LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[alki]

There's been lots of talk about skyways and building canyons and plazas on this thread. For every example of a plaza that doesn't work I can find one that does work. Here in Seattle.....the Westlake plaza in downtown is always active......day and night. People play hacky sack or eat an ice cream cone or have a cigarette. Then they move on. Minneapolis has tons of skyways and they work very well because they were incorporated and integrated with the urban fabric from the getgo. Other than city hall, LA didn't have a skyscraper until I believe the 1970s. I believe their aversion to canyons came, in part, from that delay in skyscraper development. When new construction techniques made skyscraper design for earthquakes feasible, it was believed that development of skyscapers would block out the Sun......the glorious LA Sun. This was a city built on the Sun and its incredible climate. For decades, the city had been advertised as a climate mecca. Putting up skyscrapers would block the Sun.........in fact, many opposed the Hollywood subway because it would force people underground....away from the sunlight. Hence, the intense zoning restrictions on hi-rise construction.

My point is I don't think there is a set formula that makes for a vibrant downtown. What works in one city may not work in another city. In fact, what works on one block may not work another block. You can build it but that doesn't mean they will come. I liked walking on 7th street but not on Fig. I liked the 7th @ Fig mall but not the Macy's mall or the one in Little Tokyo. There is a 5-6 story mall here in Seattle. It commands some of the highest rents in the downtown area. I don't know why it works but it does....its busy day and nite.

What I do know is that for a building, a plaza, a street or a mall to be successful people have to like being there, have to feel comfortable and have to be willing to spend time and money. Otherwise, it fails as an urban setting.