Quote:
Originally Posted by alki
Sorry but I don't think LA is as yucky looking as you make out. What I think is true for most Americans, me included, is that when they first see the city they have an adjustment period. Most cities don't have a lot of houses surfaced with stucco. Most American cities are not painted white or with pastels.
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I also don't think it's as
looking as you may think I make it out to be. I think in some ways it's better today than it was 20 yrs ago, in other ways better than it has every been. But something about the city still seems to make too many ppl feel
. I get a sense of what's behind some of that when watching this vid on the opening of the expo line....
• Video Link
^ the expo line is a fantastic addition to getting around the city, & long overdue. But notice how some of the scenes riders will pass by reveal that new transit alone isn't going to be the magic pill that finally makes LA like a 50 yr old who has just learned how to tie his shoelaces. There's still plenty of bldgs without businesses, lots of
parking lots, not enough nice places for ppl to live.
TG that's changing for the better, & things like the new expo line will help with current trends. But we're still looking at yrs & yrs of additional new devlpt before the hood really gains full momentum. Lots more ppl with $$ have to live in the hood, lots more stores that depend on them to survive have to open, & businesses that have offices miles away from dt need to start changing their tune.
There's the great rose garden next to the science museum & the natural history museum, but notice how empty it is. Where's all the ppl??! The hood has a nice park full of roses & grass, but it's not complete without more ppl. Even the opening day of the new expo line didn't result in the crowds of ppl that almost every weekend can be found strolling around Venice or around the pier in Samo.
that's why I've long believed that the
one thing that has hurt dt's image & economy more than anything else was it wasn't built nicely enough in the first place. So even back when we still had the pacific electric red cars---& the subway terminal bldg at 5th & hill st still contained a real subway----ppl & businesses began abandoning the hood anyway. Eventually the only ppl left behind would be mainly poorer, inc pensioners, & broadway & all its movie theaters would go into a slump that would last decades.
Things are getting better, so that deserves:
. But if LA had been put together more nicely in the first place, it wouldn't have gone downhill so fast & so far to begin with. that's a warning to any city out there that takes good things for granted, & is too ho hum about the need to make a city as nice as possible.
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. citywatch jumped to conclusions on that one. That video looked like it was taken around a earlier time, so its only natrual that there isn't that many people around.
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