Sunday, March 24, 2013

Downtown LA is Improving

I  went to Downtown LA a few days this week. It really did support the idea that the economy is finally coming back. It was hardly the boom town I saw a two years ago when I was in Vancouver, but the cranes seem to be slowly returning.

This includes construction of what will be the tallest building in downtown LA as well as a great many smaller projects. Of most interest to me is that they continue to be building a whole bunch of new apartment towers and mixed use buildings. This gives me hope for the place cleaning itself up. Nothing like a bunch of wealthy locals to encourage the city to pay attention.

Having walked around many downtown areas in the last couple years, such as Vancouver, Chicago, and Manhattan, downtown LA really does stand out as the worst. A lot of it is simply not enough care for appearance. When I was in downtown Chicago I saw quite a few people on the street with a broom and basket cleaning up trash. When I was in downtown LA I saw a lot of trash. Those other downtown areas are becoming so popular though that I expect they will encourage LA to get its act together. 

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