From the Newsroom

Everyday

Immigration Rally Flexes LA Transit System

By Eric Richardson — March 25, 2006
5 Comments

Red Line Packed

I don’t think it’s possible to get a reliable count on the number of people who came Downtown for today’s immigration protest. LAPD is saying upwards of 100,000 people, and I’m sure that’s correct. How far upwards, though, is anyone’s guess. The Red and Blue lines served as catalysts for today’s event, carrying completely...


Everyday

Tomorrow and Sunday: Downtown Living Weekend

By Eric Richardson — March 24, 2006
10 Comments

North from 801 S. Grand

If you haven’t yet, make plans this weekend to check out the second Downtown Living Weekend. Last year’s event was a lot of fun, though not many units were open to see. Several of the same buildings are participating this year, but with model units available to see (particularly Metro 417, Sky Lofts and Eastern Columbia). It’s free to just...


Everyday

Looking at Freeway Ramps

By Eric Richardson — March 22, 2006

So much has gone into how people use maps lately, but no one’s done anything especially cool with the maps themselves. I’ll also take the opportunity to again plug the interactive map of Downtown L.A. done by Cartifact and the DCBID. If you haven’t already, load up the map and use the search functionality in the lefthand sidebar to pull up...


Everyday

Spiderman Still Making His Downtown Rounds

By Eric Richardson — March 22, 2006
30 Comments

Spiderman's Coming

Spiderman 3 filming has been making the rounds of Downtown, shooting at the Alexandria way back in November and then in the Old Bank District last month. Now they’re coming to the ever-filmed alley between Spring and Broadway, 6th and 7th. In fact it would appear they’ve got people on the roof of the Palace right now. Back in December the location...


Everyday

Downtown's Artificial Geography

By Eric Richardson — March 20, 2006

Downtown LA Terrain as Google Sees It

The terrain of Downtown Los Angeles fascinates me. It’s definitely not flat, as anyone who’s walked up to Bunker Hill can tell you. Looking at Downtown via a flat road map doesn’t give you any sense of its complexity: Downtown has two Grand Avenues, two 2nd Streets, two 3rd Streets. 4th Street goes from the 110 to Olive without touching “...


Everyday

Sleep in a Little Tomorrow

By Eric Richardson — March 18, 2006

Tomorrow’s Marathon day, so in general that means don’t try to drive anywhere before mid-afternoon. Street closures are posted on the Marathon website. LA City Nerd says traffic impacts may be worse than normal thanks to the disgruntled engineers union. I tend to figure there’s a point at which traffic disruption becomes bad, and beyond that...


Everyday

Roosevelt Chronicles: One Big Crane

By Eric Richardson — March 18, 2006

Huge Crane at Roosevelt Lofts

Today’s Roosevelt Lofts update involves the biggest crane I’ve ever seen on the back of a truck. My office is on the 19th floor of the MCI Building, and as you can see from the photo this thing’s taller than that. I have no clue how the operator can actually see what he’s doing when he reaches into the building. Each time I think he’...


Everyday

As the LATC Turns...

By Eric Richardson — March 17, 2006
5 Comments

Los Angeles Theatre Center

In this week’s Downtown News Jon Regardie pens a well-written piece on the current turmoil with the LA Theatre Center. If you haven’t followed the process, you might take a look at this round-up of previous coverage. Basic gist of this round is that Will & Company, the only theatre company to consistantly program the LATC, is out of a space they...


Everyday

Taking off the Roof

By Eric Richardson — March 16, 2006

Roosevelt Lofts Roof Work

The ongoing renovation work at the Roosevelt Lofts is providing me with a lot of material these days. First I discovered it was right below me, then it had a small fire. Now workers are tearing away the roof of a structure that sits on top of the building. If I had to guess I’d say this was the housing for the elevator machinery, and that they’re...


Everyday

Morning Fun on 7th Street

By Eric Richardson — March 16, 2006

Bomb Threat at Jewelry Theater Building

Walking into work this morning I had to route around a bomb threat at the Jewelry Theater Building. 7th Street is closed between Broadway and Olive. LAPD looks to have first responded soon after 8am, though, so they should be clearing the scene shortly. While taking this picture from a good half-block away I had an LAPD officer ask me what it was for. He then...