Downtown Los Angeles (Ongoing) - Page 18

DistrictDirt · #**341** Posted **Dec 29, 2014, 6:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MisterLee21

Is LA liveable without a car? Or is it still very much a car dependant city?

Depends where you live and work. I live and work downtown and my car gets used once or twice a month tops, and I could get by without it using Lyft and Metro if I had to.

My wife on the other hand works in Santa Monica and absolutely could not get by without a car for her commute, at least until the Expo line is completed next year. When the line is finished, we'll probably get rid of one of our cars and be a 1 car household.

ConstructDTLA · #**342** Posted **Dec 29, 2014, 6:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

Depends where you live and work. I live and work downtown and my car gets used once or twice a month tops, and I could get by without it using Lyft and Metro if I had to.

My wife on the other hand works in Santa Monica and absolutely could not get by without a car for her commute, at least until the Expo line is completed next year. When the line is finished, we'll probably get rid of one of our cars and be a 1 car household.

A good answer^.

Me and my girlfriend share 1 car as well.. I think a lot of downtown couples are down to 1 car. Going completely car-less would be quite tricky. We enjoy places like Glendale & the asian food in San Gabriel Valley too much.

destroycreate · #**343** Posted **Dec 29, 2014, 6:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MisterLee21

Ah I see, I can always see that SF is almost a 24 hour city, almost anywhere!
Personally, I have not personally been to the US, hopefully in 2016, but that's a long way off, hence the questions, I hope you don't mind.
So is street traffic growing still then? Or has it hit a wall of sorts?
The streets look pretty clean, albeit a bit gritty, well at least in Kuala Lumpur standards. Is it always like that?
I've read the news that the DTLA restaurant scene is pretty remarkable, haven't heard much about retail, except for FIG@t7th, and a few high end retail stores, can you verify this?
Is LA liveable without a car? Or is it still very much a car dependant city?

LA, as someone mentioned earlier, is MASSIVE. You can't generalize LA like you can NYC or SF.

There are many, many areas of LA that are walkable and where you wouldn't need a car. But to get to all those different places efficiently and quickly, will be MUCH easier when you have car. There are areas that are super suburban and not pedestrian friendly, and many that are the opposite. It's a very unique layout.

Haven't heard much about retail? I mean, LA is arguably the retail capitol of the west coast. Beverly Hills, MidCity, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, the list goes on and on.

The key to understanding LA is that there is no real "center", as much as downtown is trying to be. It's multinodal and seemingly infinite.

If you want to get the essence of LA (aside from this amazing thread), I suggest you look through Airbnb's impressive photo essays that capture many of the city's neighborhoods. They call it their neighborhood travel guide. This will give you a better feel of how the LA streetscape and urban experience is.

https://www.airbnb.com/locations/los-angeles

ConstructDTLA · #**344** Posted **Dec 29, 2014, 6:40 PM**

Some miscellaneous images from the last week:

Wilshire Grand / Downtown Skyline by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

Wilshire Grand by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

City Hall by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

Google Streetview in Downtown LA by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

View down Olive Transformed (Onni + 8th & Grand) by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

The Broad by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

Federal Courthouse by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

Pitchoun Bakery 6th & Olive by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

Santee Restoration with Downtown Skyline by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

818 Santee Restoration by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

8th & Grand by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

8th & grand by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

Onni 9th & Olive by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

202_Cyclist · #**345** Posted **Dec 29, 2014, 6:52 PM**

Great photos, thank you for posting. I've mentioned this before but there is really nothing better than Southern California after the winter rain, when you can see snow on the local mountains.

Quote:

DistrictDirt · #**346** Posted **Dec 29, 2014, 9:02 PM**

Great photos, Hunter! How did you get access to the Maxfield building on Santee?

DistrictDirt · #**347** Posted **Dec 29, 2014, 9:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroycreate

If you want to get the essence of LA (aside from this amazing thread), I suggest you look through Airbnb's impressive photo essays that capture many of the city's neighborhoods. They call it their neighborhood travel guide. This will give you a better feel of how the LA streetscape and urban experience is.

Thank you for posting! I've never looked through Airbnb's neighborhood guides before, but you're right: they're great for giving a feel for each neighborhood.

ConstructDTLA · #**348** Posted **Dec 29, 2014, 11:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

Great photos, Hunter! How did you get access to the Maxfield building on Santee?

Thanks!

I shoot a lot of Downtown properties inside & out which is how I get access to so many new vantage points. For these shots I was in the Textile building, looking across at the Maxfield.

ConstructDTLA · #**349** Posted **Dec 29, 2014, 11:19 PM**

Found my image of the 819 Santee rooftop sign.

Taken Nov 2nd, 2013

819 Santee Rooftop Sign (Now Deceased) by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

And this image of the unrestored Santee building, taken Dec 12th, 2013

Santee & Downtown Skyline by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

destroycreate · #**350** Posted **Dec 30, 2014, 1:36 AM**

^^ I wish from the highways that one could see all this density of the old district. It'd impress a lot more people who have no idea this area exists.

SLO · #**351** Posted **Dec 30, 2014, 3:48 AM**

Friggin awesome shots, great to see new angles and new projects

ConstructDTLA · #**352** Posted **Dec 30, 2014, 4:09 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLO

Friggin awesome shots, great to see new angles and new projects

Thanks!

Some more from this evening:

Wilshire Grand by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

Metropolis / Marriotts / 8th & Grand Garage by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

Fig @ 7th Wasted Space + The Bloc by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

8th & Francisco Parking Garage by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

ConstructDTLA · #**353** Posted **Dec 30, 2014, 4:10 AM**

Metropolis by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

upward 2000 · #**354** Posted **Dec 30, 2014, 6:15 AM**

Metropolis by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr
Great shot. The 3rd crane should rise in the next 2 days.

upward 2000 · #**355** Posted **Dec 30, 2014, 6:18 AM**

[QUOTE=DTLAdenizen;6858995]Thanks!

Some more from this evening:

Wilshire Grand by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr
we have steel visible.

ConstructDTLA · #**356** Posted **Dec 30, 2014, 7:31 AM**

Thanks for the input guys!

Grand Avenue, The Broad, Walt Disney Concert Hall by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

The Broad by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

Brigham did a nice article about the DTLA holiday lights last week:

Quote:

Holiday Lights Aglow: It’s Christmas Time in the City in Downtown LA

For someone who thrives being in the middle of the city, walking, and taking in the sights and sounds of a bustling urban center, there’s nothing quite like all that added on top of the holidays. Some people dread the holidays, but I love it. To me, I enjoy seeing all the buildings come alive by getting decked out in colorful lights and ornamentation. I love seeing Christmas trees spring up around office lobbies and outdoor spaces. Over the past several years, I’ve been noticing that Downtown LA is becoming more and more festive as our resident population continues to grow and a renewed sense of pride fills our city once again. Walk down almost any street, look up, and you’ll see Christmas trees abound glowing warmly inside living rooms or lights strung across balcony railings.

http://brighamyen.com/2014/12/24/hol...ty-downtown-la

Eightball · #**357** Posted **Dec 30, 2014, 12:54 PM**

My wife and I have lived in downtown LA for three months at this point and are happily car free. I'd say about half of the people we have met downtown are car free. It works great for us, we live a half block from a grocery store and there are two more within two blocks. My son goes to (private) school in Culver City and we take him on there on the Expo Line. We are high income as well (not to brag, but it's true) so that's not why we don't have one. LA weather is beautiful 99% of the time so it's almost always a pleasure to walk around. Of course we lived in DC car free for several years before moving to LA and that's our preferred method of living. We also never had more than one car between the two of us, even when we lived in Palo Alto or Berkely or DC or NOLA previously.

I would add that we save $200 per parking space by not having a car at our apt building. In addition, my wife's work pays her an extra $361 a month for not using a parking spot at her office on Bunker Hill. So that's a substantial amount of savings/additional income.

I personally dislike driving/sitting in traffic and would much rather be relaxing/playing games/working on my phone on public transit (or walking) than driving.

dc_denizen · #**358** Posted **Dec 30, 2014, 3:25 PM**

these pics make me want to move to LA!

Wilcal · #**359** Posted **Dec 30, 2014, 5:59 PM**

Thank you for your answers Hunter--much appreciated. Hey, is it just me, but over at Skyscraper Page are there some people in the forum who are just plain rude? The other day I offered my opinion about a project and was met with the response of "oh give me a break" after which someone wrote that given my comment "common sense" was needed. I'm of a mind which says that a forum is just that, a place of dialogue and opinion. In my book, when there is an opinion that you don't particularly agree with you respond by saying "I'm afraid I must disagree" or "it is in my opinion, " etc. To me that is the proper decorum which should be used in a forum. However, I think some people like making others feel like an idiot, which I don't appreciate. I think that it tends to squelch the offering of opinions from others, which is a shame since I do enjoy reading what others have to say. I know one thing though, and that is if some of these people in SSP acted like they do online in my past UC Berkeley discussion classes (over 35 years ago), they would have been warned once to act with civility, and afterward thrown out of class. Or maybe I'm being thin skinned. I don't know.

PS loved the shot of City Hall with Mount San Antonio (Mt. Baldy) in the distance. Though I wish they would take off all that electronic junk off the top of City Hal--I think it despoils the clean look of the entire tower.

DistrictDirt · #**360** Posted **Dec 30, 2014, 6:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wilcal

Thank you for your answers Hunter--much appreciated. Hey, is it just me, but over at Skyscraper Page are there some people in the forum who are just plain rude? The other day I offered my opinion about a project and was met with the response of "oh give me a break" after which someone wrote that given my comment "common sense" was needed. I'm of a mind which says that a forum is just that, a place of dialogue and opinion. In my book, when there is an opinion that you don't particularly agree with you respond by saying "I'm afraid I must disagree" or "it is in my opinion, " etc. To me that is the proper decorum which should be used in a forum. However, I think some people like making others feel like an idiot, which I don't appreciate. I think that it tends to squelch the offering of opinions from others, which is a shame since I do enjoy reading what others have to say. I know one thing though, and that is if some of these people in SSP acted like they do online in my past UC Berkeley discussion classes (over 35 years ago), they would have been warned once to act with civility, and afterward thrown out of class. Or maybe I'm being thin skinned. I don't know.

Its just the internet in general. Individuals on these forums can get a little snippy, but this is child's play compared the vitriol on Twitter, Curbed, Gawker, Reddit, pretty much any political blog or major news site, or the worst...Youtube comments

When you let people converse anonymously online, they're freed of the consequences they'd normally encounter if they said something insulting face-to-face. The discourse tends to become a race to the bottom. Honestly, I consider it to be one of the major problems with the internet that still needs to be addressed. How does one balance anonymity with civility? Moderation is just a band aid solution; no one has time to moderate every forum and comment section.