The LA Times has us all in a lather with a write-up on the new skyscrapers in planning or under construction for Downtown. Its been 13 years since the last high-rise, Two California Plaza, fixed itself in the LA skyline. Twenty "skyscrapers" in all are planned for Downtown, with a focus around the proposed LA Live project adjacent to Staples and near Disney Hall, where 6 new towers are proposed. The Times notes a general trend away from the office towers we've seen in the past to a much needed and desired residential focus. Author, historian and part-time pessimist D.J. Waldie sees trouble brewing on the horizon for Downtown.
Waldie says he thinks city planners are "failing to connect the dots."
"They're allowing a neighborhood texture to arrive where one had been lost for 50 years," said the author of "Where We Are Now: Notes From Los Angeles." "They're putting in even taller high-rises ? but down on the ground, where are the resources to make that into a place to live?"
By the time the skyscrapers are constructed, we hope the resources Waldie speaks of (i.e. Starbucks on every corner and a Trader Joe's) will be in place
· Downtown Housing Demand Feeds a Bloom in High-Rises [LA Times]