LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[Kingofthehill]

And I definitely agree that there has been an increased amount of exposure for DTLA. Traveling around, it isn't uncommon to see DTLA profiled in magazine articles or articles in Sunday newspapers' travel sections. I still don't like the smug, pretentious way East Coast publications - like the NYT - talk about DTLA, and LA in general. You won't believe the number of hipsters and people into music/arts/architecture/culture/et al, from or living in the trendy parts of Brooklyn, Chicago, London, or SF (among other places), who at least have a passing knowledge about DTLA. DTLA is an increasingly well-known and regarded name in such circles (the ones I dwell in). And Echo Park, too. Actually, thanks to its indie music venues and hipster reputation, Echo Park might be even more well-known! lol

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

I have those The Broad Rental Tower renderings for ya.

That location was featured on a segment of 60 minutes last sunday. These are the scenes that focused on the new museum....







Video on the 60 minutes story about one of LA's leading supporters can be seen here



btw, when ppl talk about the city's low density, the question they have to ask themselves is that by itself a negative thing? Does the low slung environment cause a negative connotation in ppl's minds? Or would low density be seen quite as bad if most of it were like a sprawling version of bev hills or samo instead of way too many overly gritty, rundown hoods?

[pesto]

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

How so? To which cities does it compare favorably to? Most of LA is too low-slung, auto-centric, and doesn't have good enough transit to compete with most Latin American or worse, Asian cities. And the differences in pedestrian activity, too, are worth mentioning. Walking and using mass transit is more or less the norm in such places; as it stands, in LA, it is the exception. Hopefully that will change, though.

And yes, it is not at all to controversial to say Central LA can use more white people. Or really, any sort of non-Mexican people. Some 70% of LA´s Hispanics are from one country (México). East and Southeast LA both have numerous census tracts where the demographics are in upwards of 90% Hispanic. Although I speak Spanish and generally enjoy Latin American cultures (and live in a Latin American city!), for the sake of multiculturalism, I hope LA doesn't go the same route as Miami.

Maybe Mayor V should divert funds to scour Scandinavia for tall blondes. A couple of thousand light-skinned Italians might be OK too.

Not to get over worried about this, but we should be clear that we are talking ethnicity not race. The Hispanics (or blacks or Asians, etc.) who are fully assimilated into general California/LA culture are no different from whites with the same acculturation. Just to chose a number, 1/4 of Hispanics probably fall into this category, and should not be distinguished from people originating in New York or Iowa.

The real issue in LA is the poorly assimilated, often illegal, often illiterate rural Hispanic groups. If they came, as many Asians do, with computer skills and business capital and bought season tickets to the opera, no one would view them as a problem. They would be plenty "white" enough.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by pesto

The real issue in LA is the poorly assimilated, often illegal, often illiterate rural Hispanic groups. If they came, as many Asians do, with computer skills and business capital and bought season tickets to the opera, no one would view them as a problem. They would be plenty "white" enough.

Not to some, who might accuse them of trying "to pass."

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

Traveling around, it isn't uncommon to see DTLA profiled in magazine articles or articles in Sunday newspapers' travel sections.

speaking of which, I came across an article posted a few days ago in a London based newspaper...

The Los Angeles furniture gallery owner Willard Ford learnt a love of design and craftsmanship from his family. His father, the actor Harrison Ford, was always 'making furniture when I was a kid. He would make Shaker-type pieces, 1800s-era stuff.’

Willard Ford lives and works in the former Kim Sing movie theatre in Los Angeles’ Chinatown. He had known the cinema since his childhood, and when he discovered it was for sale in 1999 it had been abandoned for 16 years and was in poor shape. The roof had caved in and it was full of rats. In its favour was that it was next to LA’s newly reinvented downtown (he is a minute from Frank Gehry’s curvaceous Disney Hall) and relatively cheap.

Initially, Ford planned to convert the 10,000 sq ft of space into flats. The city said no, so he chose instead to make a vast live/work space, incorporating a furniture, fashion and art showroom, for him and his son, Eliel (now 17), to live in and five shop spaces, which he leases out. Today it operates as Ford & Ching, which represents emerging design talent from across the globe (his business partner, Andrea Ching, runs their New York office).

I recall driving by this location, on Fig st north of Chavez Ave, a few months ago & wondering whether it was an old movie theater that had been renovated & reopened. I assumed the owner was aiming at a small niche market of asian films & worried he wouldn't attract enough movie goers.

[Just-In-Cali]

Taking a break from my forum sabattical, here is a pic of the Broad Museum site. Looks like its underway.

[alki]

I think what bothers them is the climate and its effects on the appearance of the city.

When I did a recon trip up to Seattle to see if I wanted to live there, there was a kid and his dad sitting behind me on the flight back. As we approached LA, there was a brush fire........the kid pointed it out to his dad. The dad's response........its because every thing is dead that's why its burning. For those of us connected to the green, going without rain for six-eight months is pretty unpleasant.

Compare these two images: The first is Seattle as it really looks on rare sunny days, and the second is Seattle with washed-out colors, brighter light, and less foliage (done in the crudest way possible, so don't bother criticizing my 'shop skills):

The second one looks a lot more like LA, doesn't it? So critics of LA should be mindful of the difference between things that are under the control of residents - zoning, street design, etc. - vs. things that aren't (the color of the damn sunlight, and the availability of water for foliage, being two examples).

Ironically, the light is similar to the light of Provence.......which many artists consider the best light for painting.

Those pics were a great way to make your point.

[alki]

Skyscraper Boom Reaches End as City of London Goes 'From Vanity to Sanity'

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...o-sanity-.html

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by Just-In-Cali

Taking a break from my forum sabattical, here is a pic of the Broad Museum site. Looks like its underway.

Hell yeah. It's strange, though, because they probably won't even officially break ground until the garage is complete, since they are considering the museum and the garage to be separate projects.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by citywatch

speaking of which, I came across an article posted a few days ago in a London based newspaper...




I recall driving by this location, on Fig st north of Chavez Ave, a few months ago & wondering whether it was an old movie theater that had been renovated & reopened. I assumed the owner was aiming at a small niche market of asian films & worried he wouldn't attract enough movie goers.

Nice little article. If you make an area attractive to PEOPLE, they will bring the talents and skills to make old gems (or even old crap) into vibrant, livable, even world-class living and working areas.

Contrast this with the big government approach: let's put a monster, blockbuster project here and destroy any hope for a real neighborhood.

[C.Lan]

I know that building, I used to catch the 4 bus near that corner when I worked at the real-estate office nearby. Hasn't that stretch past Sunset been known for crime? I remember losing my wallet once (which had everything in it) at a Chinese place around the corner. Never heard back from the owners about it when I called, not once. Years later someone told me that probably had something to do with "thug" issues or gangs or something, which surprised me. I didn't remember seeing anything remotely thug-like on that stretch in those days. Glad to see that it's looking better around these days, but maybe that's why it's taken awhile to get the area going...

[Westsidelife]

Dozens of recent construction photos from the official website of the Civic Park renovation:

http://civicpark.lacounty.gov/c/0428...onphotos2.html

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by Westsidelife

Dozens of recent construction photos from the official website of the Civic Park renovation:

http://civicpark.lacounty.gov/c/0428...onphotos2.html

Wow, a lot more progress than I had guessed. They've been busy!

It's great when municipalities put out these mini-websites where you can follow along with the progress. I wish every project had one.

[Illithid Dude]

So, it's fast times at Downtown high, or something like that. Anyways, there are things ahappening downtown right now. The first major project post-recession has really started, The Broad. And look, steal beams are being delivered!



This is from Curbed LA, by the way. So, yes, very exciting. Finally, we have a project to follow! And, hopefully soon, when Wilshire Grand starts up, we'll have two.

[colemonkee]

^ Those are piles for the outer foundation wall. The garage itself will likely be steel-reinforced concrete. Though that's a sure sign we're underway.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

^ Those are piles for the outer foundation wall. The garage itself will likely be steel-reinforced concrete. Though that's a sure sign we're underway.

Yes, of course. I probably should have made that more clear in my post. I would think that people would assume that they probably wouldn't make the walls of a garage a dirt pit. Still, though, like you said, we're underway.

[djlx2v2]

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[DtlaCuriousity]

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

How so? To which cities does it compare favorably to? Most of LA is too low-slung, auto-centric, and doesn't have good enough transit to compete with most Latin American or worse, Asian cities. And the differences in pedestrian activity, too, are worth mentioning. Walking and using mass transit is more or less the norm in such places; as it stands, in LA, it is the exception. Hopefully that will change, though.

And yes, it is not at all to controversial to say Central LA can use more white people. Or really, any sort of non-Mexican people. Some 70% of LA´s Hispanics are from one country (México). East and Southeast LA both have numerous census tracts where the demographics are in upwards of 90% Hispanic. Although I speak Spanish and generally enjoy Latin American cultures (and live in a Latin American city!), for the sake of multiculturalism, I hope LA doesn't go the same route as Miami.

Why this is just moronic. I would imagine LA's "Hispanics" are mostly from one country too and it isn't Mexico - it is the USA.

[pesto]

Well, on Cinco de Mayo it's probably worth noting: when you see someone who "looks Hispanic" in LA, you may be looking at an illegal, but you may also be looking at a cop or businessman or someone who doesn't even speak Spanish. Conversely, I think all that KOTH is saying is that the number of non-acculturated Hispanics (the mostly rural and uneducated recent arrivals) appears to be dispropotionately high.

But this raises the more interesting issue: do you want diversity or do you want acculturation? If every new arrival, for example, quickly speaks the same language, watches the same TV shows, texts the same messages, talks about Bin Laden or Charlie Sheen, eats tacos and pizza, and shops at Target is there any diversity left?

[bobcat]

So yeah, what do people think of this idea that's been proposed:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slu...um_site_050411

Anschutz, who NFL people think just wants another professional team to help build the traffic and convention business downtown, could buy the Dodgers and basically flip the stadiums. He could use the convention center space for a state-of-the-art baseball stadium, tear down Dodger Stadium and build a football paradise in Chavez Ravine. Of course, the cost would be problematic, but the idea for someone like Anschutz isn’t farfetched because it would build the value of the downtown area.

It would seem to solve a lot of the problems with the proposed Farmers Field.

1. The traffic impact would be lessened, given that a baseball stadium would likely only seat about 50,000 compared to 70,000+ for a football stadium. For the folks who live around Elysian Park this could actually be an improvement.
2. Fans might be more inclined to take public transit since there is no need for tailgating. Plus there is plenty of space to tailgate at Dodger Stadium.
3. 80 baseball games per year to support downtown businesses compared with only 10 or so football games.

Are baseball stadiums much larger than football stadiums? I know baseball fields are larger than football fields, but baseball stadiums have smaller capacities. I'm wondering if a baseball stadium could fit in the West Hall space.

They could even have AEG buy the Dodgers and move them to South Park while Majestic builds a new football stadium in Chavez Ravine.

To be honest I can't think of many negatives.