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Originally Posted by chrisla
So a good number of locals Long Beach residents in the surrounding areas will choose to drive to the edge of LB over to the Towne Center. Personally I hate the set-up at the towne center. The parking is bad, and the traffic getting into this center can cause a heart attack.
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If you have only a vague idea of the place Chrisla is referring to, the LBTC is a few miles south of the often promoted Cerritos Auto Sq, along the 605, & was built not too many yrs ago. I used to wonder why its owners included such a huge parking lot in the middle of all the TC's big box retailing, but after seeing how packed it can get on weekends, now I know why. The writers of the LB Press Telegram article mentioned the Irvine Spectrum as major competition to DT LB, but they really should have pointed to the LBTC.
The TC to me is a throwback to typical sprawling 1-floor shopping cts of 1950s burbs, & I think it's kind of dull & discouraging. But the devlps proved the motto "build it and they will come". If that's not been as true of the Pike or CityPlace, then it's because DT LB still doesn't have a big enough population base, at least one with a fair amt of $$ to spend, & a strong enough image. DT LB is like a southern LA county version of DT LA.
Both DT LB & DT LA show that a town has got to turn things around a lot faster, or else success will be harder to find. I like to think that city govts & local ppl are starting to understand that, & will want to push up the speed of improvments, or what is the OPPOSITE of Nimbysm.