Los Angeles Gets Serious About Its Downtown-WSJ ARTICLE (Long Beach, Rialto: best city, credit)

[jamills21]

Looks like Grand Park is about to see it's first major music festival in the Summer. Jay-Z is bringing his "Made In America" to the West Coast.

[jm1982]

Interesting...but not too surprising really. Downtown is already home to Staples Center, Nokia Theatre ,etc

I also wonder about what the public/tax payers will get out of it as Councilmember Huizer mentions in the article.

Grand Park cost the taxpayers $56 Million...
Downtown L.A.'s Grand Park readies for July 28 partial opening - Los Angeles Times

Parks are nice...but sometimes I wonder if we should be spending so much money on new parks when they are tons of issues not being taken care of...

Politicians love to spend tons of money on parks because their names on it, and it's something more tangible.
They can't put their name on a fixed pothole or sidewalk,etc.

I haven't been to Grand Park...can anyone tell me if it was worth $56million..?


At this point it's not like DTLA is dying for business , it's already a place people are going.

It's not Detroit...Or Panorama City

I'd like to see a festival like this in an unexpected area that needs the business.

Maybe South LA, parts of the Valley, etc

Of course this is a big corporate /for profit event...but i think it would make more of an impact.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Interesting...but not too surprising really. Downtown is already home to Staples Center, Nokia Theatre ,etc

I also wonder about what the public/tax payers will get out of it as Councilmember Huizer mentions in the article.

Grand Park cost the taxpayers $56 Million...
Downtown L.A.'s Grand Park readies for July 28 partial opening - Los Angeles Times

Parks are nice...but sometimes I wonder if we should be spending so much money on new parks when they are tons of issues not being taken care of...

Politicians love to spend tons of money on parks because their names on it, and it's something more tangible.
They can't put their name on a fixed pothole or sidewalk,etc.

I haven't been to Grand Park...can anyone tell me if it was worth $56million..?


At this point it's not like DTLA is dying for business , it's already a place people are going.

It's not Detroit...Or Panorama City

I'd like to see a festival like this in an unexpected area that needs the business.

Maybe South LA, parts of the Valley, etc

Of course this is a big corporate /for profit event...but i think it would make more of an impact.

Yes it was. LA desperately needed a central meeting spot and it shows in the turnout for the NYE celebration, Obama inauguration, etc. Los Angeles is a world class city, and needs world-class amenities, including great public parks.

Plus, that area is very park poor and will have tens of thousands of new residents in the next decade, so this park will be well used for years to come.

Of course it would be nice to build more parks in even more park-poor places like South LA and the northeast Valley.

56 million wouldn't even put a dent in the sidewalk / street repair issue. That is a billions of dollars project.

[jamills21]

"ULI", a gelato shop in the spring arcade building in the historic core opened recently. Guisados Tacos should be open soon as well. Hopefully this can be start to something like the ferry building in SF.

[jamills21]

A well-known winemaker aims for downtown L.A.

[sargentodiaz]

Originally Posted by jamills21

A well-known winemaker aims for downtown L.A.

Few people know that the first vineyards and wineries in California were started by the Franciscan friars. Grapes grew wild in various places around the state and the friars brought vines that he been cultivated in Baja California. Some of the friars had extensive experience from growing up in winery regions of Spain.

Growing up, I can remember thousands of acres of vineyards between San Bernadino and downtown LA. Virginia Dare or something like that?

[jm1982]

This is also San Antonio winery which has been in L.A since 1917

The History of the Urban Winery in Los Angeles | San Antonio Winery

Link is interesting for those interested in the wine history of the L.A area.

[jm1982]

This is pretty interesting, looks like Broadway will be getting pretty upscale soon..

With Trade Center Sale, Broadway Hopes to Trade Up - Los Angeles Downtown News - For Everything Downtown L.A.!: News

“There will be creative technical tenants, some 3,500 people working in this building,” he said. “In addition, we are talking about 200,000 square feet of retail; nowhere else in the Historic Core has that. This campus will be a catalyst for Downtown.”
Although he would not mention future stores by name, Sample said Waterbridge is looking at “very high-end, similar-to-Beverly Hills” type shops. He added that they are more upscale than the retail lineup at the shopping center at Seventh and Figueroa streets, which include Zara, Sephora and Target.

[GatsbyGatz]

^that's great news. LA's perfect climate pretty much begs for a pedestrian-oriented city. Glad investors have faith in Broadway's potential.

[jm1982]

Yeah it's interesting that it will be going from swap meet stores to Beverly Hills type stores.
It's not surprising though considering the way things have been going the past years , more higher income residents moving in, tons of restaurants/bars, retail,etc.