Chinatown Lofts Adds Interest to Industrial Debate

City council has already determined Southeast of Chinatown to be treated as a residential zone. One reason might be the area's size:

1. It's much smaller than the Downtown industrial district, and therefore shows less resistance to redevelopment.

2. Also, the neighborhood is more convenient to residents with Cornfield Park nearby.

I've always wondered why the California Drop Forge Steel works is there. It's been a blight on the area for many decades. Every time I pass by, there is a thick plume of white steam billowing out. I wonder if there's any trace metal particles in that steam ? I know they provide much needed blue collar jobs for the community. It is just so obtrusive.

L.A. Chinatown Lofts are walking distance to the Chinatown Gold Line station. Whereas, the industrial district (AMP Lofts specifically), are still quite a way from a Metro station.

There IS a bus line runing along Seventh Street. New warehouse developments have occured further south. Why not develop based upon what the market will bear? Why is it so desirable that the area be nothing but new warehouses? Is it only JOBS? Housing is, or can be, much more compatible with the historic content of the area, as compared to new warehouses. We have had the precedent of Councilman Sticky Fingers seeking to prevent artists in residence in the industrial east side, his and the city's horde of meter maids campaign against artists in residence. When elected representatives fingers get sticky, ya'll better watch out. You'll have parking tickets up the kazoo in no time.

A bus line near a development would not entice me to live there, but a rail line would. Bus lines can be cancelled, moved, or reduced to near-zero frequency. Trains run frequently, and provide an anchor to a place. The people who live in the Arts district, on the southern end, generally do not use transit much.

Throw in another factor, the inevitable closure of the Sixth Street bridge for a multiyear repair and the large amounts of industrial traffic that will divert to Seventh Street.

Additional residences also mean additional vital services like police officers and fire stations, whereas the density of another area may be able to support additional residents with status quo service levels.

The simplest answer, however, is that the mix of developer, land owner, council district and neighborhood are different. It's not rocket science, it's local science, look to see who benefits by the decision made and work backwards from there. Someone always stands to benefit, otherwise the decision would not need to be made.

Usually the way it will come back to someone's desk in the bureaucracy for 'the right' decision is with a vague, "take another look" request. If you can't figure it out from there, you may not have the survival instincts for civil service or value your morals above employment.

The Seventh Street buslines are very reliable given the large central yard at Seventh/Alameda -- almost might be a good location for a regional connector stop.

An excellent point made by Metro Local. When converting Industrial to Residential: Do the costs outweigh the benefits ??

For sure, more residents living in the area will raise property values and thus more property tax revenue for the City. But can the City provide an adequate police and emergency response to isolated pockets of condo-lofts ? Remember, "status quo" service in Los Angeles, does not really keep you safe at all.

Keeping it industrial, preserves jobs, and includes other benefits to the community, especially to food retail. As a contractor, I've done many industrial buildings here, mostly Food Storage and Refrigeration. The central location, workers, and access to freeways and ports makes it convenient for food distribution.

Local restaurants depend on these cold warehouses to store produce and meats. The lettuce in your salad, the onion in your shish-kabob, the lobster in your surf n' turf plate. All have to be trucked in on a daily basis from a warehouse or distribution center. And if those businesses are forced to relocate deeper into the Inland Empire due to condo conversions Downtown. That means alot more trucks and delivery vans clogging the freeways. And more fuel burned to satisfy the hunger of Downtown eateries and cafes.

Best to hold on to our dwindling supply of "useless" warehouses.

The problem with the Arts District is that the warehouse district which surrounds it, is doing very well and has been doing very well for some time. It's not dead and never has been, so the importers and exporters over there aren't going to just be ok with it becoming residential.

Now Chinatown, it was pretty much a tourist trap, it's by the Goldline, it seems to have lots of residential places already, its already user friendly.

That's why it's going to be a no to the Arts District which is in the middle of skidrow and a pretty active industrial warehouse community and a yes to Chinatown, which is relatively safe, lots of eateries, lots of stuff to do, at least bars.

It just makes more sense to say yes to Chinatown Development and no to Arts District.

You have to look at where you live, no matter what you really want to happen you have to look at the realities.

LA needs to have a place to have its industry (we're now the gateway to the United States) and they sort of already have one, so the Arts Districts problem isn't just skidrow it's the businesses that bring alot of money to the LA economy (and the US in general) would rather not see that area become so end-user friendly, because with the kinds of businesses that they run, street traffic isn't going to help.

If you own a loft in the Arts District are you going to buy 6 cases of soda. 5 crates of chairs...see that's the kind of business they do over there, they aren't going to just quietly walk away from that.

If you're selling bulk items, you don't want someone going to the street with their kid in a stroller.

The industrial areas that get converted aren't being used, they are abandoned the warehouse district is very, very active.

Browne

Metro Local and Browne are correct.

Were the wholesale and food suppliers driven out—and they need not be driven out directly; if their employees can no longer afford to live in the area, then there is an incentive to move closer to where competent help is available, which in turn drives up prices owing to a longer logistical chain—then the night life for those clamouring about the nature of the Arts District, Skid Row, et al, would rise considerably and perhaps even greatly attenuate new additions. If you want a nightlife, there has to be a relatively cheap labour pool NEARBY. Moreover, the reason the areas from which many new lofties moved are the reason Skid Row exists. As such, I advise those complaining about it and putting the skids on loft conversion to consider moving back to your suburban meccas, lest they become new Skid Rows. (On an extreme note, perhaps the ex-suburbanites might offer a solution to removing the residents of Skid Row—or have you lot not got the backbone to just come out and state, "kill the poor"?)

And having been an olde patron and performer at Al's Bar—in the heart of the relatively newly named Arts District—I know how the area usta be. Seemingly empty buildings have for many, many years been home to band rehearsals and semi-legal residences and businesses. Just because a building does not offer parking in the fashion of West L.A., Santa Monica or the Valley does not mean that there is a paucity of activity therein.

Lastly, and of a sidenote, there is a bit of a bus stop at 6th and Central, northeast of the MTA yard. I state "a bit" because the 720 usta stop there and now it does not. I found that out one day when, after the stop at 6th and Main, the damn bus continued all the way to Boyle/Whittier. Worse than the 780 from Prospect/Vermont all the way to Riverside before it stops again!