Call it a pivotal moment, a rare window of opportunity, for Downtown Los Angeles. More and more people are moving into its stock of obsolete warehouses, restored office buildings and shiny new high-rises. City planners are writing a land use plan for the historic heart of town, proposing 21st century pedestrian-oriented commerce where industry has dominated for more than a century. The Grand Avenue project from City Hall to Disney Hall has been launched, and the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan is finally turning vision along the River into reality, with new state parks at the Cornfield and Taylor Yard leading the way.
Downtown can be a vibrant place where people exchange goods and services, share ideas and food and drink and serendipity - run into people they know or want to know, experience worlds the suburbs can't provide. "When the city comes together physically, it comes together socially," says Downtown developer Dan Rosenfeld. "Social contact creates social contract."
We have some specific ideas about how to make this happen. But none of them will matter much if we can't make the Central City friendlier for pedestrians, with more public spaces, places that people want to experience and enjoy. Instead of prioritizing the movement of motor vehicles, we have to open up Downtown for people.
