Chinatowners Say 20-Story Mixed-User Will Be Too Dense and Too Gentrifying
@Buildings R Us: the difference betwen texas and california is the former allows unfettered growth. they built product and few people are buying.
which makes me seriously question how much "pent up demand" there is for high density residential towers in places like downtown los angeles. the majoriy of residents clearly prefer to live in different accomodations, or these projects would have been completed by now.
south florida’s a good example of this, the skyline is flooded with an incredible amount of high rises, it’s a mini hong kong over here. look who shaped the place: new yorkers, retirees looking for convenience and european/latin american immigrants replicating the situation back home.
the demographics, aspirations, etc. of los angeles are far different. it’s no surprise projects like these are met with great resistance, the same game is played every day in san francisco.
Chinatowners Say 20-Story Mixed-User Will Be Too Dense and Too Gentrifying
@BrianSorensen: Yes, I agree with your observation. The same can be said for the push back in the Arts District. It’s damaging however to the centrality of downtown and to the effectiveness of our heavily-invested expanding rail network.
Chinatowners Say 20-Story Mixed-User Will Be Too Dense and Too Gentrifying
@EyesLikePotatoes: I don’t think so. Alleviate is more appropriate than say, "reduce". Besides, without our continued investments in mass transit, vehicular traffic would get much worse.
Chinatowners Say 20-Story Mixed-User Will Be Too Dense and Too Gentrifying
@Ghetto Urchin: I’ll agree that there is no "pent up demand" from previous years but there is also a thing called "increasing demand" which the market is obviously reflecting with all the growth and investment going on there now. With the downtown regional connector, new South Park towers in the pipeline, proposed LA streetcar/Grand Ave towers, revitalization of Broadway, and so on do you not think this will clearly provide more people to live in different accommodations than the older forms of infrastructure already prevalent throughout the LA basin?
Downtown LA is reaching a critical point where it’s centrality and focus will be strengthened by the long-term infrastrucuture being built there now. It’s actually a symbolism of everything against its historical past of sprawling suburbia and a cyclic pull back into its core. It’s a slow process but slow doesn’t mean non-existent or non-prevalent among its surrounding sprawl.
I can appreciate your description of South Florida’s demographics. I’ve been to Tampa and St. Petersburg myself and see the influence of retirees and millennials, along with the Native American/Cuban influence there. Los Angeles is different. It’s polycentric in nature but don’t let that form deceive you. It’s original sprawling steeetcar lines and modern interconnecting freeways have already imbedded the irrelevance of distance to today’s Angelino mind. This has been manifested by the countless businesses interspersed within and around residential tracts. It’s heavily land-use segregated while at the same time it’s not with its heavily networked roads. This dichotomy gets further blurred as mixed-use infill developments increase.
I think downtown LA’s resurgence will have much more impact than perhaps what you perceive. The irrelevance of distance has been slowly disappearing over the years as our freeways get more clogged and housing gets more expensive. The expansion of our light rail networks is changing this equation again but this is where downtown LA will shine. It will be an alternative option to many people (who have the financial means) to live where they work or live in an environment that is walkable and accessible to other transportation modes. It’s not just the poor taking mass transit in downtown anymore. You should go to the LA Union Station and see all the suits there…
Chinatowners Say 20-Story Mixed-User Will Be Too Dense and Too Gentrifying
@BornPedestrian: "we don’t have EITHER the water or the good jobs for these new folks"
First of all, how can you say we don’t have the water when these types of proposed dense projects are more environmentally sustainable, then say sprawled out low-density structures. Even the EPA agrees on this…
Say all you want but nobody is forcing people to live in these units if they can’t or do not have the need to. The point is to increase our housing supply near mass transit stations so that we can actually incentivize potential buyers to use them. No one will force anyone to use light rail or for force them to not drive. The key however is to allow opportunities in housing availability and options for transportation. This is important for people who may need to seek transportation alternatives in an environment where freeway traffic congestion is getting worse just about every year.
Yes, we can be democratic but there is a HUGEDIFFERENCE between a representative democracy and a true democracy. Not everyone can delve into politics while raising a family or meeting other responsibilities in life. That’s why we have elected officials. We vote for them or vote them out. Yes, its important to listen to local stakeholders, but the difficulty is balancing this out to meet the regional needs and planning of the city. It also takes leadership to accept criticism and moving forward towards a goal or vision. Instead, ad-hoc local politics prevail with no future plans on how our city must develop as a whole…
Chinatowners Say 20-Story Mixed-User Will Be Too Dense and Too Gentrifying
@Ghetto Urchin: "it’s the same story in los angeles. you could put a bunch of new towers in dt, build up a rail network and then what? you think people are going to magically take the train in a gigantic, spawning suburb, transfer to 57 different bus lines, etc. to make a single trip?"
I don’t think its the same story in Los Angeles. LA has been a polycentric sprawling metropolis in the making for over a century now. I know people who live in the SGV work in the Westside, or who live in Glendora and take light rail to downtown LA. People/businesses make daily pilgrimages to all parts of LA for many reasons. No one person may take 57 different bus lines for a single trip, but bus and light/heavy rail lines are used heavily throughout the region – unlike the Dallas you describe.
Chinatowners Say 20-Story Mixed-User Will Be Too Dense and Too Gentrifying
@CatholicBloc: You cannot seem to think beyond your own narrow vision yourself. Sure, 100 affordable units may not be enough (out of 685) but you expect this project to be financially feasible without any further government subsidies?! (And thank Mr. Moonbeam for eliminating RA’s). Even if the developer was to break even (and no business does that) what if any more than 100 units results in an actual financial loss?
City mandates for higher affordable units is a joke when land acquisition costs make this unrealistic based on high market values and constrained zoning/NIMBYs who cap off building heights and density. Its even more of a travesty when the project is next to mass transit.