Los Angeles Needs to be Manhattanized (Freedom: new construction, low cost, groceries)

[kcimos]

One could take the entirety of Manhattan & plop it down in L.A. between Downtown & Santa Monica & there would still be hundreds of square miles of stupid generic ugly SFHs to choose from. One could still drive their convertible down Sunset Blvd. The beaches would still be there. But now, there would be like a million MORE things to do.

[JerZ]

It's all been said already. But from someone who misses the northeast terribly - it's silly to wish L.A. were Manhattan. All places should NOT be alike. What a boring world that would be.

Miss NYC all you like, you're within your rights and nobody should put you down for that...BUT...L.A. is L.A. It is not Manhattan and never will be...and it shouldn't be. It should be its own place..and it is.

[owl6969]

the only area and place in Los Angeles that has a shot or the easiest to try to make into something like manhattan is Downtown, Wilshire and Century City.

[True Freedom]

Yes, yes.. let's Manhattanize. Given that we already don't have enough water for the folks that live here, let's cram a ton more people into town, and legislate twice a week showering and flushing every other poop.

[yamota]

What's next? Costumed characters in Times Square a'la Hollywood boulevard?? Oh wait, that's already happening

[LuvSouthOC]

San Diego is building it's first de-sal plant in Carlsbad. OC is working on getting Dana Point and Huntington Beach as de-sal locations. LA is also readying a lot of de-sal plants for those countless tall buildings, right? Right?

Are these tall residential buildings all going to be "affordable"?

[thelopez2]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

Are these tall residential buildings all going to be "affordable"?

Of course not, they will be "manhantanized" prices

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by JerZ

It's all been said already. But from someone who misses the northeast terribly - it's silly to wish L.A. were Manhattan. All places should NOT be alike. What a boring world that would be.

Miss NYC all you like, you're within your rights and nobody should put you down for that...BUT...L.A. is L.A. It is not Manhattan and never will be...and it shouldn't be. It should be its own place..and it is.

Yeah I agree. I haven't lived in NYC , just visited...but I think that L.A actually feels like it has more variety, diversity versus NYC. Some parts are very dense like Koreatown, but then theres places with a lot of spread out homes. There are super clean neighborhoods...and then there's true urban decay/grit too.

The architecture varies a lot...despite what people think it's not just bland strip mall after strip mall.

Of course talking about L.A I'm including places like Pasadena which have amazing architecture too.

I think it would be kind of boring looking if it were just skyscraper after skyscraper..I mean I can see the appeal in an area like Manhattan...everything is super convenient..dont need a car etc

But I agree that places should be different. It's a free country too and if you like Manhattan and can afford it people should move there.

That being said , I'm sure we will be seeing more density in areas that didn't have it before.

Take a look at this article about Warner Center (woodland hills area in the valley). There were actually plans to make it dense in the 70s but residents complained.
L.A. revives a denser vision for Woodland Hills' Warner Center - LA Times

The city has lifted height restrictions etc...people are (FINALLY) catching on that there is a DEMAND for density in a CITY like L.A *the shock*! .........

"Officials are betting that the kind of dense, walkable communities thriving in downtown, Hollywood and other parts of Los Angeles can work 26 miles from the city center.

"Why is it important to build here? So people don't have to be in traffic for a half-hour, 45 minutes to go someplace else," Mayor Eric Garcetti said on a recent tour of the area. "That's bad for them, but it's bad for the rest of us too."

Speaking of prices...it will be interesting to see what the prices are like at the new units in the Warner Center area whenever they are built... The area already isn't cheap necessarily so i'm sure they won't be 'affordable' either ..

[Losfrisco]

Did anyone see the film "Her"? It shows a future Los Angeles jammed with skyscrapers.

Don't forget that in the "Red Car" days, Los Angeles had %25 more rail/track than NYC has TODAY. I'm pretty sure everyone knew what NY/Manhattan would become from the time it was settled, Los Angeles had to be conceived and built with feats of civil engineering not seen since Roman times, going from basically a settlement on the edge of a desert to the site of the summer Olympics in 50 years.

Thats why New York doesn't really impress me but Los Angeles does.

[nslander]

Originally Posted by Hot Karl

it'll never happen, los angeles will always be one giant sprawling suburb. it's in the culture of the people.

for example, most people migrated to los angeles from the south/midwest, while san francisco attracted people from the northeast. that's a big part of the reason why sf is much more of a "real" city than los angeles.

take the average angelino and tell him to move into a 250sqft apartment and give up his car. good luck with that. la is home to obnoxious mc mansions, car culture, cul-de-sacs, etc., it always will be.

This response is more asinine than the premise. I didn't think it was possible.