The Story of Century City (Los Angeles, Irvine: 2014, lawyers, neighborhood)

[Exitus Acta Probat]

This is fascinating. I had no idea the whole place was built from a master plan. I wish it still looked like it did back when mom took me shopping and they had the outdoor piano man. Those were the days. And does Gelson's still have those delicious gingerbread man cookies? Man, those were good.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDd5IuyoHJQ

[TimTheEnchanter]

I was sad to see the ABC Entertainment Center go away. I loved the Schubert Theater and Harry's American Bar & Grill.

[Vic Romano]

I worked at Joseph Magnin while in college. Learned all about panty hose!

Gordon Lightfoot came into the store one day. I didn't recognize him and I asked the saleslady (older) how she recognized him. She said "His picture was on the T-shirt he was wearing...".

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by TimTheEnchanter

I was sad to see the ABC Entertainment Center go away. I loved the Schubert Theater and Harry's American Bar & Grill.

Me too. I saw a number of films at the theater, the last one being Phantom Menace. Little did I know they'd demolish the whole thing around five years later.

[Pro1000]

It looks good from afar skyline wise but its so bland and un-walkable at the ground level.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by Pro1000

It looks good from afar skyline wise but its so bland and un-walkable at the ground level.

How so? There's even that bridge across Ave of the Stars.

[pwright1]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

How so? There's even that bridge across Ave of the Stars.

More of an office park. No park or green space. No benches for people to sit. Every single residential area is behind some fortress type gate. By far the oldest average age of any neighborhood in Los Angeles. Hideous parking garage buildings. I could never live there.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by pwright1

More of an office park. No park or green space. No benches for people to sit. Every single residential area is behind some fortress type gate. By far the oldest average age of any neighborhood in Los Angeles. Hideous parking garage buildings. I could never live there.

Are you referring to the way it is now, or the way it was decades ago?

[Astral_Weeks]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

How so? There's even that bridge across Ave of the Stars.

Many urban design critics would argue the bridge is actually anti-pedestrian friendly in the sense that in tries to remove/separate the pedestrian from the fabric of the city.

Just to add further to PWright's comments. The knock on Century City is that it looks like Irvine plopped down in the middle of Los Angeles. When Century City was being designed/planned in the early/mid 60's its "modernistic" style was in vogue.

Rather than a traditional pedestrian-friendly "urban street grid" like you see in say downtown LA or downtown Santa Monica, you have large "super blocks" more associated with suburban office parks.

Century City is replete with broad boulevards, single-use buildings, blank walls, abundant curb cuts and immense parking garages. It just isn't as easy/pleasant to navigate as a pedestrian than more traditional urban centers with shorter blocks and more mixed-uses.

That said, for the past 5 or so years there have been efforts to address many of the above concerns to make the district more pedestrian friendly. See link to PDF for a summary.

http://joshrstephens.net/wp-content/...ntury-City.pdf

[Astral_Weeks]

In 2008, the LA Weekly did a review of Tom Petty's music and life and how it related to his adopted hometown of Los Angeles.

The song “Century City” was written by Petty during his legal battle with the record company. As such he had to spent many days meeting with lawyers in Century City.

He had few kind things to say about the place. “It's kind of an acre of skyscrapers, a really modern-looking place. It's full of lawyers. And they take you up to big glass conference rooms — I dreaded going there.”

Tom Petty's Los Angeles - LA Weekly