LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[brudy]

I think the design is ok, but do think there's too much concrete and agree that it's similar to Pershing in its flaws. I like the idea of a restaurant.

I just think they could have made this a lot simpler and then used the rest of the money to help out other parts of DTLA in terms of park space. Letting Angel's Knoll go is a huge failure IMO.

[blackcat23]

Affordable housing underway in Westlake

125 units at Beverly and Lucas

[cesar90]

Update on Us Bank tower

• Video Link

[blackcat23]

Onyx rises in South Park

[StethJeff]

That, my friends, is no Vista Hermosa Park. Agreed with the previous comments that this design is bad and not necessary. Green space and trees, that's it. And then do the same to Pershing. That's it.

[ChelseaFC]

Looks like they are actively designing to dissuade the homeless from coming in and setting up camp all day. Anyone who spends anytime near Pasadena's Central Park knows what I'm talking about.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by cesar90

Update on Us Bank tower

• Video Link

I'm happy that OUE is bringing all this attention our beloved US Bank Tower but I don't like what they've done to the lobby pylons, they look so thin & flimsy now. I'm also not crazy about the big "OUE" sign on the Bunker Hill steps or the design of the new lobby, and as for the slide, well you know.

I'll have to wait until it's all finished to make a true judgment but I'm still hoping OUE brings back the flood-lighting to the top, she just looks so sad in the dark.

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by King Kill 'em

If there is one forseeable benefit to over designing and over paying for parks, it is that they last a long time.

[colemonkee]

^ Styrofoam and nuclear waste last a long time too. Doesn't make them good.

[Wilcal]

Originally Posted by blackcat23

Onyx rises in South Park

Blackcat do you remember a few years ago when TCA Associates had a little huff with you and me? Well this is the same project. The design elements aren't so bad, but the colors--oh my God--this is a nauseating regurgitation of AVA

[King Kill 'em]

Originally Posted by Wilcal

Blackcat do you remember a few years ago when TCA Associates had a little huff with you and me? Well this is the same project. The design elements aren't so bad, but the colors--oh my God--this is a nauseating regurgitation of AVA

What?! I want to hear this story.

[King Kill 'em]

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

Just trying to look at the bright side.

[hughfb3]

Originally Posted by Patrick

I'm happy that OUE is bringing all this attention our beloved US Bank Tower but I don't like what they've done to the lobby pylons, they look so thin & flimsy now. I'm also not crazy about the big "OUE" sign on the Bunker Hill steps or the design of the new lobby, and as for the slide, well you know.

I'll have to wait until it's all finished to make a true judgment but I'm still hoping OUE brings back the flood-lighting to the top, she just looks so sad in the dark.

Same. I'll reserve my judgment for finished product. I'm not liking the transition from the new meta modern lobby to the post modern tower. There gets to be a bridge/transition between the two

[black_crow]

Well someone has to invest in public transportation. Who would have thought that we pay for it?
Let's hope Metro doesn't raise the prices after getting billions out of our pocket.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-metro-sales-tax-20160610-snap-story.html

Metro officials hope to pass half-cent sales tax that would not expire

Previously, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials had hoped to raise about $120 billion over 40 years to fund nearly two dozen mass transit lines and extensions and 14 highway projects.

A sales tax with no end date would aggressively alter that schedule, allowing Metro to build nine major projects faster and add two more projects to the list, including a second extension of the Gold Line through East Los Angeles and a possible highway through the North County, chief executive officer Phil Washington said Friday.

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Metro would also speed up construction on a proposed extension of the Crenshaw Line through the Mid-City area of Los Angeles, including a possible station in or near West Hollywood. Previously slated to open in 2055, it would open eight years earlier, in 2047.

The plan would also speed construction on a train station to connect rail to Los Angeles International Airport. Originally slated to open in 2024, the new plan calls for a ribbon-cutting in 2021.

[Easy]

Originally Posted by black_crow

Well someone has to invest in public transportation. Who would have thought that we pay for it?
Let's hope Metro doesn't raise the prices after getting billions out of our pocket.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-metro-sales-tax-20160610-snap-story.html

Wow! Metro is really floundering. First they release a plan greeted with a very tepid response from nearly everyone only to change course a few months later with a new vision. Do they really know what needs to be done?

[NSMP]

Originally Posted by black_crow

Well someone has to invest in public transportation. Who would have thought that we pay for it?
Let's hope Metro doesn't raise the prices after getting billions out of our pocket.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-metro-sales-tax-20160610-snap-story.html

We already pay for 75% of our transit expenditures locally between measure R, props A and C. If there is ever another depression and the government decides to invest in infrastructure again... I guess we'll be ready...?

[Wilcal]

Originally Posted by black_crow

Well someone has to invest in public transportation. Who would have thought that we pay for it?
Let's hope Metro doesn't raise the prices after getting billions out of our pocket.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-metro-sales-tax-20160610-snap-story.html

Originally Posted by Easy

Wow! Metro is really floundering. First they release a plan greeted with a very tepid response from nearly everyone only to change course a few months later with a new vision. Do they really know what needs to be done?

Originally Posted by NSMP

We already pay for 75% of our transit expenditures locally between measure R, props A and C. If there is ever another depression and the government decides to invest in infrastructure again... I guess we'll be ready...?

I think that one of the major problems with Metro's future plans is having to meet that 2/3rds threshold for the funding measure to pass. They must essentially please a very vast geography of stakeholders who are now demanding to get "their fair share." Thus, projects, routes, designs, etc. are dictated by politicians (and voters) and not trained planners.

Another issue that still irks me to this day is that when some very great transit systems in major cities of the US were being planned in the 1960's through the 1970's (BART for example), fully expecting and receiving deep Federal Government financing, the Los Angeles Metro area had it's thumb up it's ass, haplessly satisfied with its crappy bus transportation. Now that it is playing catch-up with even much smaller cities now with very good newer transportation systems (Washington D.C., Atlanta, San Francisco), the Federal trough has been wheeled in. As it stands now, funding for major projects has to come from local and state, as well as Federal sources (which is much diminished). In other words, I think that for a region this size, for all of its economic wealth and importance (and don't forget all the tax monies that we've sent to Washington over the years), got royally screwed.

[Wilcal]

Originally Posted by King Kill 'em

What?! I want to hear this story.

Oh, it's not that juicy. Ask Blackcat, he may remember the details. But I suspected that TCA (or someone) was aware of the harsh criticism (via various blogs) that the design firm earned a while back. Perhaps even some of those comments on this forum hit a nerve.

[black_crow]

And another planned tax raise for another problem.

We have to help homeless people.. I don't want to argue that, but not always like that.
Some wealthy investors will think twice before they move officially to California (they might live here but pay their taxes somewhere else).

I pay the taxes for my company in Los Angeles, California. I want to support my community.
Many companies in California go the easy way because you can choose where you get taxed.
Let's just say that California is not very attractive for new companies and we have too many loopholes.

The ones who pay are the honest ones.. doctors, local company owners, but for sure not the ones who should pay.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-millionaires-tax-20160610-snap-story.html

L.A. County putting pressure on Sacramento to impose a 'millionaires' tax' to combat homelessness

With a deadline fast approaching, Los Angeles County officials are turning up the pressure in Sacramento for a change in state law that would allow them to impose a “millionaires’ tax” to fund expanded efforts to combat homelessness.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas met one-on-one Wednesday with Gov. Jerry Brown, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and state Senate leader Kevin de León to make a pitch for the proposal.

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[Valyrian Steel]

^ that should probably go in City Discussions.