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Old 12-28-2013, 04:43 PM
 
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Los Angeles Gets Serious About Its Downtown - WSJ.com

An interesting article about the revival of downtown LA in the Wall Street journal
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Old 12-30-2013, 10:19 AM
 
Location: So Ca
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Can't access the article unless one is a WSJ subscriber.
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Old 12-30-2013, 11:22 AM
 
Location: Riverside
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CA4Now View Post
Can't access the article unless one is a WSJ subscriber.
No link for this one either, but the latest GQ has a long profile of DTLA too, under the title "Coolest neighborhood in the US", or some such.

It's the issue with Bradley Cooper on the cover.
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Old 12-31-2013, 08:48 AM
 
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I heard about the renaissance of DTLA too. 10 years ago I visited it as a USC student at night hoping to see some nightlife and it scared the hell out of me and my friends.

Does it live up to the hype now? Do people live in DTLA and walk around after 6pm? New constructions? Events? Retail and grocery stores?
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Old 12-31-2013, 09:04 AM
 
Location: So Ca
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//www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...back-life.html
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Old 12-31-2013, 10:48 AM
 
Location: South Bay
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i went to a laker game the other night, the area around the staples center has been stagnant for at least a few years now. still a lot of big, ugly surface lots. i've heard rumors of new towers planned to fill these lots in, but i'll believe it when i see it. the more active part of downtown seems to be closer to the river where more local shops/restaurants seem to be opening up. also, the civic center area with the new museum and park seem to be doing ok as well, even though the big gehry project never really got fully started.
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Old 12-31-2013, 11:37 AM
 
Location: New Orleans
2,322 posts, read 2,977,995 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by botticelli View Post
I heard about the renaissance of DTLA too. 10 years ago I visited it as a USC student at night hoping to see some nightlife and it scared the hell out of me and my friends.

Does it live up to the hype now? Do people live in DTLA and walk around after 6pm? New constructions? Events? Retail and grocery stores?
Hype is subjective so I don't want to say for sure that it lives up to the hype yet. There is still a long way to go before Downtown is universally accepted as great but that may not be for that long. Yes, People walk around after 6pm. Yes, there is new construction. Yes, There are new events, retail, restaurants, bars, & grocery stores. DTLA has changed a LOT in the last 10 years with most of the action on 7th Street, Spring, Main st, Little Tokyo and in the Arts District (which is next to the LA river). I wouldn't say the LA live area is stagnant, because 10 years ago LA Live didn't exist & 15 years ago Staples didn't exist. The LA live area is incomplete until LA central gets built & Metropolis get built. Those huge surface parking lots surrounding the stadium were just purchased by Chinese developers who have the funding to complete this type of project. When finished LA Central is suppose to be the retail arm of LA Live which it currently lacks.

There is still a ways to go, but there is only optimism about downtown in these parts. I can see DTLA being the district in Los Angeles where the best of everything LA has to offer is right there.
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Old 12-31-2013, 12:20 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles, CA
546 posts, read 814,614 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by botticelli View Post
I heard about the renaissance of DTLA too. 10 years ago I visited it as a USC student at night hoping to see some nightlife and it scared the hell out of me and my friends.

Does it live up to the hype now? Do people live in DTLA and walk around after 6pm? New constructions? Events? Retail and grocery stores?
Yes to all the bolded items above.

-Downtown Population: The downtown population has more than doubled since 2000. Current estimates are about 50,000 to 55,000 residents.

-Projects Under Construction:There are a multitude of projects under construction (including a 71 story hotel/office tower, the Broad museum and many other residential/apartment projects which will push the residential population higher).

-Grocery Stores: Ralphs Grocery store opened in 2007. A Smart and Final opened in 2013. And a Whole Foods is slated to open in 2015.

Retail/Bars/Retaurants: The number of new restauants/bars and retail outlets that have opened in the last five years is mind boggling. And compared to 10 years ago it is night and day. Just to mention a few:

-Target opened a year ago. Several fashion retailers have opened or are opening soon: H&M, Urban Outfitters, Zara, Acne, etc.

Spring Street and 7th Street are active from Thursday to Sat night with bars/restaurants and sidewalks bustling with people walking from bar to club to restaurant. Also, two new parks have opened in the last year or two: Grand Park and Spring Street park.

Note: all of the above are NOT at LA Live. Anyone judging downtown LA by LA LIVE is missing the boat.

Last edited by ProjectMersh; 12-31-2013 at 12:31 PM..
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Old 12-31-2013, 12:28 PM
 
Location: Pasadena, CA
10,084 posts, read 15,782,882 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ProjectMersh View Post
Yes to all the bolded items above.

-Downtown Population: The downtown population has more than doubled since 2000. Current estimates are about 50,000 to 55,000 residents.

-Projects Under Construction:There are a multitude of projects under construction (including a 71 story hotel/office tower, the Broad museum and many other residential/apartment projects which will push the residential population higher).

-Grocery Stores: Ralphs Grocery store opened in 2007. A Smart and Final opened in 2013. And a Whole Foods is slated to open in 2015.

Retail/Bars/Retaurants: The number of new restauants/bars and retail outlets that have opened in the last five years is mind boggling. And compared to 10 years ago it is night and day. Too numerous to mention but a few are:

-Target opened a year ago. Several fashion retailers have opened or are opening soon: H&M, Urban Outfitters, Zara, Acne, etc.

Spring Street and 7th Street are active from Thursday to Sat night with bars/restaurants and sidewalks bustling with people walking from bar to club to restaurant. Also, two new parks have opened in the last year or two: Grand Park and Spring Street park.

Note: all of the above are NOT at LA Live. Anyone judging downtown LA by LA LIVE is missing the boat.
One thing to note with the Smart and Final is that it is more of a grocery-store format and less of the bulk-item format the chain is famous for. Though I think they do carry bulk items still.
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Old 12-31-2013, 12:29 PM
 
1,351 posts, read 2,892,293 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by botticelli View Post
I heard about the renaissance of DTLA too. 10 years ago I visited it as a USC student at night hoping to see some nightlife and it scared the hell out of me and my friends.

Does it live up to the hype now? Do people live in DTLA and walk around after 6pm? New constructions? Events? Retail and grocery stores?
i think especially in the last 5 years or so they've made a real effort to revitalize the area. quite a few new, trendy bars and lounges have opened up, and there's also a bigger, more upscale crowd on the weekends.

to be sure, there always were places to go out in downtown even when it sucked. however, as a nightlife destination (and residential area as well) dtla was never quite comparable to other areas of LA.

now, however, you can find a number of expensive lofts and highrises in the area. there are yoga studios and starbucks cafes, which are positive indicators as well.

dtla is becoming a contender for LA's nightlife scene. lots of ppl further inland who previously had to come out to hollywood can now party closer to home in downtown LA.

if the current trend continues, i think in the next 5 - 8 yrs the area could well surpass hollywood and some other parts of LA as "the place to be". there's talk of a tram-line for the area as well.
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