LOS ANGELES | Olympia Towers | 43, 53 & 65 FLOORS

[canucklehead2]

Even coming from a Western North American city that sprawls like nobodies business, I am constantly shocked by how even the city centres of places like L.A. are so small and low rise compared to even cities here in Canada. Almost every mid-size city north of the 49th has large high rise residential neighbourhoods and yet a city with 15X the population doesn't. Guess those zoning laws really are king! Hopefully this one goes ahead because it will be an amazing addition to the skyline..

[Niftybox]

Originally Posted by canucklehead2

Even coming from a Western North American city that sprawls like nobodies business, I am constantly shocked by how even the city centres of places like L.A. are so small and low rise compared to even cities here in Canada. Almost every mid-size city north of the 49th has large high rise residential neighbourhoods and yet a city with 15X the population doesn't. Guess those zoning laws really are king! Hopefully this one goes ahead because it will be an amazing addition to the skyline..

LA has some draconian zoning laws and very strict building codes. At one point prior to 2014 buildings over 30 stories tall or so had to be equipped with a heli pad making every building a flat top roof. Many places aren't allowed to build over the surrounding heights limiting vertical growth. Just recently downtown LA has moved past these unnecessary restrictions and has finally started growing vertically. Mostly due to the housing crisis and lack of downtown residential. It'll take decades for the skyline to fit the population though, it's a shame the growth has been so stunted by people with obviously nothing going on. The good news is that LA is well developed on the ground level and quite dense.

[canucklehead2]

Originally Posted by Niftybox

LA has some draconian zoning laws and very strict building codes. At one point prior to 2014 buildings over 30 stories tall or so had to be equipped with a heli pad making every building a flat top roof. Many places aren't allowed to build over the surrounding heights limiting vertical growth. Just recently downtown LA has moved past these unnecessary restrictions and has finally started growing vertically. Mostly due to the housing crisis and lack of downtown residential. It'll take decades for the skyline to fit the population though, it's a shame the growth has been so stunted by people with obviously nothing going on. The good news is that LA is well developed on the ground level and quite dense.

Earthquake rules I suppose. Not based on science perhaps but the Charlton Heston/Eva Gardner disaster flick...

[BrooksEmpire95]

Nice, Can't Wait To See It.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by Niftybox

LA has some draconian zoning laws and very strict building codes. At one point prior to 2014 buildings over 30 stories tall or so had to be equipped with a heli pad making every building a flat top roof. Many places aren't allowed to build over the surrounding heights limiting vertical growth. Just recently downtown LA has moved past these unnecessary restrictions and has finally started growing vertically. Mostly due to the housing crisis and lack of downtown residential. It'll take decades for the skyline to fit the population though, it's a shame the growth has been so stunted by people with obviously nothing going on. The good news is that LA is well developed on the ground level and quite dense.

I'd heard this about trying to build anything residential in LA so it's not surprising that trying to build anything commercial is also a bureaucratic nightmare. In fact, even if you try to make alterations to your own house on your own property you will be mired in red tape, it's insane

[caligrad]

^^^ In Terms of single family units, not soo muh true. I can literally tear down every wall in my house but keep one wall up and literally call it a "renovation" and as long as i have a permit, the city/county allows it. Its the morons that try to get around permits that end up whining about the city coming in and tearing down their new additions.