What Are Your Resolutions for Downtown in 2011?
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — A new year means new beginnings and, of course, resolutions.
Our personal promises to work out and eat better tend to fall away by the second week of January, but still we keep making them every year.
As we start the first work-week of 2011, let's take that a few steps further. What would your resolutions be for Downtown as a whole in the new year? What have we been putting off that we really need to get done in 2011, or what have we been going about the wrong way the we need to shape up?
Guest on January 03, 2011, at 09:53AM – #1
That the parking lot next to the Rowyn Building on Spring Street actually turns into a park. It is a travesty that a city our size only has a limited amount of green spaces in its urban core. The use of native plants and even access hours (closed at night) would allow a park at this location a level of feasibility. A functional park would be beneficial to local business, an improvement to pedestrians, and help increase property values in the long term. Obviously the city and powers to be feel that catering to automobiles is more important (parking lots, new meters, etc.) than serving many residents who would rather not leave their carbon footprints.
Guest on January 03, 2011, at 11:33AM – #2
Downtown made amazing progress in 2010. Let's continue that progress with more retail and an upward movement in the quality of restaurants here in the neighborhood.
Guest on January 03, 2011, at 11:58AM – #3
Would love to see late night DASH service, kind of like LB's Passport service.
LAofAnaheim on January 03, 2011, at 12:18PM – #4
Relax codes for developers to allow for greater urban / infill development. Unbundle parking from developments and remove "minimums" and make it "maximums" for downtown only projects. Make it a model for the urban core; and if it works successfully (more affordable housing for all without having to rely on grants or public funding), it can be expanded to other areas with good transit.
Guest on January 03, 2011, at 12:56PM – #5
Guest on January 03, 2011, at 01:41PM – #6
I also am excited for the Homeless project to succeed. And would like updates to the new law for Skid Row coming into effect reguarding keeping certain dealers OUT. I just walked through 6th the other night and saw (3) separate deals go down within a 2 block radius.
Also, we need retail! Please!
Guest on January 03, 2011, at 03:59PM – #7
Yes, good suggestion on the Broadway initiative. Let's hope that continues to pick up steam. Clifton's and the building just north of 6th being redone as corporate headquarters for a construction company (and all the other residential buildings that have recently finished or are finishing up) have the potential to keep that momentum up. I'm now making a concerted effort to walk Broadway when I'm going north/south if it's convenient for me, and to patronize Grand Central Market, Clifton's and other businesses on the strip.
We really need Broadway to be the corridor of neighborhood-serving retail and shopping in DTLA. 7th Street would have been great, but it's turning into Restaurant Row as per the BID's original intentions.
DawnC on January 03, 2011, at 07:02PM – #8
Keep those lights on 4th street up all year! I love them.
Guest on January 03, 2011, at 10:08PM – #9
resolution for 2011: Move. Banquette closing is a complete blow to this part of town. Great way to begin the new year Gilmore! Class.
Ginny-Marie Case on January 03, 2011, at 10:16PM – #10
To convince Blogdowntown to 1) get rid of those anonymous commenters (or at least hide them) 2) provide a delete comment button for those who end up commenting three and four and maybe FIVE duplicate comments.
Karin Liljegren on January 04, 2011, at 09:17AM – #11
It's time for Broadway . . .
Simon Hartigan on January 04, 2011, at 10:00AM – #12
Some great ideas so far. I love the enthusiasm. I strongly believe it would greatly benefit DTLA if cars were less catered to. Certainly some car trips are needed in and out of downtown, plus delivery trucks and buses. But we could certainly remove many vehicles from the roads along sections like Spring St. If we view our roads as public space that can be used for parks, curb separated bikeways, extra cafe seating, plants... DTLA could be transformed into a world class city. Let's treat DTLA like a city and not the suburbs, let's try and reduce the amount of cars we allow in our city and encourage non-car travel even more in 2011. Happy New Year! (disclaimer: I live on 5th and Spring)
Guest on January 04, 2011, at 11:26AM – #13
Get rid of ALL lines that cross downtown and create a downtown ONLY public transpo system so we don't have 3+ buses on a single block at once (let's bring it down to 1-)!
Lift up the street speed limits and remove traffic obstacles to avoid gridlock(which creates lots and lots of pollution). Remove public street parking and reduce the parking fees in private lots. Or at least have "residents only" parking permits or even better, a free residents only parking lot (instead of a stupid dog park - haha I'm just writing this to piss people off muahahaaha)!
Provide free parking, traffic direction and signaling on a 5 block radius for neighborhoods affected by movie shoots.
Get movie crews to park ONLY on private parking lots and do NOT allow them to close streets for days at a time for a shoot that only really takes 3-4 hours.
Allow residents to have first choice at working as extras on movies that affect their neighborhoods.
And last but not least let all residents in on the secret of who killed JFK.... hahahahaha!!! I know I'm daydreaming!!!!
Oscar
TBerry on January 04, 2011, at 05:00PM – #14
Just keeping the momentum would be fantastic... I'm keeping and eye on a few specific things.
The Broadway initiative (and eventually the street car) is something that really excites me. Add to that the Grand Ave/Civic Center developments down the road.
I know parking is an issue downtown... but there are FAR too many parking scattered through the core, this is valuable space that needs to be used better and create a more cohesive/pedestrian friendly urban landscape. I love the Spring Street park between Rowan/El Dorado idea. I think some of these lots should be turned into larger garages, perhaps with small ground floor retail spaces along the sidewalk... while others need to be utilized for other things. I'm sure this is a more complicated issue than I'm making it. But some of these lots are hideous and more detrimental than helpful to the surrounding neighborhoods.
I'd like to see the Clark Hotel project on Hill really start to go somewhere (since I see it everyday)... and maybe even eventually see something happen with the Gianini Place building, which is currently a huge, dark corner in the middle of "restaurant row." I believe both of these buildings are under the same ownership and I hope those owners realize the potential of those two pieces of property soon and pick up the pace.
Extended hours/frequency of Metro rail subways would be nice some day.
Continued expansion of diverse eating/drinking options, retail/markets... and, dare I say, a Trader Joe's would all be nice.