Little Tokyo Motion Highlights Downtown's Lack of Specific Plans
Eric Richardson
[Flickr]
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — This morning Curbed notes a motion filed by Councilwoman Jan Perry asking the Planning department to come back with options for how to keep Little Tokyo's identity. The motion expresses a concern that "Little Tokyo wil be overtaken by the development activity in the rest of Downtown - eventually losing its distinct characteristics and becoming lost as part of Downtown proper."
As discussed in our recent primer on the Industrial Land Use debate, planning in Los Angeles has multiple tiers. First, there's the General Plan for the city, followed by thirty-five Community Plans. Inside these Community Plan areas can exist Specific Plans, documents governing a smaller discrete chunk of space. The recently discussed LAESD Specific Plan is one example, in fact one of only three in the Downtown area (the Alameda district is around Union Station, and the Central City West plan is just across the 110).
Highlighted out of all of this is the fact that "Downtown" is not one thing that can be planned for in a single way. Different neighborhoods have different attributes that are worth considering and sometimes worth enforcing. That may Specific Plans or some other zoning / land use tool, but the important thing is that a careful look is being taken at letting Downtown neighborhoods stay as neighborhoods.
Update (2pm): After the jump, a bit of a "Where's Waldo" factoid about this photo.
So hidden in the photo attached to this post is a bit of a "Where's Ed?" Below is a crop of a tiny bit of the photo. The two people standing together are meekorouse and Ed Fuentes. Ed, typically, is wearing shorts. And yes, he's looking up at me as I take the photo.
David Kennedy on February 01, 2008, at 11:57AM – #1
I agree that Little Tokyo's ethnic character is threatened by development. However, Little Tokyo will thrive and survive because sufficient numbers of Japanese-Americans will invest and live in the district. If not, forget about it.
No amount of legislative activity will prevent this outcome. Over the years, I have gotten the sense that Little Tokyo has been a bit of a economic backwater which sheltered some laid back businesses. No more. Capital is on the march. As Marx said, "All that is solid melts into air."
Yeah, Little Tokyo, the winds of change are starting to blow. Time to work to control your destiny.
Micci on February 01, 2008, at 08:14PM – #2
Little Tokyo's ethnic background is threatened by development?! What!?
The community started undergoing a slow stagnation and decline a few decades ago -- well before the current round of new construction -- as more and more Americans of Japanese descent followed the well-worn path of other people headed to the suburbs.
Some people (and corporations) associated with Japan brought a bit of vigor back to the area in the 1980s and early 1990s, but then the recession of the mid-1990s hit Asia, and that wave of revitalization also began to flicker out.
The best, and perhaps only, way to deal with a "loss of identity" is to make sure the long-discussed Little Tokyo Recreation Center, to be used primarily by Japanese-American sports groups, finally is under construction, and to lure the Japanese consulate and other related businesses and organizations to a possible new commercial-cultural-retail-residential project at the northeast corner of First and Alameda Streets.
Ironically enough, it is development that actually may be the linchpin to strengthening the community's history and ethnic ties.
Rafu Reader on February 03, 2008, at 01:53PM – #3
It's not entirely correct to attribute the decline of Little Tokyo only to suburbanization. The WW2 internment cleared out the entire area. It became an African American community. After the war, people started to move back, but most people were living in cheap places outside of the downtown area. Also, I understand that there was a large area of LT that ran down to 8th st, but is now warehouses.
Residential space changed in the 70s, as lower-income places, often populated by poor Asians and African Americans, were either razed for commercial spaces, or for condos for seniors. Mom and pop business were pushed out, and more expensive malls were developed. So, it's not like there were many places to live if you were a family.
JA's reestablished themselves in the 50s and 60s in communities like Crenshaw and Boyle Heights, then later they participated in suburban flight to Gardena, Monterey Park, and Culver City. Now we're scattered all over.
So, while I agree with the above two posters, how about we also recognize that the government still owes the J-A people something for causing the destruction of LT -- and that something could be affordable land to re-establish a living J-A community in or near LT.
Mo Nishida wrote about this in the Rafu. He's right! Just like David Kennedy is right and Micci is right. If they want a Japan Town, they can have it, but it'll depend on creating reasonably priced family housing there, and attracting J-A people and non-J-A people interested in living in an intentional ethnic ghetto.
Yes, it's important to have the Japanese food and stores, but it's also important to have the people.
James Fujita on February 17, 2008, at 11:09PM – #4
you can't save Little Tokyo simply by proclaiming it so.
first of all, who says Little Tokyo is in danger? every time I go down there, it seems to be doing well. certainly, it is doing better than before all of the new development came in. Little Tokyo/ J-Town has dead on its feet just a few years ago.
second, if JAs want to preserve J-Town, they are going to have to be become more active. do the Japanese in Torrance or Monterey Park or O.C. come downtown to shop? are Japanese professionals moving to J-Town? are they supporting J-Town events? or do they just want a wax museum version of J-Town?
third, change happens. Pinkberry happens. anime happens. these things attract non-Japanese and non-Asians to Little Tokyo, but so what?
look, I'm a hapa (half-Japanese)- and a recent immigrant hapa, at that. none of my relatives were in camp or in the 442nd (not that I don't appreciate what the Nisei accomplished!). so, maybe my vision of Little Tokyo is more rooted in the future of the Japanese-American community than in its Nisei past.
but, Japanese culture is growing in popularity right now, especially among my white "anime otaku" friends. a white dollar is worth as much as a JA dollar at the JA-owned sushi bar, right? (or at the manga store or the karaoke club...) that to me signals that J-Town is not in trouble.
if JAs won't save Little Tokyo, then maybe the haoles will.
whitman lam on February 17, 2008, at 11:53PM – #5
From a business standpoint Little Tokyo is doing great. Sushi restaurants are almost packed by the office lunchtime crowd. And they have new apartments and lofts opening up. Some are reserved for older Japanese American retirees.
They have an Office Depot, American Apparel, and many boutique specialty shops. In most other sections of Downtown, ground floor retail spaces are empty or struggling to find tenants. Little Tokyo is retail friendly. And they do need Japanese chefs in the kitchen (Or Korean chefs who can cook Japanese dishes). The Japanese American presence is still there.
Vic on April 24, 2008, at 12:43PM – #6
I really like little Tokyo
I hope they make a part of Little tokyo look like Ginza