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Originally Posted by The North One
LA has an extremely weak CBD, it's not even comparable to Chicago yet it's nearly double the size as a metro area.
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from a strictly business standpoint, with cbd meaning 'central business district', it admittedly isn't competitive enough. Or it hasn't been competitive enough. Ppl running large companies or working for corporations have preferred being elsewhere. but in terms of dtla as an all around community, it has features that now make it one of the more interesting, complete sections of LA.
an article like the following one couldn't have been published with a straight face not all that too many yrs ago....certainly over 10 or 20 yrs ago. but today, it points to LA having a better array of options for ppl into either a urban or burban lifestyle & scene.
A traveler from the midwest a few yrs ago, visiting LA for the annual Rose bowl, wrote that in the past he & other ppl from a college football team or alumni visiting LA to watch their team play in the new year's day game, didn't have any place to go between pasadena & west LA. Or other areas like the south bay or orange county. Or an area they'd want to stay in.
He wrote that while dtla didn't have the fullness of a chicago or NYC, it now offered enough to make it worthwhile for the visitor.
things like the new lucas museum, which is a few miles away from dtla....based on strict boundaries....will also give the general center of LA more sense of place in the future.
I now have a greater appreciation of the multi node nature of LA....That format makes for a more diverse, complicated community. by contrast, cities like NY don't have too much beyond the boundaries of a Manhattan. So while that type of layout is better for a tourist on a limited schedule or an office worker who doesn't want to take a job 15 miles away, it does give LA more options for ppl into different type of settings....from burban to urban.
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Downtown Los Angeles Is Having a Moment — Here’s What to Experience in the Booming Neighborhood
By Katie Chang December 28, 2019
Dubbed DTLA, downtown Los Angeles has established itself as not just one of the most talked-about neighborhoods in the City of Angels, but the entire country.
The transformation kicked off in 1999, when a city-approved adaptive reuse ordinance was passed — permitting the neighborhood’s abandoned, but historic Art Deco and Beaux-Arts structures to be revitalized into stylish residences and commercial spaces. (Coincidentally, the STAPLES Center was also unveiled in October of that year.) In following years, additional splashy openings (including L.A. Live in 2008, Ace Hotel in 2014, and The Broad in 2015) continued to build momentum and interest in the area.
While many bemoan the need to drive to navigate much of Los Angeles, that’s not the case with DTLA. “You can walk everywhere,” explains Stephane Lacroix, General Manager of the Downtown LA Proper Hotel, which is set to open next spring. “You can’t do that anywhere else in LA.”
Womenswear designer Heidi Merrick — she’s been headquartered in DTLA in for 12 years — says the neighborhood’s ability to support businesses both small and large also solidifies its appeal: “It’s exciting, because it really represents the most unique and best of the city.”
Add to that DTLA’s unusually diverse makeup — Little Tokyo, the Fashion District, and Chinatown all call the area home — along with plenty in the pipeline for 2020 (including restaurants Damian and Ditroit by celebrated chefs Enrique Olvera and Daniela Soto-Innes), and you’ve got all the makings for the quintessential urban neighborhood.
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