LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 3.0

[djerniepearl]

Originally Posted by RuFFy

I hope I was able to quote the right pic. Anyhow, this is perhaps the only pic I've ever seen with the Atlantic Richfield building rather than the Arco Towers. Very nice.

Notice how dense Broadway was on the west side from 2nd to 3rd St. Imagine if those buildings were still there.

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by edluva

has anyone seen dumb and dumber?

I actually think that comment describing downtown as an ocean was kinda funny.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by edluva

has anyone seen dumb and dumber?


well anyways, i'm sad that downtown lost all these architectural treasures. it's lost a lot of character since the prewar era.

LOL

ya it is sad that we lost all those gems. some of those buildings were awe inspiring even in poor quality black and white pictures, i cant imagine how awesome they were from street level! what stuck out to me was that the bad planning that we are dealing with now was in full effect back then as well. parking lots, low rises, etc. i guess some things never change.

[seamus]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

To add to that, contrary to what a lot of people might believe, many old buildings in downtown LA were demolished well before WWII not only for parking lots but also to realign/widen streets to ease traffic, being that many Angelenos by the 1920s were already driving autos. A lot of 19th Century crooked and weird-angled streets in downtown LA were widened, straightened and outright obliterated during the 1920s and 1930s; Wilshire Blvd. used to end/begin west of MacArthur Park but was then extended eastward into downtown LA in the 1930s because of mounting traffic. In the process, blocks of buildings were torn down.

As you say, L.A. was definitely a trendsetter for the auto-centric city, and variations on those pictures were spread throughout the nation, a great book on the topic is 'Downtown: Its Rise and Fall'. Many of those losses are very tragic, though it always strikes me how shabby and haphazard the city looked already in the prewar period, when compared to the sepia-toned romanticism old photos often engender from other cities. It's as though the mediocrity of the civilization has remained constant even relative to its era.

[Just-In-Cali]

Those pictures are spectacular. The evolution, or depending on who youa re, the de-evolution of a city center. Los Angeles was shaped not only by the car, but by many people whom fled the east coast and its "cramped" living conditions. They changed policy for many years to prevent and even change the layout of the city to avoid a "Manhattan" style of living. Now its what everyone craves, so their ideas may have been unwise, but its done now, so lets not lament the "what ifs" for all time. Hopefully we can find our way to having a fully integrated metropolis.

On another note, this thread has reached a level of depressing that is stifling to say the least. Its turned into a 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 match of manic lovers against absolute haters debating each other's points of view and lopsided opinions as opposed to the city and architecture itself.
If people want to have a sunny outlook on the skyline as "an ocean" of sorts, let them. Please stop knocking ANYONE whom has a even slightly positive view of anything LA related.
And lets not write off the "haters" so easily, they do have points that need to be made, even if its rarely done with finesse.

[ethereal_reality]

I posted the downtown pic from 1965
(thanks for the date correction sopas_ej)

I started a thread under 'found photos' with the title 'noirish Los Angeles'.
Check it out, and post some photos if you like.

[XLucky4LifeX]

Reply to the people who hated my comment describing LA as an "ocean"
Lmao opinions are opinions, I used my imagination!
-O- I was just trying to say LA skyline could "BE" something.
What? So the next thing I should say NY skyline is poo while the Empire State Building is the King of all poop?
Not everyone here is like 40 years old >.<

[BrandonJXN]

^ Hilarious

[XLucky4LifeX]

NE1 noticed LA is turning SF?
It's summer and it's foggy like SF.

[Quixote]

^ It's called June Gloom.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

LOL

ya it is sad that we lost all those gems. some of those buildings were awe inspiring even in poor quality black and white pictures, i cant imagine how awesome they were from street level! what stuck out to me was that the bad planning that we are dealing with now was in full effect back then as well. parking lots, low rises, etc. i guess some things never change.

Well, the low-rises were built on purpose. From 1911 to 1957, Los Angeles had a height limit of about 13 stories, except of course for City Hall and the Federal Courthouse built in 1940, which is 14 or 15 stories, and the LA County Hospital built in the 1930s, which I think is 16 stories. And contrary to what many people believe, I read a book that says that the height limit was instituted in the early 1900s not because of the fear of earthquakes, but because the city didn't want a high-rise area, they wanted a "garden city" with plenty of sunshine being able to reach the streets and sidewalks; so it was all about aesthetics. We must remember that San Francisco had many buildings that were in the 20-something story and 30s-something story range even in the 1920s, so building technology was such that at least buildings that tall could withstand earthquakes.

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by XLucky4LifeX

Reply to the people who hated my comment describing LA as an "ocean"

I didn't hate it; I thought is was pretty amusing, especially when some of it is kinda true.

Originally Posted by XLucky4LifeX

Not everyone here is like 40 years old >.<

No, but mostly everyone here (besides you and I) is in they're twenties and thirties.

[XLucky4LifeX]

One thing I hope or think will happen is that LA will have the biggest building boom after the earthquake in 30 years.

Thanks JDRCRASH for the complement

I just found out that Figueroa-Wilshire represents a waterfall its so cool!
LA is awesome

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by XLucky4LifeX

LA is awesome

Some of it.

[ladowntowner]

By the sounds of a couple of the posts upthread, someone's been smoking some of that "good stuff" today. Better lay off of it, kid, don't you know it'll mess ya up?

Those were some great historical pics! It really is a shame that so many architecturally significant buildings met with the wrecking ball only to make way for surface parking lots (not exactly why they were torn down, but that was what they were replaced with). A true crime if you ask me.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Well, the low-rises were built on purpose. From 1911 to 1957, Los Angeles had a height limit of about 13 stories, except of course for City Hall and the Federal Courthouse built in 1940, which is 14 or 15 stories, and the LA County Hospital built in the 1930s, which I think is 16 stories. And contrary to what many people believe, I read a book that says that the height limit was instituted in the early 1900s not because of the fear of earthquakes, but because the city didn't want a high-rise area, they wanted a "garden city" with plenty of sunshine being able to reach the streets and sidewalks; so it was all about aesthetics. We must remember that San Francisco had many buildings that were in the 20-something story and 30s-something story range even in the 1920s, so building technology was such that at least buildings that tall could withstand earthquakes.

oh i dont mind the 13 story buildings, i was referring to the 1 story buildings that we had then.

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by ladowntowner

By the sounds of a couple of the posts upthread, someone's been smoking some of that "good stuff" today. Better lay off of it, kid, don't you know it'll mess ya up?

Is it worse for 13 year olds than 19 year olds?

[XLucky4LifeX]

🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 LA lost those awesomeness historical buildings or w/e.
But whenever something is destroyed, something better happens.

Should I use the Twin Towers as an example? Thought it was reallllyyy sad that thousands of people died. Ionno but I heard that Twin Towers were used to be hated cause it was rectangle and it surpassed Empire State Building. Then it got destroyed, people started loving it cause they felt sad for it. It helped architectures and technology better, and inspired people to build more skyscrapers. Then they are now building a new WTC which will represent America and people won't hate anymore

I'm sure that something better will happen to those demolished buildings.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by seamus

As you say, L.A. was definitely a trendsetter for the auto-centric city, and variations on those pictures were spread throughout the nation, a great book on the topic is 'Downtown: Its Rise and Fall'. Many of those losses are very tragic, though it always strikes me how shabby and haphazard the city looked already in the prewar period, when compared to the sepia-toned romanticism old photos often engender from other cities. It's as though the mediocrity of the civilization has remained constant even relative to its era.

I guess because even during the prewar period, LA's decentralization was already well under way, even though at the same time many people still went downtown to shop, see movies, conduct business, etc. I think maybe those downtown business owners didn't see the benefits of upkeep for their buildings back then, though now I would think that if they feel their area is losing business to newer parts of town, they would try to keep up and make their area look more sharp, but who knows what was going on back then. The same can be said for Pasadena; depending on old-timers you talk to, some people say that the area now known as Old Pasadena was already on the skids by the 1920s/1930s, with the new hub of commercial activity having moved east near the City Hall area, and then after WWII, it moved yet further east to South Lake Ave.

[StethJeff]

Originally Posted by XLucky4LifeX

🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 LA lost those awesomeness historical buildings or w/e.
But whenever something is destroyed, something better happens.

Should I use the Twin Towers as an example? Thought it was reallllyyy sad that thousands of people died. Ionno but I heard that Twin Towers were used to be hated cause it was rectangle and it surpassed Empire State Building. Then it got destroyed, people started loving it cause they felt sad for it. It helped architectures and technology better, and inspired people to build more skyscrapers. Then they are now building a new WTC which will represent America and people won't hate anymore

I'm sure that something better will happen to those demolished buildings.