then 49. The choice was curious: To design a museum on a site detached and aloof from the quickly changing city below it, the Getty picked an architect whose work -- and whole professional persona, for that matter -- was often detached and aloof as well.

By sticking to an orthodox version of Modernism in an era of Disneyland eclecticism, Meier, throughout the 1970s and '80s, had at least won points for consistency and rigor. But his chiseled designs, seemingly allergic to color and humor in equal measure, appeared to exist in a vacuum, without any of the sense of social mission that had driven the European architects who inspired him. The purest examples of his work were exercises less in Modernism than in antisepticism.

A funny thing happened, though, after the complex opened: It seemed more relaxed and more comfortable in its spectacular setting than we might have guessed. Maybe it was all that travertine, which softened the edges of the architect's machine-like style. Maybe it was the way the center itself sprawled across its huge site. Or maybe Los Angeles culture seeped into the design because Meier -- and Michael Palladino, the architect who relocated here from New York in 1986 to run the project for Meier and never left -- spent so much time in the city as the project moved through more than a decade of gestation.

People got used to the idea, so alien at first, of leaving their cars at the bottom of the hill and taking a sleek tram to the museum at the top. Even Thierry Despont's galleries, lined with fabric panels in rich colors, didn't seem so fussy or aggressively handsome after a while.

The way Meier chose to break up the design, distributing more than 900,000 square feet of interior space among six separate buildings, some holding art and others a library and the Getty's various research arms, did reinforce the idea of the museum as campus -- corporate or collegiate, take your pick -- and as a rather sterile, self-contained world floating above the city. But it had the practical effect of creating a whole series of plazas between and around those distinct blocks of space, nearly every one providing a spot for a bench or a fountain or a remarkable view.

And if the central courtyard, with its 120-foot-long fountain edged by Mexican cypress trees, seemed like a quad -- a nostalgic reference not just to classical architecture but also to the idea of being sequestered in a safe, self-contained place of higher learning -- well, most of us enjoyed it all the more for that.

The design seemed reflective of Los Angeles architecture in another, almost paradoxical way. If the whole idea of L.A. art and architecture was to ignore the idea of fitting in, to reject slavish conformism, then wasn't the Getty a supreme example of precisely that attitude? Turning its back on the notion that it needed to match the spirit of Los Angeles in some prescribed way -- didn't that make it somehow truer to the city than a row of palm trees or a red-tile roof?

Perhaps more to the point, the Getty joined a long line of L.A. landmarks that sit at a dramatic remove from the city around them -- most notably Griffith Observatory and Dodger Stadium and houses by John Lautner, Pierre Koenig, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles and Ray Eames, and many others.



Different mission

In recent years, the role the Getty Center plays in the city's imagination has shifted once more. It hardly ranks as L.A.'s final stand-alone icon: Gehry's Disney Hall, which opened in 2003, and Thom Mayne's 2004 Caltrans building -- to pick two examples downtown -- proudly continued that tradition.

But in the last three or four years, we have embarked on a kind of high-profile architecture here that requires very different skills from those Meier displayed at the Getty. Instead of building new landmarks from scratch, architects are being asked to extend, restore or otherwise re-imagine existing ones.

The list of such designs includes recent expansions of the Getty Villa (2005) and Griffith Observatory (2006), along with plans for a third building by Cesar Pelli at the Pacific Design Center and Gehry's work on the mixed-use project soon to rise across from Disney Hall. Call it infill with an L.A. twist.

Few L.A. architects have the luxury now of dropping a prominent building onto a wide-open plot of land, let alone a billion-dollar collection of buildings onto a virgin hilltop. And as those changes accelerate, the magisterial and isolated Getty, created whole, begins to appear anomalous all over again.

Of course, this tension between standing apart from the city and in the midst of it, between indigenous and imported culture, has always been a defining feature -- maybe the defining feature -- of L.A. culture. Reviewing "The Long Embrace," Judith Freedman's new book about Raymond Chandler, in the New York Review of Books, Pico Iyer notes that Chandler, who was brought up in England and moved here in his mid-20s, "got hold of L.A. partly by always remaining at a distance from it."

"The sound that Chandler made his own was a mix of incantatory lyrical poetry and the rude vernacular of people who mocked all that such poetry traditionally described," Iyer writes.

The way the Getty has settled into the Los Angeles landscape over the last decade is a product of the same dynamic. The best sense of where the city stands, 10 years on, is to be found not just in the detached, Olympian architecture of the Getty itself or in the restless, organic local culture it seems to oppose, but in the relationship -- thoroughly intertwined by now -- between the two.

christopher.hawthorne@la times.com

Hawthorne is The Times' architecture critic






And throwing this out for thought. Ten years ago, the thought of placing the museum downtown would have made Getty shudder in his grave. Today, maybe not. And wouldn’t it now give so much to downtown at a time when downtown has something to give back???

[edluva]

i wish west hollywood was the seat of LA's government.

[Vangelist]

Don't worry, the gays are still secretly controlling and governing all of us regardless. In fact..they're all over this board! Wow!

[WonderlandPark]

One Broadway Plaza, the building that was the center of an expensive and bitter campaign to get it built. The building that was to be, by far, the tallest building in Orange County at ~500ft. Well, it appears to be dead. There has been no site activity whatsoever for 18+ months now. The same half house still sits in the middle of the same fenced off lot. I went by there yesterday. The OC office market is still very strong. I don't know what happened in this case, but this thing appears to be going nowhere.

Even the press release on the website promises a Jan '07 start. The last news on this project was added in March '07.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

i wish west hollywood was the seat of LA's government.

Why

[jlrobe]

....... and put LA and London in the same sentence. stay positive! :tup:

I understand your point edluva, but I must point out that LA surpassed London's economy decades ago. London provides the liquid and cities such as LA provide the goods and services. Even if many are blue collar, GDP is GDP. London does achieves economic success in a sexier way, but you can't refute raw dollars!

LA doesn;t compare to London culturally, but LA is very much in the same sentence as London when it comes to GDP.

Now GDP/capita, income/capita, etc. is a different animal altogether.

[edluva]

I understand your point edluva, but I must point out that LA surpassed London's economy decades ago. London provides the liquid and cities such as LA provide the goods and services. Even if many are blue collar, GDP is GDP. London does achieves economic success in a sexier way, but you can't refute raw dollars!

LA doesn;t compare to London culturally, but LA is very much in the same sentence as London when it comes to GDP.

Now GDP/capita, income/capita, etc. is a different animal altogether.

i disagree. how can you compare the state of georgia with nyc and say that georgia's economy exerts its proportionate dollar-for-dollar influence over the global economy as nyc does based on both having similar gdp's? likewise with la vs london. i'm not concerned with "sexiness" here, i'm just sayin' an economy based on millions of local small-businesses exerts far less influence on global economics than one based on millions of financial managers - even if their combined incomes were equa (in which case la and ny are still not)

[jlrobe]

i disagree. how can you compare the state of georgia with nyc and say that georgia's economy exerts its proportionate dollar-for-dollar influence over the global economy as nyc does based on both having similar gdp's? likewise with la vs london. i'm not concerned with "sexiness" here, i'm just sayin' an economy based on millions of local small-businesses exerts far less influence on global economics than one based on millions of financial managers - even if their combined incomes were equa (in which case la and ny are still not)

Actually there is a global connectivity index that measures precisely what you are looking for. You are correct, LA falls from third in the world, to fifth, behind london.

That news isnt meant to upset you. It is what it is. LA looks ugly, but its massive ports, airport, international business sector, defense, technology, and media industries are more powerful than our 1 story buildings convey. It is very odd, but alas, very true.

[edluva]

Actually there is a global connectivity index that measures precisely what you are looking for. You are correct, LA falls from third in the world, to fifth, behind london.

That news isnt meant to upset you. It is what it is. LA looks ugly, but its massive ports, airport, international business sector, defense, technology, and media industries are more powerful than our 1 story buildings convey. It is very odd, but alas, very true.

i'm talking about economics, not a scholarly attempt at quantifying an abstract concept such as "global connectivity". I don't need pointyheaded intellectuals to tell me LA has an enormous cultural influence on the world.

by the way, tell me what exactly is this "international business sector"...people here love to throw around phrases without really deciding for themselves whether they're valid. I'm not doubting you perse, just being a healthy skeptic.

[jlrobe]

i'm talking about economics, not a scholarly attempt at quantifying an abstract concept such as "global connectivity". I don't need pointyheaded intellectuals to tell me LA has an enormous cultural influence on the world.

by the way, tell me what exactly is this "international business sector"...people here love to throw around phrases without really deciding for themselves whether they're valid. I'm not doubting you perse, just being a healthy skeptic.

Global connectivity is 70% economic based, at least according to the university who defined the metric in the first place. I might have to scrounge up my old magazines to cite it formally. One could easily do bayesian to infer that LA still won't drop that far if the metric were to be converted from global connectivity to a purely economic basis. To be honest, I really don't care that much.

Global financial centers are nice, but not the end all be all in the world's economy. There are several degrees of nodes. Of course Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, and NYC are big finance nodes. Eveyone knows that. LA is not a finance node. Everyone knows that as well. If you feel that finance nodes are the only game in town, then I guess London is more important. Actually, even though NYC and Tokyo have double/triple the GDP of London, they would actually be surpassed by London in terms IPOs and credit transactions per day. Same with Hong Kong as far as raw money switching hands. How do we truly measure which one is more important? Would you say London is more important than NYC because of trade volume, or would you weigh GDP? If you consider GDP, do you do it per capita, or total? If you do use GDP/capita, then would you say Coppenhagen is more important than Tokyo?

The same can be said about the fortune 500 stat. Does the number of F-500 companies make a city more economically significant? If so, then would Atlanta be one of the most dominant economic cities in the US? Many fortune 500 companies are BASED there due to taxes, but 70% of their GDP occurs elsewhere.

The truth is there is no real single measure. It could be global connectivity, GDP, GDP/capita, exports, imports, fortune 500 companies, etc. etc. In fact, tracking global dollars or global importance is a non-trivial task.

As for international business, look it up in the california department of finance or the LA business journal, or the department of commerce and tourism. They itemize everything in there. I read a lot, but I dont make a point to scan the pages and put them in a file if one day someone asks me for a citation, so I am sorry for the lack of references to support my claims. Needless to say, in all the reports I read, LA is always near the top of the list in terms of important economic centers, and importance overall. Every list has a different metric, and a different point to make, but every list tends to put LA 2nd or 3rd in the US and top 10 in the world. I am suprised you haven't noticed any of these lists. If EVERY list tends to hold LA favorably, are you implying that every list uses the wrong metric and that you have the TRUE metric that will prove LA is once and for all insignificant. Better yet, can you produce ANY list, where LA is not in the top 15 as far as overall global importance or economic output.

You can claim LA isnt economically important becasue
1) it doesnt have enough skyscrapers
2) it doesnt have enough fortune 500 companies
3) It doesnt have enough transit
4) it is too spread out for it to matter
5) it isnt important beyond its borders
6) Or any other excuse you have

But in the end, it doesnt matter how you try and spin it, LA is an economic power. List after list after list claims that. If you REALLY don't want to believe it, then maybe YOU should go out and prove everyone else wrong.

Now that being said, I dont CARE if LA is economically powerful. It doesnt make LA anymore livable in my opinion, and livability (and urbaness) is what we all care about the most.

Using LA's economic data to prove it is a better town than Chicago, holds no water. Claiming LA is wonderful and stating economic data is a fallacy.

Now, I think your MO is to prove LA is severly flawed and could benefit from some serious political reform and improved urban policies. Well, EVERYONE on this board agrees with you. Yes, many of us get happy about buildings, and state positive things about LA. We should! Just because I want LA to build 3 subways and rewrite all of their laws, doesn't mean I shouldnt be happy for every little bit of progress we make. Some people, whom you bash for being blindly optimistic, are actually BUSY going to policy meetings and doing their part to make LA a better place. They are optimistic, but also realize LA has a ways to go. To be honest, if I had to choose between someone who was overly optimistic and proud of his/her city (many on this forum) or someone who was a pessimistic "so called realist/healthy skeptic" that refused to lift a finger to improve their city, I would choose the former.

You have a wealth of knowledge, but to be honest, many times, you don't contribute much to a discussion. You use your knowledge to belittle people instead of enriching the discussion at hand, which you could easily do on many occasions. You and I are in agreement many times, but your ridiculous negative spin and apathy just taints everything. I would love to debate LA's economy with you, not because I am a booster, but because I think you could bring up interesting ideas that would make me think. However, In reality, this wouldn't be very fun at all because you would spend all of your energy trying to prove that LA sucks, instead of making for a lively discussion. So in the end, what's the point!?

[Westsidelife]

:cheers:

[Westsidelife]

Just one thing I'd like to say to you jlrobe...

LA's Fortune 500 companies are scattered throughout the metro area. Those companies choose to locate themselves in Burbank, El Segundo, and Beverly Hills not because of Burbank, El Segundo, and Beverly Hills. They wish to remain in close proximity to LA, all the while evading its corporate tax burdens. Looking at the MSA, or better yet the CSA, is a better indication of LA's corporate presence.

The top five CSAs in terms of number of Fortune 500 companies:

1) New York (53)
2) Chicago (30)
3) San Francisco (27)
4) Dallas (24)
5) Houston (23)

6) Los Angeles (22)

[Vangelist]

If edluva next starts arguing that the earth is flat, are we going to spend time trying to refute that one too? It's best to just humor his posts when they're so entertaining, especially as they come across so classically classist. ;) Right, LA is filled with so many ugly, unskilled Mexicali workers, instead of men in white collar suits. We're economically non-existent, our industries are insignificant and illegitimate. We should all get out of our cars as in the REM video for "Everybody Hurts" when we're stuck in rush-hour, and start hugging each other and crying, bemoaning our non-economic fate. If one idiosyncratic poster on an irrelevant message board repeats it ad nauseam, it must be true!

[edluva]

whatever. i'd like just one of you guys to make a compelling argument as to how exactly LA's economy influences the global economy in a way proportionate or reflective of its GDP, or in a way proportionate and reflective of your claims. That was the initial assertion that brought about this argumetn wasn't it?

you guys can character-assasinate all you like - but i've yet to hear you talk the talk. Not even you, vangelist. All you offer is sarcastic imitation and labelling. you've made absolutely no substantive remarks to date, and attempt to hide your dearth of ideas by pedantically citing a few esoteric cinematic references which probably reflect some intro-class you took at USC in hopes of impressing us to submission. there's a word for that. it's called sophism. and it's pretty easy to see through. btw, noone is bemoaning the economic fate of la but you. I'm only stating what's true. it's up to you to put an existential bent to it, and it's obvious to me how important economic might (or lack thereof) is to you. hopefully bricky can come in and bail you out again. ;)

jlrobe- i don't frame the idea la is economically less important for any one of those points you cite. i'm glad you read the LABJ and you're capable of citing someone else's statement. re: your statement about atlanta - yeah, I am saying exactly that. that a case can be made of atlanta's relative influence on global economics based on the decisions that ultimately go down in corporate boardrooms. I'm not saying we should base the above on F500's alone though. What I am saying is I'd give more credence to that than the agglomerated GMP of 18million people, because we could just as easily agglomerate the GDP of a similarly populated region, such as the dirty south. so until you discredit my criticism of this GMP metric earlier, I'll continue to make the point. Same goes for sakia sassen's methodology - it never was her aim to summarize the influence of a metro's economy...but rather it's connectivity. and even then, you forgot to account for political and legal parts of her assesment. it's not just econ and culture.

anyways, tell me how la influences the world financially, without mindlessly quoting some chamber of commerce paraphrenelia you obviously don't even put the effort towards understanding yourself. i can do that too, but it would be way too easy.

p.s. westsidelife :cheers:

[milquetoast]

Global financial centers are nice, but not the end all be all in the world's economy.
When billions of people all over the world jump-start their televisions tonight, they may come across a little L. A. based product of some sort. When the TEU's are loaded in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo tonight, they probably will find their way past Angel's Gate. When California insists on curbing emissions and 16 other states ride those coat tails, do you consider that influential thinking? More than half the population of the country riding on a bid that has its origins where? Where are people influenced in their daily lives but more importantly, how are they influenced? How do they achieve the most effective shift in their paradigm? Would that be economically, culturally or spiritually? I would agree with jlrobe in his assertion that financial manipulations aren't the be all or end all of civilization. Let me put this out there in the form of groundskeeping. Financial decisions are like feeding, watering and aerating your lawn; needs to be done. The cultural analogy would be,- what to plant and where to plant it to its greatest effect concerning the parameters of your property and area's weather variables. The spiritual or religious analogy would be the trim and maintenance of the property, the trees and shrubs and flowers and the overall personality in form they attain from you over time. L. A.'s lawn isn't the largest, but its grounds are among the most diversified and unique in the world. The largest variety of faiths practiced in the world, and containing by far the most powerful cultural influence developed to date. Cities aren't just money machines, they are people adding to their lives as well as the lives around them. L. A. does alright. What's funny, jlrobe, is that I wouldn't have found your wicked post, unless I was searching for edluva's next beam of sunshine!:)

[milquetoast]

L. A.'s also the city that got New York to stop smoking, maybe that will spread to China? :)

[milquetoast]

LA looks ugly, but its massive ports, airport, international business sector, defense, technology, and media industries are more powerful than our 1 story buildings convey.

L. A.'s not that ugly, have you seen London? With your eyes?:)

[jlrobe]

L. A.'s not that ugly, have you seen London? With your eyes?:)

I love LA, but it is just a very ugly city. SF, circa 1990 was quite ugly. SoMa and the new mission bay areas were simply dilapidated old wharehouse buildings. They were hideous. Most of its neighorhoods, as many of them still are, were AGING and old. Upper market was full of trash everywhere. Many areas just 1-2 blocks outside of the Financial districts or union square were ghetto and just old and falling apart. Many areas of SF are still old and falling apart. Manhattan in 1990 was equally ugly and falling apart., and largely still is rather gritty. Many buildings in all of these major cities are simply in disrepair. The difference is London, SF, and Manhattan have this urban authenticity to them that mask the ugliness. They have a curious beauty. Its wierd.

If LA were simply falling apart, that would be one thing, but all the old junk yards, autorepair shops, tract homes, dead zones, empty streetscapes, antiseptic buildings, etc. just give it an ugliness that no other city has.

[jlrobe]

whatever. i'd like just one of you guys to make a compelling argument as to how exactly LA's economy influences the global economy in a way proportionate or reflective of its GDP, or in a way proportionate and reflective of your claims. That was the initial assertion that brought about this argumetn wasn't it?:


I am sorry that you missed my point(s). I might consider a more thorough answer if you first give me a one page argument on
a)why you think london is more important to the global economy than any other city in the world
b) How any city in the world aside from london, ny, hong kong, and tokyo effects the world economy
c) and what metric you use to connect GDP to global influence.

After that, I will model my answer based on your response. Aside from that, I could give you one hundred lists and you will give me one hundred excuses of why every list but yours is wrong.

Who knows. Maybe you know more than all the economists of the world.

[sopas ej]

I love LA, but it is just a very ugly city... If LA were simply falling apart, that would be one thing, but all the old junk yards, autorepair shops, tract homes, dead zones, empty streetscapes, antiseptic buildings, etc. just give it an ugliness that no other city has.

I guess you've never been to Phoenix... now THAT is a real shit hole. LA is way nicer than Phoenix.

I've heard bad things about Dallas and Houston, too.

LA is far from being the armpit of America.

[Westsidelife]

I love LA, but it is just a very ugly city. SF, circa 1990 was quite ugly. SoMa and the new mission bay areas were simply dilapidated old wharehouse buildings. They were hideous. Most of its neighorhoods, as many of them still are, were AGING and old. Upper market was full of trash everywhere. Many areas just 1-2 blocks outside of the Financial districts or union square were ghetto and just old and falling apart. Many areas of SF are still old and falling apart. Manhattan in 1990 was equally ugly and falling apart., and largely still is rather gritty. Many buildings in all of these major cities are simply in disrepair. The difference is London, SF, and Manhattan have this urban authenticity to them that mask the ugliness. They have a curious beauty. Its wierd.

If LA were simply falling apart, that would be one thing, but all the old junk yards, autorepair shops, tract homes, dead zones, empty streetscapes, antiseptic buildings, etc. just give it an ugliness that no other city has.

LA's beauty lies in its amazing scenery and geography of mountains, beaches, deserts, forests, islands, valleys, etc., all of which are concentrated in a single metro area. I thought that was pretty obvious.

[edluva]

^LA is beautiful if you venture to the fringes. but it's urban form ain't so pretty. then again not many cities are exactly pretty. maybe european ones, SF, NY, Seattle....

[edluva]

Who knows. Maybe you know more than all the economists of the world.

maybe you do too, and that's why you are capable of seeing the assertion that LA's economy influences the world's economy in all those economics papers you've obviously read. Because it's obvious that's what all those economists were asserting.

Look, you're the one making the point that LA is globally powerful economically, and that it influences the world. The burden thus lies with you to furnish a well presented argument - and if you can't supply one, then give me a reference to read, in which an economist makes that exact assertion. otherwise, you're full of boosterish nonsense.

[milquetoast]

Just try WTCALA-LB wtcanet.org:)

[LosAngelesBeauty]

jlrobe- based on the decisions that ultimately go down in corporate boardrooms.


The bulk of arguments here against edluva is straying away from the source of decision making power held by very few people in this world. The focus of his assertion is on these kinds of people, in the corporate boardrooms, making decisions that affect corporate structure from the top-down.

If I were you guys, which I'm not, I would focus on what kind of financial influence LA has pertaining to that kind of decision making power.

[jlrobe]

maybe you do too, and that's why you are capable of seeing the assertion that LA's economy influences the world's economy in all those economics papers you've obviously read. Because it's obvious that's what all those economists were asserting.

Look, you're the one making the point that LA is globally powerful economically, and that it influences the world. The burden thus lies with you to furnish a well presented argument - and if you can't supply one, then give me a reference to read, in which an economist makes that exact assertion. otherwise, you're full of boosterish nonsense.


sigh...

Well, as I predicted, you will likely be the anti-booster and defeat every piece of information since it doesnt support your thesis (that LA is an insignificant craphole), but here goes wasting my time.

Start here
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/06/13/global.economy/ (this is FINANCE centric as you so ridiculously prefer) It probably doesnt weigh in exports of media, regional accounting, or global shipping, but it is a start. I "might" look around more, but I think it is a waste of my time to go dig out old articles just to have you come to the SAME conclusion.

As I stated (I might have erased it) LA is behind chicago on a few lists, especially finance-centric lists. I also stated that London is even superior to NYC when it comes to finance. Of course, Frankfurt is a hidden winner because it is the financial center of central Europe. etc. etc. etc. This list is nothing new to me. I have read 15 just like it. It happens to be the only one I can find now. Some, list LA higher, some lower, but as I alreaady stated, it is on EVERY top 20 list you can find, making it a consistent choice.


And, as for me being a booster, I am sure you think ANYONE who actually likes LA is a booster, because in YOUR mind, LA is worthless. thus if ANYONE disagrees with YOU, they must obviously be a booster.

I am not trying to be a booster. I am not trying to defend the honor of LA but arguing about this. I really could care less, and I dont now why I have spent so much time on this argument.

I am not trying to say LA is all powerful or LA is the greatest. I am merely calling you out on your BS that LA is worthless (economically or otherwise).

[jlrobe]

maybe you do too, and that's why you are capable of seeing the assertion that LA's economy influences the world's economy in all those economics papers you've obviously read. Because it's obvious that's what all those economists were asserting.

Look, you're the one making the point that LA is globally powerful economically, and that it influences the world. The burden thus lies with you to furnish a well presented argument - and if you can't supply one, then give me a reference to read, in which an economist makes that exact assertion. otherwise, you're full of boosterish nonsense.

these lists are not very good, but it is all i can find now.

http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/richest-cities-2005.html
http://www.citymayors.com/economics/richest_cities.html
http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2005/02cities_taylor.aspx (follow the link, download the document. It is long and detailed on some aspects, not great at others. As a researcher myself, I don't like really respect the report since the quality is low in many respects) anyhow here is a qoute

While New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles are the U.S. leaders in global connectivity, San Francisco, Miami, Atlanta, and Washington are also important nodes in the world city network.

at the same time you are right about connectivity. The US in general, is not very internationally connected. It controls the world economy based on consumption of imports and a few exports, but not DIRECTLY, as you suggest. As a result, LA effects the global economy directly and INDIRECTLY. I gave two references on how it effects the world economy directly. I have read more over the years, but that is all I could find in my short search. So, suffice it to say, LA effects the global economy directly, but it has a MASSIVE influence indirectly as well.

LA is a significant center for the state economy, which is very important to the health of the entire nation and thus the world. Of course, that is changing quickly. LA's ports a extremely vital to the world economy becuase it keeps Americans buying up the world's goods. LA is the last remaining major manufacturing center in the US which effects the US economy, but also exports. Defense technologies, and mass media are also heavily produced in LA and widely exported. So in those indirect cases, LA is a large factor to the global economy.

I couldnt find a GREAT article I read from the CA department of finance that broke down many of LA's industries, but I don't feel like wasting time looking for it.

Now that I have shown you a TINY fraction of all of the evidence i have seen over the years, I challenge you to find ONE document that lists the top 15 world centers WITHOUT LA on it. Better yet, don't, cause it DOESNT MATTER and is a waste of time. What matters is that we all vote, go to planning meetings, and make LA a more livable place. We all need to stop being boosters or haters, and start improving our city.

[edluva]

anyways, this is about connectivity, not economic influence. I talked about goods movement being rather passive w/ regards to the global economy. there's really no "control" over the world economy in that. and your postings above are just rankings of agglomerated GDPs. Brookings' study was basically a rehash of the 2005 GAWC ranking which undoubtedly ranked LA on its large legal and advertisement (cultural) services. I'm talking about finance...economics, so you've just referenced material I've already sort of cast into doubt with regards to your economics argument. and like I said earlier, the burden of proof is on you - you're the one claiming LA's got global economic might, not me. but yeah, whatever. I'm over it.

[bricky]

anyways, this is about connectivity, not economic influence. I talked about goods movement being rather passive w/ regards to the global economy. there's really no "control" over the world economy in that. and your postings above are just rankings of agglomerated GDPs. Brookings' study was basically a rehash of the 2005 GAWC ranking which undoubtedly ranked LA on its large legal and advertisement (cultural) services. I'm talking about finance...economics, so you've just referenced material I've already sort of cast into doubt with regards to your economics argument. and like I said earlier, the burden of proof is on you - you're the one claiming LA's got global economic might, not me. but yeah, whatever. I'm over it.

Gaa.... who cares about financial "power", unless you are one of the 1000 people in NY or London that actually matter for shit in the world of finance. One of the people who are not just cogs in a machine. Anyway, there is "power" and influence in areas other than finance. For instance, the Bay Area is immensely powerful in it's technological contributions to the world. I would argue that Silicon Valley has influenced lifestyles and given the world more of value than the entire global financial industry, over the past 30 years.

LA is certainly not a first-tier financial center. But it is a first-tier cultural center. Perhaps the world's most influential cultural center, as a matter of fact. Is that not important?

Do increasingly baroque financial instruments that only serve to skew wealth more towards the wealthy really "contribute" to anything, except speculation and income inequality?

There was a time when financial innovation actually helped economic productivity through improving the allocation of capital. But given current events, I don't think many would argue that this has been the case over the past decade. People on this forum really need to move past finance as the end-all and be-all of power and importance

[bricky]

and it's idiotic to ascribe LA's lack of an urbanness to downtown's lack of "uber-lux", when it's plain to see that the fundamental problem is LA's built env't and pathetic mass trans network. and London/NY are financial centers because they are home to the largest bourses in the world - not because some yuppie such as yourself decided to declare their preferred ghetto ripe for another coffee bean and tea leaf. you should also already know by now that ceo's don't have the power to move company HQ's wherever they please, especially in LA where it's generally cost-prohibitive relative to suburbs. that you overlook such common sense illustrates your image-obsessed shallowness- the kind of shallowness San Franciscans and New Yorkers label LA with (and which I now grudglingly agree LA sometimes deserves). instead, you'll continue obsessing over the notion that presenting a pseudo-downtown so that a few like-minded suburbanites can overpay to live in a 5 sq mile bubble and pretend that they live in a real city equates to "having gotten there".

umm... he's right. I'd even go a step further and say that whatever corporate disadvantages LA has have very little to do with even mass transit. Frankly, it was just bad luck. In the wave of buyouts and consolidations running from the 1980s through the 1990s, LA-based corporations just plain lost. Bought out left and right, until LA had very little significant corporate presence.

Look at Silicon Valley. As suburban, overpriced, and boring as any place in the world. But full of dynamism, new ideas, and corporate titans.

[edluva]

I never said LA wasn't culturally influential. In fact I made a back-handed reference to LA's cultural prowess a few postings back. I was merely refuting the claims of direct economic influence made by a few forumers, and their methodology (using agglomerated GDP as a pillar of one's argument)

[edluva]

L. A.'s also the city that got New York to stop smoking, maybe that will spread to China? :)

:cheers:

[Vangelist]

why are people who live in downtown los angeles "suburbanites" ? let's see all of edluva's biases come through

[edluva]

nice, vangelist. its that your best? maybe you'll respond directly towards me next time instead of disparaging me in third-person, when you actually have an idea. got another tangential cinematic reference for us or did you peak already?

[Vangelist]

why don't you simply just answer the question, without a lame attempt at "attacking" me (via a reference i made to los angeles' cultural role due to cinematic production about a month ago) ? i'm quoting your own words after all...

and stop acting as if you enjoy being the most reviled person on this forum...unless you do!

[Vangelist]

if you can't at the very least answer questions and engage in basic conversation - instead of mendaciously attempting to demonstrate your "intellectual superiority" by bashing various cities/posters/popular (if albeit booster-y) stances on this boostery-by-definition-site - then i don't know why you're even posting here. you're not contributing anything to the conversation except hurling choppy invective at individual posters (even your avatar's signature swipes at a regular) and regurgitating half-formed and unoriginal urban criticisms that none here are unaware of

but i'm not trying to get into a conversation about YOU; that's not that interesting, and everyone already knows of your notoriety and stopped humoring you ages ago, apparently. i suspect as i only restarted posting recently, i'm behind in all that and other posters have had it out with you here long before, stopping a while back due to fatigue (as that one poster in the Houston thread commented yesterday how he stopped posting at SSP years ago due to you, and yet here you remain). i suspect they all ignore you/your so-called "negative attitude" by default now. so no...i don't mean to get off-track here...you don't need to "defend yourself" and continue discussing whether or not you're validly or not criticizing los angeles/Houstonian suburban housing/USC...
...everyone is entitled to an opinion (however misinformed), and i'm curious why/ how you seemed to support one recently:

...i'm sincerely interested in hearing why you think residents of downtown los angeles (whether long-term or neophytes) are "suburbanites."

[edluva]

simple. because they live a suburban lifestyle.

btw, you could have asked this question with a one-liner. most of your effort was aimed at defaming me with personal attacks. i'm honored you're that obsessed w/ me.

next.

[milquetoast]

Hmmm, LA/LB working together to "green up". 300,000 to 600,000 new port related jobs by 2025. 500,000 port related jobs now. Port business expected to triple by 2020. Immense world influence. Trade in NY and London? Oh, that's right! You're talking about financial trade. You're talking about a whole 'nuther world. One that suits your path to enlightenment. The text that I just offerred here better conforms to the thread topic and at the same time gives you another paradigm to cry about. Let's see, I'll just put Hollywood on top of that and- Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner, Los Angeles matters. See, I was general in my assertion, gave you two examples that put relative shame to London and NY, and at the same time taught you how to be humble. Since the burden on proof has been lifted, we don't expect to hear from you again on this, do we? You are so over this, aren't you? :whip: bdee bdee bdee bthat's all folks! Daa da da da da daa da d da da da daaa, da da da da da daa daaa DAAA

[Westsidelife]

Edit.

[edluva]

spit it out westsidelife! you got something to say, say it ;)

[Westsidelife]

^ It wasn't directed toward you, or anyone else for that matter. I'm not one to take your bait. Cheers.

[Westsidelife]

:whip: on, milky. ;)

[edluva]

^i know, i've just been noticing you seem to post a lot of edits.

btw, milque has merely forwarded the same flawed argument about economic influence. i don't see how port business "influences" global economics. do crane-operators influence demand or supply? but i won't continue raining on your little parade of ignorance...

[Westsidelife]

^ Despite the implications of my previous post, I never co-signed with milk. Don't assume things.

[edluva]

i wasn't assuming anything. i was speaking to milque. don't assume things ;)

btw, i'm not trying to "bait" anybody. but if you think i do only because someone else said it and you have no mind of you own, then too bad i guess...

[citywatch]

If LA were simply falling apart, that would be one thing, but all the old junk yards, autorepair shops, tract homes, dead zones, empty streetscapes, antiseptic buildings, etc. just give it an ugliness that no other city has.I think it's the biggest downer or flaw about LA, to more ppl than not (http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2007/category/7). :(


This quote unfortunately sums it up: (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-south13nov13,1,6680033.story)

"L.A's physical form does not match its economy," said Tom Cody, a South Group principal who described much of the local terrain as "a sea of mediocrity."
Many ppl in LA complain about being stuck in traffic & not having good transit as an alternative way of getting around. Or some of them gripe about condo bldgs having parking podiums, or being too short, or being next to sidewalks that don't open up to enough stores. Or hoods being too burban & bland. But all of that is made way, way worse by too much of it being filled with, or surrounded or served by scenes not much better than this:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/12/14862611_f3f46d2c83.jpg?v=0
Omar Omar at flickr.com

[Westsidelife]

^ You're ridiculous.

[edluva]

i know a much more appropriate word than ridiculous. but i can't use it here.

i don't see what's so hard to understand about the fact that if we got rich people from the suburbs, westside, etc to move into the core and pump money into it, everything would start to look great again. we need money, and how do we get money concentrated in a city core? we make it easier for richer people to travel/set up shop there. sure we need to balance growth with ethics (eg not displacing poor folks), but c'mon, LA is fucking dirt poor. Because LA is so ubiquitously poor, virtually any sort of gentrification is going to result in "undesired" consequences such as displacement. If you're waiting for some social program to magically erase poverty in one generation so that we don't need to rely on gentrification, don't hold your breath.

[milquetoast]

Money is needed in the core, but I wouldn't say that L. A. is a dirt poor city. It's always described to me in media as rich. Take Paris, for example- one of the 'big' four. What's the unemployment rate there? I'll just bet that Paris is surrounded by areas that look just like the pic above- with one exception: The parked cars would be on fire :)

[milquetoast]

i don't see how port business "influences" global economics. do crane-operators influence demand or supply?

If they go on strike a lot of 'people' will lose money on both sides of the ocean.

[ChrisLA]

Money is needed in the core, but I wouldn't say that L. A. is a dirt poor city. It's always described to me in media as rich. Take Paris, for example- one of the 'big' four. What's the unemployment rate there? I'll just bet that Paris is surrounded by areas that look just like the pic above- with one exception: The parked cars would be on fire :)

Paris is flithy, and grimmy in many areas, plus you see a lot of ugly buildings in that city. In a sense it kind of reminded me of Los Angeles. It has a lot of glamour and rich, and yet you see a big gap between the two.

Its not that other big american cities don't have their poor. What I think is different with LA and cities like Paris is its often hyped up in the media, and many come to not expect this from city well known for its glamour, and wealth.

Los Angeles has its uglyness for sure, but its really not any worse (probably better compared to the biggest American cities) than the rest. I've seen a lot of cities, and being that I often go to the non tourist areas, LA uglyness can't even compare to some of the decay I've seen. For one thing most LA poor communities aren't desolent and or abandoned, but for the most part thirving. They may not have Jamba Juice, and Coffee Beans, but they are full of retail, and businesses they normally caters to the locals.

[edluva]

If they go on strike a lot of 'people' will lose money on both sides of the ocean.

so your theory depends on the extremely rare case where our port workers go on strike. i'm talking about the day-to-day, not some freak circumstance. your theory does not suggest some ability of LA's economy having a normative role in influencing the global economy. I'm sure if a freak occurence such as everybody in Seattle committing suicide were to occur, the global economy would hiccup, but that doesn't address my topic does it?

and don't rely on the media for your "facts" milque, and especially don't quote the media when you use facts either. as far as wealth is concerned, everybody knows LA is generally a poorer city, with its wealth distributed among rich suburbs and the westside, kinda like detroit, and that this city does not concentrate wealth in a central core the way most major cities do, and thus, also unlike most major cities, is poorest and least educated in its most urban parts.

and your comment on parked cars on fire would be more appropriate in a discussion comparing suburbs of respective cities. remember? we're talking about getting people into LA's shitty core, not whether Parisian or Angeleno suburbanites are more disgruntled.

[citywatch]

You're ridiculous.

The "you" in "you're" has to include all the ppl who've reacted in a way that results in standings like this (http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2007/category/7). And that includes ppl like Tom Cody.

I just notice---and ironically too----that Cody, or at least the company he works for, is based in the city that ranked on the top of the list at that link. I personally don't agree with the POV that led to those results, with Portland #1, LA on the bottom. So, yea, that IS ridiculous.

But just cuz I'm pointing out such ppl's opinions doesn't mean I approve of them. So remember: Don't shoot the messenger. Even more so since I----unlike a particular SSPer who shall go unnamed----do not get a kick out of saying it as it is. I don't get a buzz in slamming LA, & describing the city as hopeless, & saying that it's so bad that it can never get better. If I thought that way, or believed it wasn't any better today than it was 10 or 20 yrs ago, or definitely 50 yrs ago, I'd give up on it.



Los Angeles has its uglyness for sure, but its really not any worse (probably better compared to the biggest American cities) than the rest. I've seen a lot of cities, and being that I often go to the non tourist areas, LA uglyness can't even compare to some of the decay I've seen.I'm curious about what the parts of Paris that remind you of LA look like. I don't think LA is as fugly as some ppl make it out to be. But for any number of reasons, the city does cause alot of ppl to want to apologize for it. That includes even one of the most well known ppl identified with LA's history:

Sums up Buffie Chandler: "I don't say Los Angeles is the most beautiful place on earth, or even the most desirable. I love San Francisco, for instance. But I could never live there, because everything that needed doing has long since been done.

[citywatch]

I'll just bet that Paris is surrounded by areas that look just like the pic above- with one exception: The parked cars would be on fire
There's probably another exception too.

http://img.breitbart.com/images/2007/12/27/071227180428.ujtl2hiy/SGE.NTH83.271207175347.photo00.photo.jpg





I just came across the pic above today, attached to this news story:

Thousands without power as winds buffet Los Angeles
Dec 27 01:04 PM US/Eastern

Around 5,700 homes across Los Angeles were without power early Thursday as fierce winds gusted across the city, downing power lines and knocking over trees. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials said at one stage overnight more than 19,000 households were blacked out as winds packing gusts of up to 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour wreaked havoc across a wide area.

National Weather Service forecasters said the winds were expected to subside later Thursday. The winds also fanned small wildfires near Griffith Park in Los Angeles but firefighters were able to extinguish the flames before they could spread.

[Minato Ku]

You are wrong. ;)

Paris suburbs
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Hauts_chatou.jpg/600px-Hauts_chatou.jpg
Picture by frederic masson
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=558849

[sopas ej]

How about that other Paris suburb, Clichy sous Bois?

http://www.interet-general.info/IMG/France-Clichy-sous-Bois-1.jpg
From interet-general.info