Cities such as New York and San Francisco come to mind when I frame the picture of a metropolitan downtown. For a while, the people of Los Angeles have been curious about the faith of the downtown in their city. Will it ever happen and if so, what shape will it take? This topic is of major interest to most Los Angelenos and currently much focus is on the development that is taking place in downtown Los Angeles (see right). L.A. Live being one of such projects, which aims to injects a pulse into the city life. Looking at the various metropolitan cities around the world we may come to notice that many of them, although different in shape and form share the same characteristic. In other words the city model, where there are suburbs with their respective urban centers but with one major center where everything seems to happen. What’s more, the planning of every city is connected to its history and the opportunities associated with it. Looking back at the history of Los Angeles, one question may be worth inquiring upon, whether Los Angeles really needs a downtown? While urban planners and developers agree about the necessity of a complete and functional downtown, the conclusion of the essential ingredients of what constitutes an urban center in Los Angeles differ. The debate continues with planners and nearby communities attempts to realize their ideas in how to reshape the downtown district. To fully grasp the subject, the topic requires exploring the various aspects associated with a proper and unified definition of what make up an urban center–its history, the planning, the people, its opportunities, and all the other crucial factors that must be taken into consideration of such a center.Firstly, we must ask ourselves of the purpose and function that urban centers serve to the people. To answer that, perhaps it would be appropriate to paraphrase the distinguished professor Manuel Castells who was one of the panelists in a forum (that CalArts held at the REDCAT February 11th)on the discussion of urban planning in Los Angeles. According to Mr. Castells, downtowns evolve around two issues: one being the urban centrality, a place where people can meet, communicate and interact with one another freely. Second, it is a place where people have access to public space be it for shopping, sports events, public demonstrations, and the like. In other words, a place where “things happen.” Urban planners at the forum were in agreement about the insufficient efforts to create such public spaces in Los Angeles. This is evident in the fact that there is not enough foot traffic in downtown due to this shortage of public space. Cecilia Estolano, the CEO of the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles was one of the speakers of the forum and expressed her ideas about downtowns being a place for “descent,” a place for “celebration,” a place where we can get together and share our “opinions” and “ideas.” Furthermore, Ms. Estolano is not in agreement with Mr. Castells about there not being enough people in downtown, using the audience as evidence pointing to them and saying; “they are here.” However, Ms Estolano agrees with Mr Castells that there is not enough public space attributed to downtown Los Angeles. The CEO emphasizes the importance of creating more places where people can express their creativity, mourn, and celebrate, using President Obama’s inauguration as an example of creation of a public space oriented to serve such a specific purpose-the gathering of people from all walks of life to share what was a crucial and historic moment.
To talk about the city of Los Angeles, it would not be fair without discussing its history. One man of great importance comes to mind when mentioning the city of Los Angeles; William Mulholland. The various projects he created helped the city to thrive further to meet the needs of businesses. However, we need to recognize that Los Angeles is still a young, vibrant city. It needs a new breed of Mulhollanders to usher our city to the 21st century. At 100 years of age, metropolitan Los Angeles is still relatively young and has much room to grow.
Currently, downtown, Los Angeles is undergoing many changes and there are many actors trying to influence the direction of how these changes should take shape. A decade ago, most landuse in the central city were contributed to industries and office spaces. Today, many of the industry spaces have been converted to lofts for the artists and other creative people wishing to work and live in a vibrant city. Some areas of the city have undergone a conversion of commercial to residential landuse which has brought about an increase in the land value as a result. This policy has brought about a concern that many of the industries will instead move to other locations, thus reducing the amount of tax they generate to the city. According to Mr Castell: the city is thriving on the day as the corporate world fills it with life, but the night and weekends follows with lifeless and empty streets. Most businesses associated with the downtown in Los Angeles are real estate, finance and insurance related. This makes downtown sensitive to current economic time. The message is clear from Castell: “the days of corporate downtown are over” and the only way to sustain a healthy urban center is to create more public spaces.
Our path is clear-more residential building that will ultimately bring life to the city. A waste of space is eminent. The city of Los Angeles must set forth a policy that combines living and work. We can see examples of developers today that have rebuilt many lofts and old industry locations to luxury apartments. City government must help to ease the transition by helping middle and low income people settle in to these various housing alternatives. A downtown without people living in it is just a corporate office downtown with emptiness and downfall of an urban center as a result. As we plan for a city, planners must not forget the people that make the city. In Los Angeles, there are many various ethnic groups and the different parts of the city are a manifestation of this phenomenon. It is important to embrace this multicultural place and plan to include its various people, no matter of race, ethnicity or income, to be a part of this change.
There are many up and coming new generation tech-businesses that can prosper in the city, leaving a trace of creativity and innovative ideas. A strategic planning should incorporate these pioneering professionals and small businesses to central parts of the city, as surrounding areas are occupied by venture capitalist firms to support their ideas. There are many monuments and artistic sites that make the city stand out in art, culture, and social events. We can build from that and make Los Angeles one of the most prominent cities in the world.
Professor Edward Soja (also attending the forum) states that Los Angeles had a different experience during the industrialization era in comparison to cities such as Chicago and New York. The typical clustering of businesses, organizations and people did not pile up in the city as they did in Chicago and New York, which leaves Los Angeles in a different position. It should be noticed though that Los Angeles is yet the second largest city in respect to the amount of government employed people. It is also the densest city in respect to the various parts of the city. This is a positive indicator. Past data shows that more than five million people have moved to Los Angeles in the last thirty years. Some are concerned that internet will take away the need for that clustering that has prevailed in the archetypal downtown. Nowadays, information is spread over the internet quickly, and thus it has been argued that people need no longer to be in vicinity of a center in order to encounter and exchange information. Professor Soja answers to that saying: “a cluster will always prevail in creating more innovations, cultural creativity and interaction between people. It is something that no computer can replace, especially in these economic times”.
To talk about the city of Los Angeles, it would not be fair without discussing its history. One man of great importance comes to mind when mentioning the city of Los Angeles; William Mulholland. The various projects he created helped the city to thrive further to meet the needs of businesses. However, we need to recognize that Los Angeles is still a young, vibrant city. It needs a new breed of Mulhollanders to usher our city to the 21st century. At 100 years of age, metropolitan Los Angeles is still relatively young and has much room to grow.
Currently, downtown, Los Angeles is undergoing many changes and there are many actors trying to influence the direction of how these changes should take shape. A decade ago, most landuse in the central city were contributed to industries and office spaces. Today, many of the industry spaces have been converted to lofts for the artists and other creative people wishing to work and live in a vibrant city. Some areas of the city have undergone a conversion of commercial to residential landuse which has brought about an increase in the land value as a result. This policy has brought about a concern that many of the industries will instead move to other locations, thus reducing the amount of tax they generate to the city. According to Mr Castell: the city is thriving on the day as the corporate world fills it with life, but the night and weekends follows with lifeless and empty streets. Most businesses associated with the downtown in Los Angeles are real estate, finance and insurance related. This makes downtown sensitive to current economic time. The message is clear from Castell: “the days of corporate downtown are over” and the only way to sustain a healthy urban center is to create more public spaces.
Our path is clear-more residential building that will ultimately bring life to the city. A waste of space is eminent. The city of Los Angeles must set forth a policy that combines living and work. We can see examples of developers today that have rebuilt many lofts and old industry locations to luxury apartments. City government must help to ease the transition by helping middle and low income people settle in to these various housing alternatives. A downtown without people living in it is just a corporate office downtown with emptiness and downfall of an urban center as a result. As we plan for a city, planners must not forget the people that make the city. In Los Angeles, there are many various ethnic groups and the different parts of the city are a manifestation of this phenomenon. It is important to embrace this multicultural place and plan to include its various people, no matter of race, ethnicity or income, to be a part of this change.
There are many up and coming new generation tech-businesses that can prosper in the city, leaving a trace of creativity and innovative ideas. A strategic planning should incorporate these pioneering professionals and small businesses to central parts of the city, as surrounding areas are occupied by venture capitalist firms to support their ideas. There are many monuments and artistic sites that make the city stand out in art, culture, and social events. We can build from that and make Los Angeles one of the most prominent cities in the world.
Professor Edward Soja (also attending the forum) states that Los Angeles had a different experience during the industrialization era in comparison to cities such as Chicago and New York. The typical clustering of businesses, organizations and people did not pile up in the city as they did in Chicago and New York, which leaves Los Angeles in a different position. It should be noticed though that Los Angeles is yet the second largest city in respect to the amount of government employed people. It is also the densest city in respect to the various parts of the city. This is a positive indicator. Past data shows that more than five million people have moved to Los Angeles in the last thirty years. Some are concerned that internet will take away the need for that clustering that has prevailed in the archetypal downtown. Nowadays, information is spread over the internet quickly, and thus it has been argued that people need no longer to be in vicinity of a center in order to encounter and exchange information. Professor Soja answers to that saying: “a cluster will always prevail in creating more innovations, cultural creativity and interaction between people. It is something that no computer can replace, especially in these economic times”.
A city such as New York is an incredible city full of life and pulse, but to compare Los Angeles to New York is like comparing apples and oranges. Los Angeles should pursue its own original and unique way of creating an urban center. In order to be realistic and true to the genuine idea of an urban center in Los Angeles, we must start from the standpoint of the city’s history. It involves cultural creativity, innovative ideas, art, the diverse people we have, and the various midsize to small businesses that gives an urban center its unique niche. Secondly there must be a stronger effort to create more public spaces for people that it can be used as mediums to reach stated goals. Another issue that seems to be ignored is the mass transit and the availability of transportation from remote communities to visit Los Angeles downtown. There is no viable link that connects the distant communities to the city core. The ongoing debate about the subway from the Pacific Rim to downtown (see below)may alleviate this problem. That would change the notion of Los Angeles downtown as a place to work
and not to visit. It seems that the populations of the suburbs are generally disconnected to the wide offerings of artistic and cultural events of downtown. A sound, safe and convenient transportation system would change this. We can look at today’s L.A live project as one of those projects attempting to bring energy to the city. The notion of downtown as an unsafe place will diminish with similar projects like LA Live in combination with a sustainable and efficient transportation system that can carry on this idea. So my final words are: more public space in Los Angeles Downtown, more people, more life!
[i]Manuel Castells who is the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society at USC and author of Society, The Information Age: Economy and Culture; presented his point of view on the 11th of February at the Redcat building in downtown, Los Angeles.
[ii] Cecilia Estolano is the CEO of the Community Redevelopment Authority of the City of Los Angeles. http://www.crala.org/
[iii] It would serve as a form of injustice to fully explain the meaning of this phrase – as it would require more space than is provided in this blog.
[iv] distinguished professor of Urban Planning at the UCLA School of Public Affairs and author of Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places;
and not to visit. It seems that the populations of the suburbs are generally disconnected to the wide offerings of artistic and cultural events of downtown. A sound, safe and convenient transportation system would change this. We can look at today’s L.A live project as one of those projects attempting to bring energy to the city. The notion of downtown as an unsafe place will diminish with similar projects like LA Live in combination with a sustainable and efficient transportation system that can carry on this idea. So my final words are: more public space in Los Angeles Downtown, more people, more life![i]Manuel Castells who is the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society at USC and author of Society, The Information Age: Economy and Culture; presented his point of view on the 11th of February at the Redcat building in downtown, Los Angeles.
[ii] Cecilia Estolano is the CEO of the Community Redevelopment Authority of the City of Los Angeles. http://www.crala.org/
[iii] It would serve as a form of injustice to fully explain the meaning of this phrase – as it would require more space than is provided in this blog.
[iv] distinguished professor of Urban Planning at the UCLA School of Public Affairs and author of Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places;
This post is very comprehensive and provides great insight into the ingredients of a successful “downtown.” By providing the information stated by current Los Angeles urban planners like Manuel Castells and Cecilia Estolano you convey to your readers the current issues that Los Angeles city planners are trying to solve in order to grant Los Angeles its own vibrant city center. I agree with both Mr. Castells and Ms. Estolano that a “downtown” should be a place where people can meet, interact, share ideas, and enjoy public space, but I also understand where Mr. Castells is coming from when he states that downtown Los Angeles has no “foot traffic.” While I do feel that increasing public space in downtown would increase foot traffic, by making downtown Los Angeles a more habitable place, I still feel downtown Los Angeles needs more than public space to pull Los Angeles residents from their suburbs into the central business district.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that a successful mass transit system will in fact bring people into downtown Los Angeles, I feel that a mass transit system within downtown Los Angeles is more important that a transit system that brings people from their suburbs into the central business district. With rising gas prices and increase congestion on freeways, Los Angelinos are more willing to move downtown for they would be able to save money on transportation costs living and working in the same area. While you highlight what Los Angeles needs to incorporate in its’ downtown, more public space, you leave out the other ingredients Los Angeles will need to make its central business district vibrant. While I feel L.A. Live is in fact successful, I feel that it is more a successful development that complements the Staples Center rather than serving as a pulling force, attracting Los Angeles residents to move from their suburban homes into downtown LA. While I feel that this post is brilliantly done, I feel that you need to add a little more insight about how Los Angeles city planners can actually attract Los Angelinos into moving into downtown L.A. For with an increased population, downtown Los Angeles will have more “foot traffic,” and interaction, making downtown Los Angeles a vibrant city center.