What do you guys think of places like "The Americana"? (Los Angeles: for sale, apartments)

[Chicano3000X]

Do they add to the urban feel of the city? It's basically a building. It's nice looking. Only dead give away is the fake windows facing colorado blvd.

Do you think it's a waste of space?

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by Chicano3000X

Do they add to the urban feel of the city? It's basically a building. It's nice looking. Only dead give away is the fake windows facing colorado blvd.

Do you think it's a waste of space?

I've never been in the Americana but drove by it once. Let's just say it is better than a typical mall (like the Glendale Galleria) but it certainly is not a great urban landmark. It does look nice and Caruso (the developer) knows how to make these types of places - he is also the mastermind behind The Grove (never been there either ).

I'm not really a mall type of guy; typically I immediately regret it when I go to a huge mall.

[BennyPhoenix]

Too many people. Glendale was nicer when it was more like a sleepy midwestern town.
Why does Los Angeles need to be recreated in Glendale anyway? If you(in general) like L.A. then go to L.A.

[Chicano3000X]

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

Too many people. Glendale was nicer when it was more like a sleepy midwestern town.
Why does Los Angeles need to be recreated in Glendale anyway? If you(in general) like L.A. then go to L.A.

IDK, I always felt that it was still L.A.

I live atwater and glendale is just 5 minutes away.

The way I see it, is, think of Los Angeles as one giant organism made up of smaller organisms. Multiple mini cities joining together to create one giant city.

[genjy]

Malls like the Americana, the Grove, Victoria Gardens, etc. are all designed to be fake town centers. They aim to be private "public" spaces.

Rick Caruso's creations (the Americana and the Grove) even go as far as providing fake "public" transportation--the trolleys.

Caruso was going to build another one of these glorified malls in Arcadia (next to the Santa Anita Race Track), but eventually he gave up on that project for various reasons.

Thank god it didn't go through... the SGV doesn't need any of that fakeness.

[saybanana]

I like the Americana at Brand, but I'm not in love with it. I like the Big Brand name stores, the trolley, the dancing musical fountain, and the faux style buildings. It's pretty, but not authentic. It is similar to the Grove, but with housing. The Americana is a flashier version of Paseo Colorado in Pasadena. At least it isn't over the top neon flashing like Universal Citywalk. These outdoor places are a big step up from the self-contained enclosed malls like the Glendale Galleria, The Santa Anita Mall, Westfield Century City. The Americana is open, but still self-contained. I feel these places are just fads and will be destroyed and rebuilt in a few decades.

The only places I feel have the Los Angeles urban city feel and will last as long time is Old Town Pasadena, the Melrose/Fairfax district, and Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

To me, Old Town and 3rd street feels like a large town/small city all in one place. I don't think there is a single place in LA that has the all in one cosmopolitan feel that you find in parts of the Americas, Europe or Asia. The only place in all of LA county that has potential to be similar to a major all in one destination is Downtown L.A. What DTLA needs are tons of major mid to high end shopping stores, Broadway musicals or theatre, and more people living in the area. It already has the transportation, restaurants, bars, clubs, some big hotels, low end swap mall shopping, and ethnic foods. The Dorothy Chandler/Disney music center brings the classics, while the Nokia brings in the pop/rock/country. There are several museums and many art galleries in DTLA.

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

Why does Los Angeles need to be recreated in Glendale anyway? If you(in general) like L.A. then go to L.A.

I don't see how the Americana at Brand is Los Angeles recreated in Glendale. As was stated by another poster, these are faux cities. Make believe. It is more Disney than anything else (think Main Street Disneyland).

Caruso started putting this krap upon our landscape in suburban locations (like thousand oaks & calabasas) BEFORE he moved to more urban locations like the Grove (next to Farmer's Market).

So really the Americana at Brand is an invasion of Glendale by The Commons at Calabasas or Caruso's Promenade at Thousand Oaks.

[Avex]

It's pretty, boring, Uninpsiring and not my cup of tea.
I do love old Pasadena, some neat architecture and lots of lovely churches.

[True Freedom]

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

Too many people. Glendale was nicer when it was more like a sleepy midwestern town.
Why does Los Angeles need to be recreated in Glendale anyway? If you(in general) like L.A. then go to L.A.

absolutely. Way too crowded.. but so many cities are creating high density areas.. so we'll all be like LA soon

[Praline]

The Americana is the kind of place IMO that is good for a visit or two. The Americana apartments and condos are way overpriced and only recently starting to fill those vacancies. There are two brand new buildings in that area that are totally empty and I don't understand why Glendale keeps building more and more apartment buildings when so many buildings have "For Rent" and For Sale signs and remain half empty. A little off-topic but. . .on the corner of Glendale and Lexington, they spent years building this rather attractive circular building that takes up the entire corner. There were rumors that it was going to be a garden center but nothing ever came of it. That building remains empty with a rental sign on it. There are many empty office buildings on Brand.

I haven't lived in Glendale long enough to mourn the "old places," but I do think it is overbuilt and overpopulated. I appreciate those who were born or raised here telling us how it used it be. I wish it still had an old-fashioned, small town atmosphere.