Downtown Los Angeles: Is it's revitalization redefining the way people look at Los Angeles? (Fortuna: how much, earthquakes)

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by TimTheEnchanter

Denver is hardly a new city, it was bigger and more important than Los Angeles at the start of the 20th century.

And now...?

[MB8abovetherim]

Originally Posted by TimTheEnchanter

Denver isn't real? What are those facades? Mannequins in the streets?

You can have LA's "fashion" district which is anything but fashionable and pretend that it is just like NY's fashion district.

There are never games NOT going on in DT Denver between the four sports and the college sports there.

Denver is hardly a new city, it was bigger and more important than Los Angeles at the start of the 20th century.

You must not get out of the house much.

Like nslander said, Downtown Denver is nice and it's pretty large. But it's too clean and sterile looking. It looks like the whole place has been built to cater to the gentry and nobody else, it's like a giant gated community. Every corner pub, or restaruant is some trendy type place, I feel like I'm in downtown Disney. Downtown Denver feels like it's there for only one class of citizen. Downtown Los Angeles on the otherhand has some grit, character, more diversity and is more chaotic. It's more bustling, loud, raw, and unpretentious. LA's fashion district is the largest in the US, so is its jewelry district, DTLA is like the traditional downtowns you see in NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago or SF. It's not dolled up and trying to hard to be hip or uber-urban. I'll take that over what DT Denver has to offer.

And sure at the turn of the 20th century Denver may have been more important and larger. Things changed didn't they? And so what if Denver is a great sports town. I don't care. LA is too, but Angelenos aren't all caught up in them 24/7...you know, because LA isn't a small town

[joshualevi]

Downtown is getting Sprinkle's!

[pwright1]

I love how the Music Center is becoming a fantastic cultural mecca. Grand Park fits in beautifully and when the Broad Museum opens in a couple of months it will really be great. Things are coming together downtown.

[Carlite]

Both the public and private sectors have been pretty good, for a long time, at building big projects in Downtown LA, from the Music Center in the north to Staples Center in the south. That's fine, but unless there's some urban connective tissue-some places to go between the big attractions--the danger is that people will drive in and drive out. It's getting better, and there are some areas of Downtown that have good on-street fabric, like Broadway and the Historic Core. But Bunker Hill certainly doesn't, it's got the legacy of its scorched earth urban renewal.

The one way streets are a legacy of 50's/60's traffic engineering, when a street's value was solely how many vehicles it could process. Now that Downtown LA is strengthening as a place to get to, not just through, the one way streets do need to go. The streets would be so much nicer to walk, bike, and sit on if they weren't traffic sewers. I'm sure that traffic could be handled--particularly with continually rising transit and bike use.

Very few American downtowns are really the center of retailing in their metro areas anymore. Yes New York and Chicago are, but they're unusual. Los Angeles is worse than some, but hardly unique. I'd hope that Downtown LA can continue to add interesting stores organically, that nobody feels the need to come in and build a big urban renewal style shopping center.

I've been visiting Downtown LA for almost 30 years now. There are certainly improvements to be made, surface parking lots to be built on (especially south of 8th St.). But I also feel like Downtown is almost at a kind of golden moment, when it works for people of multiple racial/ethnic groups, income levels, cultural styles etc. It's hard for American cities to hold these balances, the tendency is either displacement or decline. I hope there's more (good) development, I expect there will be. But it would be sad if it turned into a "Sex in the City" style urban theme park.

[Fabacker]

What DTLA needs is RETAIL!! LA Live has absolutely no retail and its a destination failure in my opinion. An ice skating rink and Christmas tree in front of dreadful restaurants doesn't cut it. It should have been built as another version of the Grove and Americana. As a DTLA I have no reason to every go there aside from the occasional event. There are plenty of great restaurants in and around the historic core so why would we walk there to eat at Rock'n Fish, Yard House or a WP Cafe? 7th & Fig..... Really??? What a big let down.

Scott

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

We love visiting down town LA. Part of the fun is in visiting Santee Alley in the Fashion District. It is not too far from LA Live. It is kind of gritty down there but lots of fun and very active.The area also has the only McDonalds that I am aware of that closes down. If you need to visit a McDonalds at 7pm this is not the place to go. Not that I am a fan, but when you have little kids in tow they seem to prefer it. It is not just McDonalds but just about all places like it. Then again everything there dies down after 6pm when that part of town seems to close down.

LA Live to the south of the Fashion district is far from closed down at 6pm. You need to visit to check out the lively atmosphere within the area. Maybe it depends what is happening on a given day but we liked driving by it and plan on taking a walk through the area. I know that along much of that part of the city you will find a club scene.

Anywhere you find a parking spot that cost $6 a day for parking and $12 after 7pm you can be sure that clubs can be found. Some of them we were familiar with from past experience, although it may have been a few years back. My wife and I may have to make another visit later in the evening without the kids to see what does happen down there later in the evening.

[jorge112597]

Originally Posted by Fabacker

What DTLA needs is RETAIL!! LA Live has absolutely no retail and its a destination failure in my opinion. An ice skating rink and Christmas tree in front of dreadful restaurants doesn't cut it. It should have been built as another version of the Grove and Americana. As a DTLA I have no reason to every go there aside from the occasional event. There are plenty of great restaurants in and around the historic core so why would we walk there to eat at Rock'n Fish, Yard House or a WP Cafe? 7th & Fig..... Really??? What a big let down.

Scott

That's funny, making a account just to talk **** on LA.

[joshualevi]

Originally Posted by Fabacker

What DTLA needs is RETAIL!! LA Live has absolutely no retail and its a destination failure in my opinion. An ice skating rink and Christmas tree in front of dreadful restaurants doesn't cut it. It should have been built as another version of the Grove and Americana. As a DTLA I have no reason to every go there aside from the occasional event. There are plenty of great restaurants in and around the historic core so why would we walk there to eat at Rock'n Fish, Yard House or a WP Cafe? 7th & Fig..... Really??? What a big let down.

Scott

7th & Fig has been closed for quite some time! But what has replaced it is FIGat7th, a pedestrian friendly outdoor venue with a food court that is forward thinking, groundbreaking, and tasty, and just plain cool.(I feel like I am at the Aria in Vegas or something. Great restaurants that either are completely new or have only a few other locations, with very modern design.) As downtown continues its health kick,(Tender Greens on the way, Equinox, Plenty of juice and salad shops, vegan restaurants on the way, yoga in Grand Park, etc) I am pretty darn excited for that Sports Chalet. They said in a statement it would be a completely new design and their first new location in years. From the marketing outside, its apparent they are stepping up their game. As for aesthetics, its pretty darn cool looking too. I would check it out and give it time to evolve. Some retailers don't move until they see numbers. Once the restaurants move in and Sports Chalet, more will follow. Guaranteed. The location is perfect.

[Chicano3000X]

I wish there was an architect who specialized in art deco or gothic architetcure to add more of L.A.'s noir feel. Either that or a mad architect who loves blade runner.. We just gotta start burning more fossil fuels..