Friday Night Links/P.J.'s Picks: Monday Edition

Los Angeles has been called a city without a center, a sprawling metropolis with no real core. There is nothing within downtown L.A. that draws people in. Other major cities around the country like New York, San Francisco, or Chicago have urban cores that are more than just high rises, but a vibrant part of the cities' social and cultural scene. There is a mix of business and residential districts that keep larger swaths of the city vibrant and open beyond the 9-5 business hours. Los Angeles' downtown largely lacks such dynamism. Bunker Hill, the new downtown, is all office buildings and offers little in the way of social activities. MOCA, located in the heart of Bunker Hill, offers evening programs and the Grand Avenue Redevelopment Project offers some hope, but those plans are a long way off especially during our economic crisis.
The latest project to bring some vitality to downtown is the L.A. Live complex just across from the Staples Center. The entertainment behemoth includes L.A. Live Nokia Theater, Club Nokia, Lucky Strike Lanes, Nokia Plaza, the Conga Room, and a move theater. And opening sometime in 2010 is the L.A. Live Ritz Carlton.



OPENING PARAGRAPH of L.A. LIVE MAIN PAGE

Imagine being "in the moment" - when nothing else matters but what is going on around you right then and right there. It is when you experience something so fully you do not think about it or analyze it, you just enjoy it. The moment is that magical place where you scream the loudest, laugh the hardest and live the fullest. This is the L.A. LIVE experience. As a one-of-a-kind entertainment campus, L.A. LIVE is a genuine world-class sports and entertainment destination where one can experience moments like this all the time.

Nokia Plaza. Photo courtesy L.A. Live gallery

The disturbing thing about this promotion is...well pretty much everything about it is disturbing. The whole selling point of the facility is its ability to overwhelm and dumbfound the visitor with so much spectacle that they don't have the time or energy to criticize it. L.A. Live is all spectacle. But what of substance? They have a bowling alley, a theater, two concert venues. It is, as their material says, "a world-class sports and entertainment destination..." Is that what Los Angeles needs? Is that what any city needs? A destination? A destination implies that one travels there, experiences the destination, then leaves. It is an insular experience because everything is located within the campus. While L.A. Live may be booming, what about neighboring businesses, what of the neighborhood around this entertainment campus?

Anyone who has taken a walk down Figueroa St. knows that the area around L.A. Live, Staples Center, and the L.A. Convention Centers isn't pedestrian friendly. It's filled with chain linked parking lots, granite lined office buildings, and buckled sidewalks. Everything is fine within these insular entertainment destinations, but the surrounding streets are left to fend for themselves. These new civic centers that are popping up all around Los Angeles only serve themselves rather than the community at large. They are too busy being destinations rather than integral parts of both the business and cultural structure. Just look at Universal City Walk, The Grove, Americana, The Block at Orange, and the Irvine Spectrum. All of these locations, two of which were designed my maverick developer Rick Caruso (The Grove and Americana), are mini cities unto themselves; a recreation of urban life within the confines of a highly monitored and regulated environment. It is inauthentic and separates it itself from surrounding businesses by way of massive parking lots and high walls. Even with the inclusion of apartments within these facilities, they are still destinations. They are still only places to visit and then leave.

One only has to look at areas like Old Town Pasadena or The Orange Circle, or Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade or any number of small town business districts to find prime examples of retail and restaurant expansion within a pre-existing infrastructure. The benefits of such a system allow for greater integration around the new businesses. The community itself is being upgraded, not just one development. Shops open up, people are out on the streets, crime goes down. The business district expands and more parts of the city get redeveloped and fixed up and become profitable for the region.

The current development trend in Los Angeles gives people few reasons to stay in the area beyond that initial "destination." There is no chance of roaming to other nearby attractions because there are none. There is nothing immediately outside of L.A. Live worth seeing save for a late night meal at The Pantry. City Walk is on a hill, The Grove and Americana all have restaurants within them and are protected from the city by parking lots and apartment buildings. Why recreate a downtowns when there is one already that already exists? One that can be made vibrant and exciting. Perhaps only a novelty plan, but there are talks of bringing a trolley system to run through sections of downtown. This system would allow the burgeoning downtown scene to be traveled more easily and frequented by more people. With Tom Gilmore's big push for lofts in downtown, the older bank and financial districts are becoming filled with residents. Bars are opening up, blogs are being made, and supermarkets are being opened; all signs that downtown, as it stands, is a viable option for future development without sinking millions into flashy and clandestine entertainment centers.

Sadly, most development strategies are based on the bottom line and not much else. It's understandable that investors would want their businesses to succeed, but at what cost is that success coming? What is the long term viability of such a plan if the neighborhood it is built in is going to seed? Westwood Village saw a sharp decline in business after a shooting in 1988. It has bounced back since then, but there is still a stigma attached to the area. How long before something happens to an L.A. Live concert goer walking to their car? What then will happen to these entertainment meccas? In a development plan that includes pre-existing businesses and buildings, everyone will have a vested interest in the area's success and safety. Everyone looks out for each other. City business councils will be created and the business owners will have a say in their future rather than being pushed around by multi-million dollar corporations.

Old Town Pasadena has gone through a remarkable transformation in just under ten years and is continuing to fight for causes it feels important, namely the preservation of small businesses rather than introduction of large chains. Pasadena has realized the stakes involved and has risen to the occasion. It seems L.A. has not yet realized what is at stake and has taken short term financial success of long term viability. It is more than just a question of finance, it is a question of quality and substance. Los Angeles has long battled with critics who claim the Hollywood aesthetic has tainted the culture and turned it into something flashy and cheap. Navel-gazing projects like L.A. Live only lend credence to that claim and proves the city has yet to really care about its heart and core, it has yet to really become anything more than just overwhelming spectacle.

P.J.'s PICKS

I have yet to find the article comparing Chicago to L.A., but basically it says both cities have very similar problems and Chicago is dealing with them in a much more productive manner. Millennium Park and the new Renzo Piano addition to the Institute of Art are proof enough. How did Chicago get so far ahead? One needs to look no further than the past for answers. Specifically, Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago. In honor of its 100th anniversary, Chicago hired Prtizker Award winning architect Zaha Hadid to design a temporary installation in Millenium Park.

Los Angeles was never graced with a master plan, nor was it limited by space like New York or San Francisco. Perhaps that's why it lacks a core. Be that as it may, there were several attempts at urban planning during the city's early days, none of which did much. Information on L.A.'s central plaza and Olvera Street can be found here.

To keep track of urban news in Los Angeles look no further than Every Block Los Angeles, which gives real time news updates based on zip code.

For eco-living tips and L.A. street news, check out Green Girl L.A. and L.A. Streets Blog.

Ever wonder why Wells Fargo has such high interest rates on their credit cards? How else do you expect their execs to party in Malibu?

A quick rundown of Disneyland's ticket prices. Who says money can't buy happiness? Certainly not Disney.

Do you ever listen to folk duos who were popular in the 1960's and wonder what the less popular member of the group likes to read? I know I do. For a full list of books Art Garfunkel has read between 1968 and 2007, please click here. For a list of his all time favorites, click here. For a blistering new track by Macho Man Randy Savage, click here.