No, it doesn’t. It’s merely one piece of development amidst lots of other development. If something touristy and gimmicky somehow makes LA a "fake" city, then the Eiffel Tower made (or makes) Paris a fake city, the stuff all over Times Square (including the flashy TV studios and nearby big Toys R Us) make New York a fake city, and Fisherman’s Wharf and certainly — most certainly! — the Cannery make San Francisco a fake city.
And what the heck is "political economy?"
@SamSinister: What does this have to do with plastering ads all over to serve the cashflow of a private company? Ads don’t redevelop or revitalize a community. (Jeez, isn’t this obvious?)
And why are you so bothered by some bright new signage in one small corner of downtown when a lot of the rest of community is mostly dark, semi-abandoned and rundown?
As for the cashflow you speak of, because the center of the city through the years has lost a lot of that — due to companies moving out of the area to other parts of town and other cities — Los Angeles ended up not much less hollowed out than St Louis, Cinncinati or Kansas City.
Round-Up: Predictions on SoCal's Newest Football Team
The Chargers move to Industry is a lock. They can’t get a stadium done in SD and they’re barely selling out Qualcomm-despite an exiting (if not perennially disappointing), big name team.
Roski needs a second franchise but that may not be an easy task. Expansion is not on the table. The NFL will balk at Wayne Weaver’s Jaguars leaving an excellent stadium in growing Jacksonville, the Rams are going to be sold to a St. Louis syndicate, if the Bills move (doubtful) it’ll be to nearby Toronto, the Bay Area may well decide to build a twofer facility serving both the Raiders and Niners and the notion of a publicly built stadium in Minnesota is gaining sentiment.
It’s not that L.A. isn’t a big enough for two teams or that two teams won’t draw. Rather it’s a matter of how much cash Southland fans will fork over to see a team other than the Bolt’s, with no sentimental history for local fans to rally around. The ‘Skins might be a national embarrassment but you couldn’t pry the season tickets from the hands of a 6th generation Washingtonian with a crobar. I’m doubtful if jaded Angeleno’s, in the tens of thousands, will pay $175 to watch the 4-12 Industry Jaguars host Kansas City.
Protests at Signing, And LA Loves its Football, Says Majestic
The Rams have an out on their lease in 2014 and are probably the favorite to return as they are up for sale as well currently. I hated Georgia, but with new ownership this would be quite ironic to take them back from St. Louis.
They have the history here and were quite successful in attendance for the 35 years they played in LA and some of the 15 in OC. The biggest problem they had was they never played in an ideal stadium for football, but this would change with this stadium. Of course, they got a sweetheart deal from the St. Louis taxpayers that they would never get here, so it is hard to blame them for taking the money. Also, it is high time we get super bowls back here in SoCal.
Not crazy about the stadium location, but it would probably be pretty good for Inland Empire, San Gabriel Valley and North Orange County residents who would probably really rally around a team they considered more their own instead of having to go to LA for everything.
It would be interesting to see if Metrolink could be made to work here at least. The Coliseum is going to be that much nicer when Expo is completed to its doorstep a year or so from now.
@Woolsey:
right on Woolsey- made the trip just to see Ando’s building, and of course Louis Kahn’s. The Nasher Sculpture garden with the "skyscape" is also amazing.
and of course now gotta go see "jerryland"- and I got to hurry before that scoreboard falls to midfield.
NIMBYs Yes, the people near Hollywood-Western are NIMBYs. When it comes to Dreck being thrown into our yards, then we should all be NIMBYs.
They object to the city and the CRA taking productive businesses like The Study, the flower shop, the motel and closing them down and turning the once financially productive site into a haven for junkies and homeless. The fact that the USA has so many homeless and that we victimize people with medical and psychological disabilities is another scandal. Rather than care for others, we shove them onto the streets, where they psychologically disintegrate and of course they cause problems. When citizens complain about the troubles which the politicos create, the politicos solution is to put tons of cash into their pockets and then support the razing of neighborhoods to alleged build Affordable Housing, “Projects†for those who lived during the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Do these Projects work? Mr. Box writes about some of the failures of the Metro Project above the red Line station. Homeless people congregate below a high rise (apparently designed for East Berlin in 1953). There is no room provide any services for these homeless people despite the fact that the Metro Project has been unable to rent our 9or even give away) 50% of its retail space. Instead in LA one police agency chases them into the jurisdiction of another police agency. [Erica Garcetti was caught bussing homeless people from skid row and dropping them off in Hollywood just north of the 101 Freeway.] If CRA hadn’t destroyed so much of LA in the last 60 years, we would be a more financially stable city and we could have more jobs and more funds to care for the psychologically disabled. But it is more fun and profitable for Tony V, Tommy Boy, Erica G, etc. let lose homeless people so residents complain, and then the politicos can stuff more cash into their pockets to help developers tear down more homes in order to build “affordable housing.†Look at Cabrini-Green in Chicago and Pruit-Igoe in st. Louis. This type of Affordable Housing fraud is not new to ward healer politicos.