LAT commemorates the opening of USC’s Galen Center by highlighting the many developments that are beginning to link Downtown and USC’s University Park campus. Projects like LA Live, Geoff Palmer’s new project at Orthopaedic Hospital (Palazzo Orthopaedica a la Toscano, anyone?), and University Gateway are just a few of the bigger signs that USC and Downtown are merging into one urban cluster of housing, institutions, and office and retail space.
Is it just us, or does this read like real estate’s version of a John Hughes movie? Two awkward neighborhoods (played by USC and Downtown), long to hang out with the kids in the elite clique (played by Westwood, SaMo, WeHo, and Silver Lake). They are routinely snubbed: they live on the other side of the tracks, their clothes are, like, totally lame, and they don’t wash often enough. But over the summer, Downtown hits a pubescent growth spurt that makes him start to look like a real catch. USC, too, is changing and learning to show off her assets. As the big dance approaches, they realize they are a match made in real estate heaven. That is, until that slag Los Feliz catches Downtown's eye.
·USC Seeks Downtown Admission [LA Times]