Downtown Los Angeles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Downtown Los Angeles is the geographic center of metropolitan Los Angeles, California. The sprawling megacity is so vast that its downtown core is often considered a district like Hollywood, even though it is home to the city and county governments. The area features many of the city's major arts institutions and sports facilities, a variety of skyscrapers and associated large multinational corporations and an array of public art, unique shopping opportunities and the hub of the city's freeway and public transportation networks. Downtown Los Angeles is generally thought to be bounded by the Los Angeles River on the east, the U.S. Route 101 on the north, the 10 Santa Monica Freeway on the south and the 110 Harbor Freeway on the west; however, some sources including the Los Angeles Downtown News, include the University Park neighborhood (encompassing the University of Southern California and Exposition Park, just south of the 10 Freeway) as a part of the downtown map.
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[edit] History
Most major upscale department stores once operated out of stand-alone buildings in downtown Los Angeles. Many of them were shuttered in the 1970s and 1980s, and some moved into newer more modern office, hotel and shopping complexes in the Financial District. Macy's Plaza and Robinsons-May are just two examples.
With the movement of the city's commercial center westward, downtown Los Angeles was devoid of much nightlife from the 1950s until recent years as the residential population increased. (What little nightlife existed was concentrated in Little Tokyo.) Several developers discovered around 2000 that there was a market for renovated lofts and well-secured luxury apartment complexes among workers fed up with the city's notorious traffic commuting to and from the suburbs. Another sign of the fledgling downtown renaissance is that Ralphs supermarket chain recently agreed to open a new store in Downtown. Ralphs had its first store in Downtown in the late 1800s and closed its doors in the 1950s. The opening has been pushed back to early 2008 (according to the Downtown Center Business Improvement District).
[edit] Subdistricts
- Artist District
- Civic Center
- Gallery Row
- Little Tokyo
- Fashion District
- Toy District
- Jewelry District
- Bunker Hill
- Pueblo-Chinatown
- South Park
- Old Bank District
- Wholesale District/Skid Row (aka "The Nickel"--for its location on 5th street).
- Historic Core
[edit] Attractions
Some of the buildings of the Downtown core date from the early 1900s, with the topmost floors of most of the office buildings at mostly 14 and 15 stories. This was enforced because of the earthquake risk; thus, the Los Angeles City Hall was the tallest building for decades at 454 ft., until the development of Century City, in the western part of the Los Angeles basin. The unique Bradbury building was the largest cast iron structure at the turn of the century, with a lacy, airy interior. The Grand Central Market somehow captures an early 1900s feel, with customs in distinct contrast to the current supermarkets of the U.S.
- South of the Downtown core, the Nickel contains large eateries, again, distinctly reminiscent of the early 1900s.
- On the north edge of Downtown, the bustling Union Station is an example of the massive buildings, on a heroic scale, that served a vanished rail passenger market until the 1990s when a subway line (operated by the MTA) and six commuter rail lines (operated by Metrolink) began taking passengers there. The recent opening of Gold Line light rail at Union Station serves Chinatown, the northeast districts of Los Angeles, the city of South Pasadena, and Pasadena. Currently under construction, the eastern extension of the Gold Line will continue through Union Station serving Little Tokyo, the east side districts of Los Angeles, and terminate in East Los Angeles (an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County.) Plans are moving forward to extend the Gold Line east of Pasadena in the San Gabriel Valley, but have yet to secure funding. Adjacent to Union Station is the historic center of the city, enshrined for local or tourist consumption as Olvera Street. Just one block away is the edge of Chinatown.
- Up the hill from Union Station are the Civic Center buildings devoted to federal, state and city administration, including the Parker Center (LAPD headquarters) and City Hall. The main office of the Los Angeles Times is also in this corner of the downtown. When it first opened in 1935, it was the tallest building West of the Mississippi to house a newspaper press. This area of downtown is also home to the Music Center, a complex of music and theatrical halls which imitates the architecture of New York's Lincoln Center. In 2003 the Walt Disney Concert Hall opened to increase the number of major theaters at the Music Center to four. Also in the building is the smaller Redcat theater and art studio. Near the Music Center are the Museum of Contemporary Art, or MOCA, and the Colburn school of performing arts.
- Down the hill, Little Tokyo still contains businesses with Japanese roots. Some of the buildings and sidewalks date back to the 1800s and still include hitching posts for horses. Little Tokyo also contains the Japanese American National Museum and another Museum of Contemporary Art campus.
- South of Bunker Hill is the Library Tower, now known as the U.S. Bank Tower. At 310 m (1018 ft), it is the seventh tallest building in the United States, and the tallest building between Chicago and Auckland. Built in 1989, it was initially called Library Tower because the purchase of the air rights from the Los Angeles Central Library, located across the street, were used to allow a building of such height to be built. The money went towards expanding and renovating the library, which had suffered two arson fires in 1986. The library itself was built in 1926.
- The South Park area of town includes the Los Angeles Convention Center and STAPLES Center. Many lofts and apartments are being built in this area, which is seeing a much needed revival.
- The Old Bank District is the center of the loft movement downtown. A number of developers have purchased old buildings and are converting them into residential lofts.
- Gallery Row is a creative district in the Downtown Historic Core. Starting with 3 art galleries in 2004, Gallery Row now claims 17 art galleries in 2005.
[edit] Skyline
Despite its relative decentralization, Los Angeles has one of the largest skylines in the United States, and its development has continued in recent times. The skyline has seen rapid growth due to improvements in building standards, which has made some buildings highly earthquake-resistant. Many of the new skyscrapers are housing, especially in Downtown--what the office tower rush in the 1970s and 1980s added to the skyline is now occurring again in the form of residential construction. Some recent examples of skyscraper construction include:
- Grand Avenue Project
- Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment District
- South, a tri-tower complex (13-, 19-, and 23-story towers) called Elleven, Luma, and Evo at the north-west block from 11th and Grand to 12th and Grand.
- Metropolis, a mixed-use tri-tower (38, 47, and 52 stories, respectively) at Franciso and 9th Street.
This is a brief list, and there are many more. The recent "rise" of South Park, the low-rise district of downtown south of Bunker Hill (roughly south of 8th Street and north of the Santa Monica Freeway), is bringing skyscrapers that will be high enough in quantity and height to create an extended downtown skyline within a few years from 2005. Due to numerous films, television, and music videos that are shot in Los Angeles and uses downtown Los Angeles as the backdrop, the Los Angeles skyline is probably one of the most recognizable skylines in the world.
The skyline of Los Angeles consists of several different clusters of high-rise buildings; most of these clusters are not directly connected to each other. Century City and the parts of Wilshire Boulevard through Westwood together form a rather busy skyline that is often confused with the downtown skyline.
[edit] External links
- Downtown Los Angeles Business Improvement District
- Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council
- Los Angeles/Downtown travel guide from Wikitravel
- Downtown Los Angeles Walking Tour
- Downtown L.A. Photo Gallery
- Los Angeles Downtown News
- Gallery Row Organization
- L.A.'s plan to revitalize downtown (Guardian.co.uk)
