Eric at BlogDowntown has been working at Cartifact on a very cool mapping application for Downtown that lets users take an interactive tour of existing and proposed buildings. The project combines Cartifact maps and information from the Downtown Center BID. We hope more buildings will be added to the database soon. Also, we'd like to see LA presented in SimCity form like these cool Chinese maps we saw. Eric, can you get on this post haste.
· Mapping Downtown [BlogDowntown]
Another report has pronounced Los Angeles as the least affordable housing market in the nation, making this the sixth quarter in a row that Los Angeles has topped the list compiled by the National Association of Home Builders/ Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index. The most affordable major metro area was Indianapolis. Now don't you wish you lived in Indianapolis? Didn't think so.
· L.A. housing still nation's least affordable [Pasadena Star-News]
Ontario will be getting a 10,500 seat community events center/sports arena that will potentially attract concerts and a minor-league hockey team. The events center has attracted a, how you say, gang bang of development heavy hitters including Anschutz Entertainment Group, PCL Construction (of Staples Center fame), and architects Rosetti and Associates (of Home Depot Center fame). The estimated $55 million events center will help anchor an "urban village" around the Ontario Mills shopping complex.
· Ontario taps sports builder for planned arena [Daily Bulletin]
The New York Times looks at the problems Angelenos are facing as we're asked to get out of our cars and use mass transit. Our decentralized nature makes it complicated to get around, and then you have to transfer and it just takes forever... and we could go on and on. Despite $8 billion in investment to improve the mass transit system, the number of commuters using public transit to get to work has remained flat at 7% from 1990 to 2000. That's sad. Really sad.
· In Land of Freeways, Mass Transit Makes Nary a Dent [New York Times]