How does Los Angeles look in the future?

[Thundergod]

How does Los Angeles looks in the future?
In which way does the skyline change and the hole town?


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[ElOhEl]

I'd imagine the gaps in the downtown skyline would be filled. The Wilshire corridor would also be filled with mid-rises, if the westisde subway extension goes through.

[Manila-X]

LA in the future?

You have the post apocalyptic style of Blade Runner



Or the San Angeles look of Demolition Man.

[tanzirian]

I imagine that the skyline will grow only very slowly. LA Live included the first major downtown skyscraper in almost 20 years. That isn't a very high rate of growth. The trend for corporations remains for the most part - smaller decentralized offices. Though I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for Wilshire Grand.

[croyboy]

i think the areas around macarthur and echo park will fill up with more dense housing... more skyscrapers might rise west of the 110 freeway. the area between koreatown and the 10 freeway will likely fill in with more housing and small businesses

[tanzirian]

I do expect that...if, in the next few decades, downtown becomes a more desirable place to live, cleaner, and safer...then perhaps there will be a few residential towers like those in Century City...in the 20-40 story range.

[State of the Union]

Originally Posted by tanzirian

I do expect that...if, in the next few decades, downtown becomes a more desirable place to live, cleaner, and safer...then perhaps there will be a few residential towers like those in Century City...in the 20-40 story range.

Especially when the Downtown/Regional LRT Connector and the Downtown streetcar gets built.

[saybanana]

It is amazing how much potential space there is in Downtown LA. So much of it is full of parking lots south of olympic.

If things fall into place like the building of the subway extension to the westside, more light rail, downtown connecter, streetcars, museums, football stadium, bringing in big name stores and big box stores, amazing street landscaping, and more downtown parks, I think there will an explosion of high rise building. People will want to be in downtown to live, work and party.

There will be creative designs in these buildings, not those rectangular boxes that exist now. similar to the Ritz Carlton-Mariott Hotel building. I hope they build these skyscrapers with pointed towers like the empire state building or the chrysler building. So many buildings these days have flat roofs for heli-pads. Maybe thats the building code.

[Illithid Dude]

I would imagine that downtown becomes a much more generically livable area. It loses it's gritty charm, and becomes a clean, vibrant area, that manages to combine an independent retailer scene with a mass-market retail scene, sort of like SoHo or parts of Melrose. I don't imagine very many office buildings being constructed, but I do think that in the next ten years, many hotel and condo towers will be built to satisfy all of the demand. Due to massive increases in tourism, Rodeo Drive starts becoming less high end. Sure, the big high end player (Luis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada) will stay, but the smaller, more niche high end stores will movie to places like Robertson, Melrose, and even Downtown. The next neighborhood to gentrify and become the new hipster-haven will be around McArthur park. That area simply has too good bones to ignore, and all the areas around it (Downtown, Koreatown, City West) have started to gentrify. The gentrification of McArthur Park and Westlake is the inevitable conclusion. Lastly, L.A. starts to move away from being so car-focused. While the older generation will never really give up cars, the newest generation who has become accustomed to things like bike-lanes and farther-reaching rail transit will continue to use those things into their adult years. Rail lines are built all over the city, due to the inevitable success of the 30/10 lines. I mean, the lines built now are already successful, imagine when the 30/10 lines reach such untapped places as the Westside! Eventually, L.A. will have a rail system only rivaled by New York and DC, and maybe, due to the Measure R tax that will inevitably be renewed, will have a greater rail system then those two cities. Lastly, the L.A. basin. will continue to densify. I say the basin, because the fringes of Los Angeles have started to loose population, a trend that I believe will continue. As gas becomes more expensive, places that require driving, or are too low-density to be considered for adequate transit, will become ghost towns. Those who once lived in said places will move to the southern, more urban, part of the valley, and the greater Los Angeles basin. The same goes for the people who lived in planned communities. As, due to shoddy construction, those communities crumble, the residents will move into more well constructed homes and condos. Los Angeles Basin will become crazy-dense, and due to the poly-centric nature of the city, will begin to resemble a lesser version of Tokyo or Sao Paulo. Yes, I believe the future is bright for L.A.

[klamedia]

Heartily agreed!! The bones of MacArthur Park/Westlake are just too good to be ignored for much longer, I've been saying this for years on this very site. Transit is the ultimate harbinger for LA. Just look at Hollywood. Look at how SM is preparing itself for a simple at-grade LRT. Some may say that a part of DTLA's success story is that it has been designated as the center of our larger rail and bus system. LA will never be monocentric like Chicago or lesser NYC but downtown will have some of that central focus. LA reminds me alot of Mexico City where you have the Zocolo which could be considered the nominal center like our downtown but akin to Los Angeles the entire metro area of MC is activated. Actually LA may even be more centric than MC by the fact that really almost all of our cultural, financial, entertainment and tourism happens somewhere between Downtown and Santa Monica and from the hills including Noho and Universal City to around the I-10 including USC.

[pesto]

Illithid: agree with pretty much everything. The retail scenario sounds fairly plausible. Two issues: That many train lines is too expensive. Maybe more car share or smaller public buses instead. Cars will go electric and become relatively cheap to operate.

Klam: agree with this too. I expect LB and the OC will also get denser and more urban as part of the densification. One quibble: LA's major tourist attractions include the beaches and amusment parks, not just the DT to the sea area.

[klamedia]

We've had this dance before and I do believe that you understand my oversimplification of our major destinations and putting them within reach of tourists and citizens of the city alike. Huntington, Newport, Hermosa and so on may be attractive but its the SaMo/Venice conundrum that pulls them in all year all day and night. With the Promenade these two beaches combined are the most popular in So Cal perhaps all of Cali perhaps all of the West Coast. And there is at least one amusement park within my "Manhattan" of LA which is Universal City which admittedly is slightly outlying. In attracting more tourists to LA you must make it seem as if the city is able to be seen at least over a couple to three days. Between Downtown and SaMo you will hit up museums, concert halls, amusement parks, beaches and some of our most vibrant street scenes. From the hills to roughly the 10 you should be able to access at least 90% of what I just mentioned. And very soon all of this will be completely accessible by transit (rail). We need to begin to promote LA as a compact place with many attractions within a train ride away.
This is what is needed per Meaure R:
Pink Line from Hollywood to Weho connecting to Purple
Purple to the sea or near
Expo to SaMo
DTC bundeling interlining several LRT lines

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by pesto

Illithid: agree with pretty much everything. The retail scenario sounds fairly plausible. Two issues: That many train lines is too expensive. Maybe more car share or smaller public buses instead. Cars will go electric and become relatively cheap to operate.

They are planning on building around four major expansions/lines to our system before 2022. Obviously, they aren't going to build 10+ lines in five years, but if they stagger construction over, say 20 years (starting now), then the scenario is entirely possible. Moreover, what happens when/if we hit $5.00+ a gallon in the next ten years? Scores of Americans will no longer be able to afford gas, and will forced to use alternative measures. Therefore, alternatives measures must be built.

[State of the Union]

Originally Posted by klamedia

This is what is needed per Meaure R:
Pink Line from Hollywood to Weho connecting to Purple
Purple to the sea or near
Expo to SaMo
DTC bundeling interlining several LRT lines

Sorry, but there will be no pink line in Measure R. The Purple Line will miss the sea by 3 miles. The last 2 will definitely be built and expo to SaMo is already under construction.

Sadly our HRT subway expansion is fairly limited in Measure R. The pink line probably come in a Measure R2. That, or instead we have an extension of the Crenshaw line.

[klamedia]

The Crenshaw with routing up San Vicente and a jog up La Cienega to get through Weho and then back over to Hollywood would take the place of the Pink Line. This isn't my favorite routing but it is being discussed in seriousness in transit circles. If not up La Cienega then Fairfax perhaps would be the north/south running alignment which was the original Red Line routing. This would take the place of a Pink Line hence the reason why it's included on my list. I also admitted that the Purple Line probably would not make it to the sea but with American Fast Forward and the surprising alliance Mayor V has conjured up with both major parties we could get extra funding to get it to the sea.
Note: The Crenshaw Line is being called the Rose Line (close to Pink) for a reason.

[klamedia]

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

They are planning on building around four major expansions/lines to our system before 2022. Obviously, they aren't going to build 10+ lines in five years, but if they stagger construction over, say 20 years (starting now), then the scenario is entirely possible. Moreover, what happens when/if we hit $5.00+ a gallon in the next ten years? Scores of Americans will no longer be able to afford gas, and will forced to use alternative measures. Therefore, alternatives measures must be built.

He's just gonna say that everyone will be driving electric cars by that point. Not taking into account that many people won't even be able to afford one.

[Int Cities&Scrapers]

Turing the 405 into a bldv. Korean Air builds there new North American HQ downtown. More Pacific Rim Companies locate North American headquaters as more public transportation replaces the freeway. Tax Breaks for film industry grows.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by klamedia

He's just gonna say that everyone will be driving electric cars by that point. Not taking into account that many people won't even be able to afford one.

Yeah, that's about right. Electric, mini-cars and car-shares take over the inner city; fewer people drive; technology improves. Gas is on its way out but it will be replaced by electric not by universal mass transit.

Personally I would like to see a lot more subways in the "DT to the sea to LAX" triangle, but money, money, money.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by Int Cities&Scrapers

Turing the 405 into a bldv. Korean Air builds there new North American HQ downtown. More Pacific Rim Companies locate North American headquaters as more public transportation replaces the freeway. Tax Breaks for film industry grows.

405 isn't going boulevard but it should go rail in some form. Korean Air and a few Asian companies getting the US HQ's into LA strikes me as a possible scenario.

The key is to become like NY or other cities where you MUST have a prestige tower with your name on it. I am not a big fan of a downtown football stadium, but the TV coverage that it attracts might be helpful in encouraging that trend. Especially if KAL gets its sign and logo all over the screen.

[Int Cities&Scrapers]

I wish more high rise hotels and apts would fill in the voids around downtown. A football stadium downtown just says well concentrate all of our development away from other areas. Like I said before the old forum is a perfect space for a stadium. I have no idea why the city isnt looking into that idea. I feel like downtown should rely more on buildings and companies rather then stadiums.