Quote:
Originally Posted by Crawford
The region will not lose its multinodal nature.
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How does LA's "multinodal nature" preclude it from having a core in the same league as any North American city not named New York? If you're saying that LA's relationship with its downtown will never be as important as it is with Chicago, Philadelphia, or Seattle, then that's another thing. The notion that significantly larger LA could never have a core at the very least "comparable" to the latter two cities (especially Seattle) is just ludicrous.
I also take issue with the implication that multinodality and centralization are mutually exclusive urban principles. Just look at the SF Bay Area and how much of its economic engine is scatteredly based across Silicon Valley, and not concentrated in SF proper. Even the NYC Tri-State Area is multinodal to a degree (i.e. White Plains, Greenwich, Stamford, New Jersey), despite the sheer dominance of Manhattan.
Finally, LA's multinodality in terms of both perception and reality is more a reflection of how underdeveloped its downtown and regional rail system are and less the gravitational pull that other centers have. What even qualifies as a "node" is pretty ambiguous as well. The bottom line is that Downtown LA has the potential to overshadow all of those places.