Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago
My g/f and I walked down Wilshire from Beverly Hills to Westwood a few years ago and she was surprised at how run down and vacant it was. . . apparently in the late 70s early 80s they used to hang out there quite a bit. . . I've never known it to be anything other than a sleepy college-town retail strip. . .
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Back in the 80s, I thought Westwood Village had something for everyone. They had nightclubs, restaurants, a plethora of movie theaters (single-screen theaters and a 4-plex or two, as I recall)... They also had bookstores... They had a Bullock's department store there which I would go to occasionally. For anyone not familiar, Bullock's was LA's upper-end/higher end department store. And back then, the different Bullock's branches each had their own buyers that catered to their specific store's clientele, so it was often the case that you could only find certain merchandise at specific locations. Tower Records had a branch there which I would go to sometimes, that had 2 levels, though not as big or extensive as *the* Tower Records on Sunset. A lot of young people hung out in Westwood, and it was fun for me even just to people-watch back when I was a teen and in my early 20s.
It would be great if Westwood Village became a lively college town-type of place again. From what I've read online, around 1989 or so, the "Westwood Specific Plan" was drafted, probably because of neighborhood complaints of noise and rowdiness, which changed the zoning that basically eliminated businesses that the college-age demographic would go to, like pool halls, nightclubs and bars. If bars and nightclubs with live music and dancing were to open up, it would have to be at a restaurant, and with a conditional use permit.