LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[RumbleFish]

If you are familiar with many Asian cities there is no way those American cities should have skyline rankings that high.

[Calicool]

Originally Posted by saybanana

Los Angeles area has lots of highrises, but it isn't concentrated in one general area like it is in Seattle or San Francisco or other cities. It is spread out all over the city/metro area. Often when people talks about an LA Skyline they talk about Downtown LA which is cool at its own but compared to other cities it doesn't put in that wow factor. If you take all the highrises from Brentwood, West LA, Century City, Westwood, Mid Wilshire, Koreatown, Hollywood, West Hollywood, the Valley, Burbank, Glendale, Long Beach etc and placed in all in the general Downtown area, then I think people would lose their minds. But it isn't like that. Oh well. Downtown is getting more impressive on its own, but I feel that there are so many tall buildings and not many in the middle range that it looks quite empty esp from Griffith or Hollywood/Runyon. Looking from the east like in the arts district or Boyle heights, you can see all these different heights which makes it look really impressive.

I agree, but you can't include West Hollywood, Burbank, Glendale and Long Beach.

[Jordan de California]

Originally Posted by scania

You make great points...I drove up to Pasadena and Glendale today and when driving back on the “2” coming from the “210” my friends from NYC were all like wow look at Downtown and the canyons that surround. They were literally in awe. One said there’s nothing this beautiful in the US.

Yeah. That. There's nothing like coming into Downtown through the foothills.

I'm really excited for the changes L.A. will experience in my lifetime. Nowhere for the city to grow but up!

[Blesha13]

Originally Posted by Quixote

This rendering isn't on the blog post:


urbanize.la / Instagram

Can someone start a thread for this project please?

[Blesha13]

Originally Posted by caligrad

^^^ Why do I feel that way about the carwash site proposal ? Because it was proposed a few years back by Ben Neman who was arrested on suspicion of a money laundering scheme linked to a drug cartel. Was he convicted ? not sure, but I personally feel that investors and bank will not want any part of that. So I'm not doubting the actual proposal but I'm doubting the developer.

He bought the land back in early 2014, gave us the proposal in January 2016 and its been quiet ever since. Crickets. No one is mentioning any movement in the permitting department that I know of....Meanwhile projects before it and after are either under construction or making some kind of progress. But who knows. Someone with "Insider Knowledge" said it was a for sure thing. We'll see.


Speaking of the Carwash site. Here's another render I've never seen.

https://www.nardi-associates.com/olympic-tower

That'll be one monolith when entering LA Live from Chick Hearn Ct.

[JerellO]

I love that LA metro has skyscrapers spread throughout. I’ve been to San Francisco and Chicago and yes they have dense and concentrated skyscrapers in one area, but once you leave downtown it’s like.. bland.. no character. LA has a good amount of skyscrapers in downtown to mark itself as “hey look this is the center of it all” but when you leave downtown you still get a sense of being in a huge urban area due to all those skyscrapers and density spread out. And the fact that LA suburbs are more dense than any other city’s suburbs. San Diego kinda has similar suburbs due to us trying to copy you guys in the past but LA is saturated with dense single family homes almost wall to wall it looks like when seen from above on google maps or the 3D view on the iPhone.

[Valyrian Steel]

Originally Posted by Blesha13

Can someone start a thread for this project please?

There is a thread.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by Blesha13

That'll be one monolith when entering LA Live from Chick Hearn Ct.

Is it really supposed to be that big?

[caligrad]

^^^ Makes it seem even more unrealistic lol especially for a plot of land that size.

Originally Posted by Calicool

I agree, but you can't include West Hollywood, Burbank, Glendale and Long Beach.

Why not exactly?

The entire island of Manhattan is 13 miles long from end to end and is nearly wall to wall skyscrapers. The distance between downtown and Santa Monica is about 14 miles, the Distance between Downtown and Glendale is barely 9. Long Beach is a bit of a stretch at 26 miles but that's If they were to have said the entire city of LA is one giant downtown then that would be false. But they didn't, they said LA has lots of skyscrapers and they are all concentrated in their own clusters here and there, which is true and not so common, its a bit unique and similar to how Tokyo rolls. And it kinda works for LA.

Anybody willing/able to bless us with a photo update? Haven't seen ocean wide, apex, Onnis 3 towers and other towers going up in South Park.

[Jun]

Originally Posted by caligrad

^^^ Makes it seem even more unrealistic lol especially for a plot of land that size.



Why not exactly?

The entire island of Manhattan is 13 miles long from end to end and is nearly wall to wall skyscrapers. The distance between downtown and Santa Monica is about 14 miles, the Distance between Downtown and Glendale is barely 9. Long Beach is a bit of a stretch at 26 miles but that's If they were to have said the entire city of LA is one giant downtown then that would be false. But they didn't, they said LA has lots of skyscrapers and they are all concentrated in their own clusters here and there, which is true and not so common, its a bit unique and similar to how Tokyo rolls. And it kinda works for LA.

I think what hes getting at is that those are separate cities, and not part of Los Angeles proper.

[ArquitectoMontenegro]

Here's how I compare LA to NYC

Downtown LA : Lower Manhattan
Koreatown/Mid-wilshire : Midtown NYC
Century City/Westwood : Upper Manhattan
Hollywood : Williamsburg
Glendale : Brooklyn
Long Beach : Jersey City (it's a far stretch due to distance, but for the sake of comparison)

Yes, Los Angeles is spread out over a lot more area and not as concentrated with skycrapers but the clusters of densely built environments are there.

Of course, NYC had a huge head start in terms of population and density than LA, but for the rate of growth over such a short time that Los Angeles has experienced it is very impressive how far it has come.

But I don't think it can hold a candle to how fast some Asian cities have developed (Shanghai, Beiijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo)

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by caligrad

^^^ Makes it seem even more unrealistic lol especially for a plot of land that size.



Why not exactly?

The entire island of Manhattan is 13 miles long from end to end and is nearly wall to wall skyscrapers. The distance between downtown and Santa Monica is about 14 miles, the Distance between Downtown and Glendale is barely 9. Long Beach is a bit of a stretch at 26 miles but that's If they were to have said the entire city of LA is one giant downtown then that would be false. But they didn't, they said LA has lots of skyscrapers and they are all concentrated in their own clusters here and there, which is true and not so common, its a bit unique and similar to how Tokyo rolls. And it kinda works for LA.

Anybody willing/able to bless us with a photo update? Haven't seen ocean wide, apex, Onnis 3 towers and other towers going up in South Park.

Agree. Because of its immense area and population, L.A. skyscraper distribution is polycentric and that is fine. But I like the fact that DTLA is once again becoming the dominant and tallest of the skyscrapers centers in the region. None of the other centers outside of DTLA has any building above 600 feet (yet). Century City is the #2 center, and might soon have a few above 600'. DTLA will be the zone of the supertalls and the historic core with the nice old buildings mixed in with the new buildings as befits the transportation hub of the region. It would be nice to see Long Beach develop a more powerful secondary skyline, maybe with a few buildings above 500'. Santa Monica could also develop into a zone of skyscrapers, but NIMBYs will probably prevent it. Hope to see Koreatown, Wilshire "Miracle Mile", Westwood, Hollywood-WeHo, Burbank. Glendale and Pasadena further "skyscraperize", but DTLA will probably be numero uno for skycrapers into the distant future. I would love to see harborside San Pedro develop a skyline, but that might not be for a while as it develops a "cool" factor.

One thing recently that upset me a bit was the abandonment of DTLA by the new ownership of the LA Times. The new HQ will be over on the westside , not even in the city limits. The new owner has real estate there. I bet most of the staff would have preferred to stay in DTLA, especially those who live to the north and east of DTLA. A paper for the city and region should be located in the center of government and activity, even in these internet days.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

Apple Store Begins Takeover of Tower Theater in Downtown LA

http://brighamyen.com/2018/06/25/app...n-downtown-la/

[jprovost2020]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

Agree. Because of its immense area and population, L.A. skyscraper distribution is polycentric and that is fine. But I like the fact that DTLA is once again becoming the dominant and tallest of the skyscrapers centers in the region. None of the other centers outside of DTLA has any building above 600 feet (yet). Century City is the #2 center, and might soon have a few above 600'. DTLA will be the zone of the supertalls and the historic core with the nice old buildings mixed in with the new buildings as befits the transportation hub of the region. It would be nice to see Long Beach develop a more powerful secondary skyline, maybe with a few buildings above 500'. Santa Monica could also develop into a zone of skyscrapers, but NIMBYs will probably prevent it. Hope to see Koreatown, Wilshire "Miracle Mile", Westwood, Hollywood-WeHo, Burbank. Glendale and Pasadena further "skyscraperize", but DTLA will probably be numero uno for skycrapers into the distant future. I would love to see harborside San Pedro develop a skyline, but that might not be for a while as it develops a "cool" factor.

One thing recently that upset me a bit was the abandonment of DTLA by the new ownership of the LA Times. The new HQ will be over on the westside , not even in the city limits. The new owner has real estate there. I bet most of the staff would have preferred to stay in DTLA, especially those who live to the north and east of DTLA. A paper for the city and region should be located in the center of government and activity, even in these internet days.

Have long advocated that Ocean Ave in SM between Colorado and Wilshire could be the South Beach equivalent of the West Coast, but alas, nimbys gone nimby.

[caligrad]

Originally Posted by Jun

I think what hes getting at is that those are separate cities, and not part of Los Angeles proper.

Right but its hard not to be inclusive when you're that close to such a major city. They may be separate cities but the rest of the world doesn't view them as such. As locals we obviously separate them. But travel around and ask people the difference and nine times out of ten they wont know. Long Beach is a stretch because of how far it is, its been able to get its own identity separately from the rest, but even now, when you travel around the country and abroad, people still associate Disneyland with LA even though its 30 miles away and in a totally different city and county. Even I sometimes, driving around LA, rarely differentiate the city borders and just clump them together as "I'm in LA" especially when most of those cities are completely surrounded on all sides by LA city limits.

[Trae]

Originally Posted by Future_Manifested

True, LA's polycentric nature does dillute some of that "wow" factor. But that's only if we look at just the DTLA skyline. LA's multitude of skylines does make me feel like I'm in a global city though. Driving through DTLA, Koreatown, Mid-Wilshire, Century City, Westwood all the way to the Pacific Ocean -- you really get a sense of the density/enormity of it all. You don't get that feeling driving thru Houston or Seattle...

You were saying earlier that people were talking up cities but not stepping foot in them but then say this. Houston is not as large as LA, but for it's size it can compare with the amount of high-rises it has. Downtown-Uptown-Texas Medical Center-Greenway Plaza-Museum District-Energy Corridor-Westchase-Greenspoint all have clusters of high-rises and skyscrapers. The Energy Corridor is about a 10 mile strip of 200-500 ft buildings strung out along I-10. When I first moved to LA, I really felt like it was similar to Houston in that regard. I think the only difference is more of the high-rises here in LA are along major boulevards away from the freeways, while in Houston they line the freeways or are clustered right next to them.

The skylines aren't what make LA feel like a global city to me because I honestly feel like it punches below it's weight with skylines. I'm glad it's changing now. What makes you feel like you're in a global city is the sheer enormity of the place, the consistent density, the tourists/tour buses, diversity of the people, events always going on, the mountain backdrops lined with million dollar houses, etc. The buildings are like the icing on the cake... for now at least. I really like how LA is becoming more high-rise oriented.

[scania]

Originally Posted by ArquitectoMontenegro

Here's how I compare LA to NYC

Downtown LA : Lower Manhattan
Koreatown/Mid-wilshire : Midtown NYC
Century City/Westwood : Upper Manhattan
Hollywood : Williamsburg
Glendale : Brooklyn
Long Beach : Jersey City (it's a far stretch due to distance, but for the sake of comparison)

Yes, Los Angeles is spread out over a lot more area and not as concentrated with skycrapers but the clusters of densely built environments are there.

Of course, NYC had a huge head start in terms of population and density than LA, but for the rate of growth over such a short time that Los Angeles has experienced it is very impressive how far it has come.

But I don't think it can hold a candle to how fast some Asian cities have developed (Shanghai, Beiijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo)

I agree with most...but I lived in NYC and Brooklyn to me at least is nothing like a Glendale.

[scania]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

Apple Store Begins Takeover of Tower Theater in Downtown LA

http://brighamyen.com/2018/06/25/app...n-downtown-la/

Awesome news!!!

[Jun]

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[Jun]

Originally Posted by caligrad

Right but its hard not to be inclusive when you're that close to such a major city. They may be separate cities but the rest of the world doesn't view them as such. As locals we obviously separate them. But travel around and ask people the difference and nine times out of ten they wont know. Long Beach is a stretch because of how far it is, its been able to get its own identity separately from the rest, but even now, when you travel around the country and abroad, people still associate Disneyland with LA even though its 30 miles away and in a totally different city and county. Even I sometimes, driving around LA, rarely differentiate the city borders and just clump them together as "I'm in LA" especially when most of those cities are completely surrounded on all sides by LA city limits.

You bring up a great point, whenever I travel internationally and make small talk with anyone American sounding 9 times out of ten they'll say "I'm FROM LA!" on further questioning their from Irvine. LOL