Downtown LA - is it poised for major growth, or is this media hype? (live, prices)

[californio sur]

Originally Posted by BVitamin

Great, more bland contemporary "art" in L.A. Why not just make the donations towards MOCA? Seems dubious to expand LACMA's already somewhat bland collection. Uh, hello, they need to move those Rodin sculptures in more of a prime spot and not stick them in the back corner of one of their buildings. Also why not acquire more renown works so that you can compete with NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art instead of featuring so called 'contemporary' art that most were deemed meaningful by some biased critic. I mean, just look at the Whitney or NY's somewhat New Museum (aka Bower Museum) which I'm not going to get into, it's just a joke of a museum. /rant :\

I'm not a big museum-goer myself but also don't particularly like contemporary art. I did enjoy the Getty Villa several weeks ago; it is anything but contemporary with some incredibly old Greek artifacts. Have you ever been to the Villa? They reopened it a few yrs ago. I didn't know that all of Broad's collection was strictly contemporary.

[BVitamin]

Originally Posted by californio sur

I'm not a big museum-goer myself but also don't particularly like contemporary art. I did enjoy the Getty Villa several weeks ago; it is anything but contemporary with some incredibly old Greek artifacts. Have you ever been to the Villa? They reopened it a few yrs ago. I didn't know that all of Broad's collection was strictly contemporary.

I have not! Looks like a bigger version of the Frick Collection Museum in NYC and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The Getty, hmm, another L.A. museum with bland taste, beautiful museum though. So visiting the Villa was never on my list of museums to see. Seriously, California needs to work on getting their art museum act together. Actually San Francisco's Legion of Honors is a pretty nice museum which has some of Camille Claudel's work. Also Norton Simon Museum has a nice little collection of works, beautiful garden too. NSM has Rodin's work nicely featured in front of the entrance of the museum.

[SoCal35]

Originally Posted by BVitamin

Great, more bland contemporary "art" in L.A. Why not just make the donations towards MOCA?

Ego...Mr. Broad wants to control everything.

Seems dubious to expand LACMA's already somewhat bland collection. Uh, hello, they need to move those Rodin sculptures in more of a prime spot and not stick them in the back corner of one of their buildings.

That would be nice.

Also why not acquire more renown works so that you can compete with NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art instead of featuring so called 'contemporary' art that most were deemed meaningful by some biased critic.

And you have no bias? LOL.

I mean, just look at the Whitney or NY's somewhat New Museum (aka Bower Museum) which I'm not going to get into, it's just a joke of a museum. /rant :\

NYC had a MAJOR head start on art collecting over LA by decades.

[BVitamin]

Well not to veer off too much from the OP, my bias is world class. "My" bias has been time tested; contemporary work, hmm, certain critics/art philosophers have an agenda on perpetuating the mold of Post-Modernism which seems to dominate what kind of dialogue "art" has these days. Unfortunately they run in circles that influence what museums do or don't do. I'm not contending with your statement at all, I just think there's this dumbfounded mentality in criticizing contemporary art, for the most part.

Yeah the Met definitely had a major head start but LACMA isn't even trying.

[SoCal35]

Topic for another thread.

[Jay100]

Originally Posted by cw31088

Hi guys,

I just started working in Downtown and I'm commuting in from Long Beach. I'm considering buying a loft over here, there are some decent looking ones in the $150,000-$200,000 range, which pans out to less than $300/SF (seems good for a high rise... if not let me know broker!). So here's what I would like to know:

1. Positives and negatives of downtown - culture, traffic, parking, costs of living, etc.
2. Is all of this publicity about development projects really what it's cracking up to be? i.e. Broadway Street revitalization, Grand Avenue Park plan, etc.
3. What do you think about the property values? Have they bottomed out? I know this is probably a stupid question... but what's your opinion?
4. Lastly, what's the commute like to Century City?

Thanks for the info everyone!

Angelenos don't usually play around. If they say they're going to do something...it will probably happen. Just saying. Yes, I think Downtown LA is the wave of the future. Houses there, seem to be a relic of the 20th Century. Billionaires and other investors wouldn't throw their money away if they didn't believe the place were trending upward. Have prices bottomed out? I would say, no, the market still has some adjusting to do. Commuting to Century City is hell--sorry; it's a great city but I avoid if possible during rush hour.

[Mr. Fantastic]

I liked what they did in Downtown near the Staples Center. That area looks nicely gentrified.

That being said, unless you like paying $1,000 HOA fees to live downtown in a high rise, it's never worth it.

[BacktoBlue]

LOL why does every thread either turn into L.A. vs NYC or L.A. vs. SF?

[LASam]

Lost in the coversation here is LACMA, which supposedly has LA's best collection of art.

[SoCal35]

Originally Posted by Mr. Fantastic

I liked what they did in Downtown near the Staples Center. That area looks nicely gentrified.

That being said, unless you like paying $1,000 HOA fees to live downtown in a high rise, it's never worth it.

I agree that you should ALWAYS look at the HOA fees before buying.

But $1,000 per month is NOT common...unless you are talking about an ultra luxury building like the Ritz Carlton or high-rises on Wilshire Blvd between Bev Hills and Westwood.

The HOA dues for new high rises downtown are closer to $400 to $750 (depending on size)...nothing to sneeze at but less than $1,000.