West by MidWest

[OakAngeles]

July has been quite the jetset month for me, with a chance to revisit some old haunts & check off some new bucket list locations as well. Hope you all enjoy this brief travelogue.
And as always, check out my other city threads at https://www.flickr.com/photos/196461637@N07/albums/

While visiting family in Long Beach, I got the opportunity to revisit my first city love, Downtown LA.
A lot has happened since the last time I stepped foot in DTLA so it was a nice chance to see things in person.


After years of delays and closures I was finally able to ride the beautiful Angel's Flight




The always classic Bradbury Building


The gem of a building that is now the Hotel Per La.
Back when I lived Downtown in 2009 ish, I remember seeing this beautiful building boarded up & empty, so it was great to see it refurbished & full of life





Oceanwide Plaza with graffitti scraping the sky



Frank Gehry's The Grand


LAX bound





Made a quick pitstop back home in Portland before jumping back on a plane 2 days later >>>


A quick layover at Midway offered some incredible views of Chicago




On the approach to Detroit








A building I've been obsessed with for years - The Book Tower.
It was awe inspiring to finally see it in person, and to see the final product of its recent renovation.






Sometimes a bartop view is worth 1000 words >>>


The stunning Guardian Building




And finally the crown gem of the trip - Brush Park.
I remember being obsessed with images of this neighborhood when I was younger, specifically the pictures of decaying mansions set in front of the gleaming glass of the Renaissance Center in the distance.
The Brush Park of today presented a much different experience, however, as the grand mansions of the past were carefully restored & there was new development going up on almost every block we walked passed.

[MayDay]

Nice pics - good reminder I need to get back to each of those cities sometime in the near future. One small thing, I think the Detroit building you mentioned is the Guardian Building. Regardless, thanks for sharing!

[Murphy de la Sucre]

yes detroit's bartop view is definitely worth 1000 words.

for downtown detroit, i hope, i persnally hope, to restore and revovate the historic buidlings, instead of newly building new towers. is there any chance to estab an area for another new cbd?

i been to windsor,on and observed towards detroit, and there are many good lands along the river for a brand new cbd cluster

knowing that i am naive, just saying. but historic downdown detroit is a treasure, worth protekted

[Driver8]

Fun tour. Those Detroit mansions are impressive.

[subterranean]

I just got back from Detroit and honestly I miss Michigan so much. I'd move back but my wife will never leave Portland. I'll try to post a few photos from my trip, but I didn't get as many as you.

[OakAngeles]

Originally Posted by MayDay

Nice pics - good reminder I need to get back to each of those cities sometime in the near future. One small thing, I think the Detroit building you mentioned is the Guardian Building. Regardless, thanks for sharing!

Good catch! I corrected the heading I got so caught up nerding out about Detroit buildings I forgot which one was which haha

[OakAngeles]

Originally Posted by subterranean

I just got back from Detroit and honestly I miss Michigan so much. I'd move back but my wife will never leave Portland. I'll try to post a few photos from my trip, but I didn't get as many as you.

I'll keep my eyes out for those pics! And I was really impressed by Michigan. It was my first time there but both Detroit and the smaller towns around it were full of amazing architecture and had a lot of character. Definitely left a good first impresion

[downtownpdx]

Awesome thread. Great to see Detroit making lots of progress these days in restoring its downtown. So many gorgeous buildings.

[DetroitSky]

Glad you enjoyed your time in Detroit!

[geomorph]

Originally Posted by OakAngeles

I love this ceiling!

[OakAngeles]

Originally Posted by geomorph

I love this ceiling!

It was stunning in person! This was from the Book Tower that just reopened as a hotel/apartment combo. This Curbed article has some amazing before/after photos of the renovation, including before pics of the skylight. Worth checking out if youre interested https://detroit.curbed.com/2019/9/9/...g-bedrock-tour

[OakAngeles]

Originally Posted by Murphy de la Sucre

yes detroit's bartop view is definitely worth 1000 words.

for downtown detroit, i hope, i persnally hope, to restore and revovate the historic buidlings, instead of newly building new towers. is there any chance to estab an area for another new cbd?

i been to windsor,on and observed towards detroit, and there are many good lands along the river for a brand new cbd cluster

knowing that i am naive, just saying. but historic downdown detroit is a treasure, worth protekted

From my limited time in the city, I did see a lot of restoration of exisitng historic structures. There is also a large area of surface parking on the North & NW side of Downtown that present growth opportunites to build new structures within downtown proper without tearing down old ones.

While the city has a long history of tearing down old buildings that had been neglected or abandoned & considered unsafe, it seems like there has been a substantial movement in the last decade or so to preserve historic architecture. That commitment to preservation along with a multitude of vacant land in the core of the city makes me at the very least hopeful that both new growth and historic preservation can coexist for the next chapter of the cities history