Downtown LA

I give quite a bit of thought as to where I want to live in the future. I really love urban cities, public transportation, and walkable neighborhoods. I also like sunny weather [year round], diversity in population, and laid back attitudes.

Finding a cross between these traits is actually quite difficult. For example, I love SF but the weather is a bit too gloomy for me. Moving outside of the city to the bay area would be taking away the awesome walkable urban city part. LA and SD have the great weather, but they are better characterized as a collection of suburbs than a true urban city. And don't get me started on public transportation. SD also lacks a bit in the diversity sector.

The winters in European cities are too cold. Hong Kong is a possibility, but the attitudes there are a little rough for me. I've never been to any cities down under so it's hard for me to say.

SOOO, with that extremely long introduction, I have come to be very interested in the development of downtown LA. I've grown up in LA, generally like the weather despite the pollution (gotta admit SD's weather is better), there's great diversity here in both people and things to do, etc etc.

But I hate that there is no city center. I would love to see downtown grow to become a walkable area that is lively and safe at night. It seems like it's really possible.

There are many issues, of course. The homeless and others living in low-income housing is probably #1. That needs to be dealt with fairly. Not that I want downtown to become all 'pristine' like Century City-- the character is actually why I would prefer to work in downtown rather than the westside. "Safe" is different from sterilized. I think I'm in the minority though, because a lot of professionals I talk to want to work in the westside, or are really glad that they work in cc instead of "eww" downtown. I hope the Hollywood attitude doesn't migrate to downtown-- one west side is enough... although it seems a bit inevitable with all the fancy restaurants, hotels, and clubs popping up.

Anyway, I can't wait for all the developments to continue. Hopefully there will be widened sidewalks, more retail spaces at street level, better public transportation (the extentions of the subway are a start), improved safety measures, etc. The Nokia theater looks nice, and I'm sure the Ritz Carlton high rise next to it will change that area drastically (some cons but mostly pros to me).

My most anticipated project, however, is the Grand Avenue development. It's going to run from the Disney Concert Hall to the city hall, with a huge park area running down the middle. Frank Gehry's team is designing the bit, so it'll look pretty fantastical. A lot of people (architects) criticize his designs, but from a layperson's point of view, I really enjoy them. Brings some happiness and thrill to an otherwise boring landscape.

Some renderings:

I totally want to live here, at least for a few years!

The 8th and Grand development looks interesting, too:
http://www.8thandgrand.com/

(all pictures above are from google searches)

Anyway, it'll be really interesting to see how downtown grows in the next decade. I hope to be there to witness it! Here are a few good blogs that follow the downtown scene:

http://www.angelenic.com
http://blogdowntown.com
http://mydowntownlosangeles.blogspot.com/


Ok, back to studying for wills & trusts...

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Picture of the Post:

while I'm on westside vs. downtown thing:
in the Mondrian on Sunset