LOS ANGELES | METRO Project Rundown 2.0 (non-downtown)

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by pesto

Rolling Stone should get a boost from the Cirque crowd right next door.

Cirque is almost too much good news for Hollywood to stand. With that and new clubs, bars, etc., that area is going to die from overcrowding on weekends. They have to push the idea of using Red Line from NoHo or from DT; maybe add more trains.

I guess Expo will help also. It would be nice if a single ticket could get you to Hollywood.

the problem is the trains stop at 12:20. they need to extend the last train to 3:00 am on thursday - saturday nights.

I would use it and i know plenty of others that would too. ive taken the train to hollywood, but paying for a cab home (about $25 back to downtown) is not financially doable every night.

[Quixote]

^ Why would you even want to go to Hollywood every night anyway, especially when there are much cooler places to hang out in Downtown?

Honestly, the more I visit Hollywood, the more I dislike the place. It gets old VERY quickly.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

The "Hollywood scene" is what "gets old" quickly related to the night life. However, that's why I am glad that Hollywood is adding other ingredients that make it not only a place for clubbing or drinking.

Names like Space 15-Twenty, Trader Joes, Cirque, Rolling Stones, 24 Hour Fitness, make the area into a place for residents or visitors in addition to clubbers.

I think it's critical for Hollywood to continue making Sunset Blvd. as active as Hollywood Blvd itself since that is the only way there can be a 3-dimensional urban setting that allows people to walk to more places and not just up and down Hollywood Blvd., which I agree can get old pretty quickly.

Anything gets old quickly if the expectation is to be constantly wowed by novelty. Even Manhattan or Las Vegas can get old.

[Quixote]

^ Eh, it has to do with the people more than anything. No offense, but the people there gross me out. Maybe it's just that I'm used to the friendly and wholesome confines of Pasadena?

LASF, you should definitely come up to Pasadena more often. Screw Hollyweird.

[DJM19]

I think the whole train system should run 24 hours on friday and saturday night.

[dktshb]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

The "Hollywood scene" is what "gets old" quickly related to the night life. However, that's why I am glad that Hollywood is adding other ingredients that make it not only a place for clubbing or drinking.

Names like Space 15-Twenty, Trader Joes, Cirque, Rolling Stones, 24 Hour Fitness, make the area into a place for residents or visitors in addition to clubbers.

I think it's critical for Hollywood to continue making Sunset Blvd. as active as Hollywood Blvd itself since that is the only way there can be a 3-dimensional urban setting that allows people to walk to more places and not just up and down Hollywood Blvd., which I agree can get old pretty quickly.

Anything gets old quickly if the expectation is to be constantly wowed by novelty. Even Manhattan or Las Vegas can get old.

Hollywood doesn't get old for the resident fortunate enough to live here and it is a 3-dimentional community, definitely! There is a very large community of walkers here and being one of them once again I am forever grateful that I moved back here rather than choosing a place Downtown. Everything you could possibly need or want is within walking distance for probably about 100,000 people. Certainly tourists stick to walking on Hollywood Blvd but I am hardly ever on Hollywood Blvd unless I need to go to my pharmacy or catch the subway. I suppose I have been to the Pantages and Kodak Theaters a few times too, but other than that I am walking in all sorts of directions away from Hollywood Blvd and finding all the restaurants, shopping centers, parks, retail outlets, theaters, and bars, a person could need... Not to mention the fact that there is also Runyon Canyon, The Hollywood Bowl, Avalon, Palladium, Egyptian Theatre, and the subway and I can't think of a better place to live.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Westsidelife

^ Eh, it has to do with the people more than anything. No offense, but the people there gross me out. Maybe it's just that I'm used to the friendly and wholesome confines of Pasadena?

LASF, you should definitely come up to Pasadena more often. Screw Hollyweird.

oh im in Pasadena all the time, in fact, i just got home from there.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

No need to sell me on Pasadena obviously! LOL

...which btw I just posted news about the lake and colorado mixed use project on my blog. It is finally truly approved and moving forward with construction.

[pesto]

Hollywood vs. Pasadena is interesting. Pasadena went very much the retail route in its development. Hollywood, quite reasonably, went with entertainment.

Pasadena is really a remarkable success, with new housing, main stream shopping, cutesy specialty and designer shops and mid-scale dining filling in every available spot; a couple of small light-rail stops and a small arts district. They were blessed with nice architecture in the old DT, but have managed to presever and reinvigorate it very well. They will try to beef up entertainment but mostly it will be more of the same.

Hollywood has exactly what Pasadena is missing: entertainment: big name, live stage and music, club, etc. But retail is very thin and housing is much denser and urban. I don't see the local housing attracting the same type as Pasadena, which I picture as older, richer and more subdued than what Hollywood is ever likely to attract. I guess you can just say one is an inner city district revitalized; the other is a very large "Old Town".

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

I think it's critical for Hollywood to continue making Sunset Blvd. as active as Hollywood Blvd itself since that is the only way there can be a 3-dimensional urban setting that allows people to walk to more places and not just up and down Hollywood Blvd., which I agree can get old pretty quickly.

That part of Sunset needs a serious road diet and sidewalk widening. Compared to Hollywood Blvd, it feels like more of a freeway. Despite the throngs of tourists, Hollywood Blvd just feels much better to walk down.

Are there any plans to improve Sunset anytime soon?

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Originally Posted by pesto

Hollywood vs. Pasadena is interesting. Pasadena went very much the retail route in its development. Hollywood, quite reasonably, went with entertainment.

Pasadena is really a remarkable success, with new housing, main stream shopping, cutesy specialty and designer shops and mid-scale dining filling in every available spot; a couple of small light-rail stops and a small arts district. They were blessed with nice architecture in the old DT, but have managed to presever and reinvigorate it very well. They will try to beef up entertainment but mostly it will be more of the same.

Hollywood has exactly what Pasadena is missing: entertainment: big name, live stage and music, club, etc. But retail is very thin and housing is much denser and urban. I don't see the local housing attracting the same type as Pasadena, which I picture as older, richer and more subdued than what Hollywood is ever likely to attract. I guess you can just say one is an inner city district revitalized; the other is a very large "Old Town".

Not that I'm denying that Hollywood has definitely more entertainment options when it comes to clubbing/lounges/bars, but I just wanted to add that in terms of other entertainment, in Pasadena it's a bit more in line with a generally more mature crowd as there are 6 renowned venues that offer symphonies, theatre, comedy, etc.

1) Pasadena Symphony at the Ambassador Auditorium (one of the most acoustically superior musical venues in the world apparently)

2) Pasadena Civic Auditorium

3) Pasadena Playhouse

4) Boston Court
http://www.bostoncourt.com/

5) Ice House Comedy Club
http://www.icehousecomedy.com/

6) (Soon to open near Sierra Madre Gold Line station) A Noise Within Theatre http://www.anoisewithin.org/

7) The Pasadena Jazz Institute (they haven't found a permanent home yet)


All of those venues with the exception of the future permanent home of A Noise Within is located in Downtown Pasadena. Pretty impressive!

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

That part of Sunset needs a serious road diet and sidewalk widening. Compared to Hollywood Blvd, it feels like more of a freeway. Despite the throngs of tourists, Hollywood Blvd just feels much better to walk down.

Are there any plans to improve Sunset anytime soon?

I agree, Sunset needs to go on a road diet for sure. And it needs more retail/restaurants.

I think the stretch from along Highland from Hollywood to Sunset also needs A LOT of investment akin to what has happened along Vine to really make Hollywood 3-dimensional.

[BrandonJXN]

Pasadena and Hollywood both have what the other needs. I'll just leave it at that.

[pesto]

LAB: agree with you. Pasadena is solid culturally but in a mainstream way.

Sunset and most streets connecting it to Hollywood should get some in-fill. Sidewalk widening and traffic slowing on Sunset would be good. Highland is a bit more of a problem since it is so heavily trafficked. The corner at Hollywood may require pedestrian underpasses some day or maybe it makes some sense to take the road below sidewalk level for a some distance. But more likely, it will just remain congested.

[dktshb]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

I agree, Sunset needs to go on a road diet for sure. And it needs more retail/restaurants.

I think the stretch from along Highland from Hollywood to Sunset also needs A LOT of investment akin to what has happened along Vine to really make Hollywood 3-dimensional.

Hollywood is 3 dimensional and already probably too saturated with restaurants and retail. Plus, Highland south of Sunset is very vibrant with lots of restaurants, and shops all the way to Melrose.

Sunset is busy though. I tend to walk along De Longpre rather than Sunset, which is a nice residential street running parallel with parks and nice neighborhoods. Sunset does have wide sidewalks though and yes it does have some dead spots that could be filled in with some residential and business (no mixing of reatail either...we have enough).

For the most part from Santa Monica Blvd to the south, Fairfax to the west Franklyn to the north and Gower to the East you have a 3-dimensional high density walkable neighborhood with all the streets in between offering retail, restaurants and bars in additiion to the usual suspects. I can see how an outsider might not realize how truly 3-dimentional the neighborhood is. The density of 90028 (my zip is over 21K people per square mile). Even today there are loads of people walking doing their errands in the rain. Yes there are plenty of gaps scattered around the neighborhood but nothing like Downtown and not to a point where I would say it isn't 3 dimensional.

[Quixote]

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

That part of Sunset needs a serious road diet and sidewalk widening. Compared to Hollywood Blvd, it feels like more of a freeway. Despite the throngs of tourists, Hollywood Blvd just feels much better to walk down.

Are there any plans to improve Sunset anytime soon?

Sunset Boulevard isn't any wider than Hollywood Boulevard, but it certainly feels that way. The difference is the concentration of density and commercial activity. Not having many businesses means there will not be as many cars parked along the street, making the sidewalk feel less insulated. If the entire stretch of Sunset looked like the area around Vine, the part I walked yesterday, then it would feel less like a highway. The density would be commensurate with the width of the street.

If you want to make Sunset feel less "wide", then there are two options:

1) Insert a landscaped median
2) Build a streetcar

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Originally Posted by dktshb

Hollywood is 3 dimensional and already probably too saturated with restaurants and retail. Plus, Highland south of Sunset is very vibrant with lots of restaurants, and shops all the way to Melrose.

Sunset is busy though. I tend to walk along De Longpre rather than Sunset, which is a nice residential street running parallel with parks and nice neighborhoods. Sunset does have wide sidewalks though and yes it does have some dead spots that could be filled in with some residential and business (no mixing of reatail either...we have enough).

For the most part from Santa Monica Blvd to the south, Fairfax to the west Franklyn to the north and Gower to the East you have a 3-dimensional high density walkable neighborhood with all the streets in between offering retail, restaurants and bars in additiion to the usual suspects. I can see how an outsider might not realize how truly 3-dimentional the neighborhood is. The density of 90028 (my zip is over 21K people per square mile). Even today there are loads of people walking doing their errands in the rain. Yes there are plenty of gaps scattered around the neighborhood but nothing like Downtown and not to a point where I would say it isn't 3 dimensional.

I understand that people do walk a lot in Hollywood, as I do take my walking tours by there quite often (hopping on the bus at La Brea and Sunset to get to WeHo). While I wait for the bus, I am always pleasantly surprised just how many ppl ARE still walking around even in that section of Hollywood away from the contiguous density of Hollywood Blvd.

However, I look around and I see strip malls, stand alone fast food chains (Wendys, In N Out, Jack in the Box on Sunset), and generally, suburban looking features that dilute the urban experience.

I think it is REALLY important for Hollywood to continue retrofitting and infilling in those strategic INTERSECTIONS like Sunset/Highland, Sunset/La Brea, etc. so that they act as solid anchors for development to start filling in between them.

Ideally, I would like Hollywood to meld in completely with West Hollywood in terms of density and built environment, esp. along La Brea going south and Sunset going west.

[dktshb]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

I understand that people do walk a lot in Hollywood, as I do take my walking tours by there quite often (hopping on the bus at La Brea and Sunset to get to WeHo). While I wait for the bus, I am always pleasantly surprised just how many ppl ARE still walking around even in that section of Hollywood away from the contiguous density of Hollywood Blvd.

However, I look around and I see strip malls, stand alone fast food chains (Wendys, In N Out, Jack in the Box on Sunset), and generally, suburban looking features that dilute the urban experience.

I think it is REALLY important for Hollywood to continue retrofitting and infilling in those strategic INTERSECTIONS like Sunset/Highland, Sunset/La Brea, etc. so that they act as solid anchors for development to start filling in between them.

Ideally, I would like Hollywood to meld in completely with West Hollywood in terms of density and built environment, esp. along La Brea going south and Sunset going west.

I agree, the devestating strip malls and fast food joints destort and dilute the urban look of parts of the neighborhood...Sunset and La Brea is the worst intersection in Hollywood and Sunset and Highland isn't much better but interestingly enough the Carl's Jr. is being demolished for something new and more fitting to go in its place (what yet I don't know). La Brea is transforming with The Avenue opening this summer and the 2 Newman Garrison Partners projects starting this year on La Brea and Fountain and La Brea and Santa Monica. The area isn't perfect and has a few blemishes due to a handful of bad suburban type projects allowed to go up (and buildings allowed to be torn down) in the 70's and 80's . Fortunately Pasadena wasn't decimated like Hollywood... thanks Los Angeles

[colemonkee]

I believe the Carl's Jr. is being replaced with a Chick-Fil-A, another stand-alone fast food joint that's closed on Sundays.

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2010/12/art_deco_returns_to_hollywood_thanks_to_chicken_place.php

[BrandonJXN]

Chick-Fil-A is both very expensive (as fast food places go) and horribly overrated.