* Start of Shameless Cheerleading Section *
I have followed the progress of Downtown LA for twenty years now, since back when the Blue Line didn't even make it to Seventh Street. Back then Downtown was FAR worse back then. If anybody else remembers, almost every building in the Historic Core was either empty or a sweatshop. At 5PM every day, people would flee Downtown like a rats fleeing a sinking ship.
Now in 2013, we have several Metro lines, thousands of residents, restaurants, shopping, entertainment, supermarkets and dog-walking services. Parking lots are getting filled in with new towers, and the remaining empty old buildings are being filled with residents. People come downtown nearly every night for shows at LA Live/Nokia.
We also have a lot of huge projects "coming soon". These include Wilshire Grand Tower, the Macys renovation, the new subway (Regional Connector), etc. We also have tons of small projects in progress, like the wonderful Clifton's renovation.
The fact that Downtown survived the Great Recession relatively intact is itself a huge accomplishment. I think it's a testament to the strength and diversification of the Downtown LA economy that it not only weathered the last five years without descending into some crazy dystopia, but continued to thrive and innovate.
* End of Shameless Cheerleading Section *
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COMPLETE THE CENTRAL SUBWAY BY 2020!!!
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