KFWB on Living Downtown

I listened to these pieces this morning. There are six of them. There are about a minute or so each. They are professionally done and worth listening to.

However, I noted the research was pretty much by the numbers. The correspondent, Bill Cooper, talked to all the local talking head-types: Jack Kyser, Jan Perry, Carol Schatz (sic?). He did speak with some residents, but they lived on Bunker Hill and obviously didn't venture down the hill into what I'd consider downtown proper.

The whole thing had a real 1980s feel. In fact, it sounded like it could have come from that time (references to Staples Center aside). Everything was very high-level and essentially superficial. I doubt anyone listening to the pieces would be much impressed or have their interest peeked. ("Imagine that honey, there are people who live downtown. Well, I'll be darned!") Downtown was defined as Bunker Hill and the Financial District. Yeah, there are some 'students' living in some lofts in the Old Bank District or the Arts District. But, the correspondent doesn't engage these people. Obviously, Broadway and the Fashion District are hardly mentioned. Of course, there is the obligatory concern about the 'homeless' situation. Interestingly, I don't recall anything being said about public transit like the Red Line, Metrolink or the Dash system. The pieces would have been more interesting and useful if more residents had been contacted. The scope of the downtown was very limited and that was unfortunate. Dowtown as a collection of vibrant and diverse communities was completely overlooked.

One last detail which stood out in my mind was the feedback from people who commuted in and worked downtown. The people interviewed had a very negative perception of downtown and they were quite vocal on this point. You'd think they'd be big proponents of downtown. But, thinking back on conversations I've had over the years, I'm not surprised by this. There is huge untapped potential of office workers. Turning around this negative perception should be a marketing priority for downtown. However, given downtown's development, particularly in the rough real estate market and social turmoil of the early 90s, there's a lot of bad memories which need to be overcome.

All in all, I'd give the pieces a C+. Hopefully, they can revisit this topic in the future and reach out to the broader community. This way they could tell the story more accurately and certainly make downtown more appealing.

Glad you listened to the reports on KFWB. They were indeed short, meant to be an overview. Point well taken about downtown's diversity. I'm a native and love the city. I hope to do more stories about it. Appreciate the feedback. Keep listening.

Bill Cooper, KFWB

Bill:

Thanks for chiming in... it makes you seem like more than a distant voice on the radio!

David:

Yes, I was a bit surprised at the negative tone of many of those interviewed, but it does reflect a gegerally unpleasant attitude that the wider city (especially the Westside, where a huge number of office workers live) has about Downtown. To me it simply shows hows us that there is still a long way to go here. As for the "soundbytes" nature of the clips - they do come across as very "tip of the iceberg" stuff... and they are. Then again, I was pleased to hear them on KFWB - after all, they are a commercial news station that says they will "bring you the world in 22 minutes"... and traffic, and sports, and advertising... So, in my POV, it is cool that there was a mention of Downtown at all outside of the typical deveoper stuff or crime or skid row stories.