I thought I'd do another then and now.
This was posted earlier in the thread, showing the view east from the LA City Hall observation deck in 1952
USC Archive
Here's the same view, May 26, 2010.
Photo taken by me
I apologize that the modern photo is kinda fuzzy, it's actually a blow-up from a much wider shot I took so that the framing could more closely match the older photo. But what a difference in what's in the foreground. It looked like there was a lot more going on in the older photo. Looks like a lot was destroyed in the area where Piper Tech is now on the left. And of course now there's the elevated HOV/busway, among other things that were destroyed, and the other things that now exist...