Finally, the time has come. Move over Hollywood- L.A. LIVE is now the new focal point of Los Angeles County. Located in the center of the entertainment capital of the world, the 5.6 million acres in downtown Los Angeles, may soon become the primary hot spot and event center Southern California. People seeking entertainment, music, dining and sports will now intersect in this new urban development project spanning six blocks of downtown Los Angeles. For the first time in perhaps decades, people can now wander the city’s downtown area streets, and feel satisfied yet safe, while enjoying a completely new atmosphere and experience. The 2.5 billion dollar project has its managers referring to their new vision as the Time Square of the West” 
Their goal is to revitalize downtown Los Angeles and this new vision has become the most talked about real estate development project in Southern California. Once completed it will be the largest development in the City of Los Angeles. Although some critics believe the project will benefit only a few wealthy developers and cater to only the affluent, while ignoring the needs of the economically disadvantaged who live nearby, L.A. Live has the potential to improve the lives of everyone in the city, including those in the neighboring communities, by bringing people and thriving businesses back to the downtown area, and by regenerating investor and consumer interest in Los Angeles.
L.A. Live is the focal point of a sports and entertainment district which surrounds Staples Center and Nokia Theatre. The development features sports and music venues, night clubs, restaurants, a bowling alley, a museum and movie theaters. Intended to be premier destination for live entertainment in the city, and the subject of much anticipation, L.A. Live will be the missing link for LA. Now downtown will have the fire which it has been missing for years. Everyone always talks about the night life in cities such as San Francisco, New York, New Orleans and Atlanta. But with this project Los Angeles will be a new hot spot for nightlife and tourism. L.A. will provide what everyone here wanted but didn't have before.
The first phase of the project has been open to the public since October of last year, and included the Nokia Theatre, a 7,100 seat concert and awards show venue, as well as the 40,000 square foot outdoor Nokia Plaza, and six 75-foot towers, along with the addition of 1,500 parking spaces. The second phase is in the process of being completed and already there are twelve restaurants, including some big names such as Lucky Strike Lanes and ESPN Zone, which will radio and TV broadcasts on the top floors. Predicted to be complete in 2010 is the last stage currently under construction, which will include a quality hotel adjacent to the Convention Center surrounded by entertainment. The 54-story hotel development will be a two part JW Marriott hotel, a Ritz-Carlton hotel and 224 condominiums offered by Ritz-Carlton. The project will also have an additional 1,001 total rooms and 77,000 square feet of meeting space, which has already been booked for two years of conference room meetings. "Under-Construction L.A. Live Books 25 Conventions to 2024" The hotel will be a big hit for visitors because there will be plenty to do when they aren't wandering the halls of the convention center. L.A. Lives’ bars, restaurants and shops, combined with its entertainment venues and the promise of nightlife, will provide something for everyone, and draw more and more people back to L.A.. A new generation of young people, including college students, are already adopting the idea of a ‘downtown L.A. night life.’
Critics of L.A. Live are not hard to find. Some have called it “a tragic waste of city land, time and money.” They believe that the development will not enhance the city for anyone but the wealthy, and will contribute nothing to making life better for those on the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum. “So, all we are doing is letting the billion dollar developers and their international financial backers profit on the building of the affordable housing, as well as the high-end, five star, luxury stuff!”
Others charge that the development is sucking away state money, including funds from voter approved bonds for affordable housing, from needier and worthier areas in order to make the area around the development more suitable. According to the LA Times, “State officials passed over nearly 100 requests for needy neighborhoods to recommend $30 million for improving the area around the L.A. Live entertainment complex.”
Their goal is to revitalize downtown Los Angeles and this new vision has become the most talked about real estate development project in Southern California. Once completed it will be the largest development in the City of Los Angeles. Although some critics believe the project will benefit only a few wealthy developers and cater to only the affluent, while ignoring the needs of the economically disadvantaged who live nearby, L.A. Live has the potential to improve the lives of everyone in the city, including those in the neighboring communities, by bringing people and thriving businesses back to the downtown area, and by regenerating investor and consumer interest in Los Angeles.L.A. Live is the focal point of a sports and entertainment district which surrounds Staples Center and Nokia Theatre. The development features sports and music venues, night clubs, restaurants, a bowling alley, a museum and movie theaters. Intended to be premier destination for live entertainment in the city, and the subject of much anticipation, L.A. Live will be the missing link for LA. Now downtown will have the fire which it has been missing for years. Everyone always talks about the night life in cities such as San Francisco, New York, New Orleans and Atlanta. But with this project Los Angeles will be a new hot spot for nightlife and tourism. L.A. will provide what everyone here wanted but didn't have before.
The first phase of the project has been open to the public since October of last year, and included the Nokia Theatre, a 7,100 seat concert and awards show venue, as well as the 40,000 square foot outdoor Nokia Plaza, and six 75-foot towers, along with the addition of 1,500 parking spaces. The second phase is in the process of being completed and already there are twelve restaurants, including some big names such as Lucky Strike Lanes and ESPN Zone, which will radio and TV broadcasts on the top floors. Predicted to be complete in 2010 is the last stage currently under construction, which will include a quality hotel adjacent to the Convention Center surrounded by entertainment. The 54-story hotel development will be a two part JW Marriott hotel, a Ritz-Carlton hotel and 224 condominiums offered by Ritz-Carlton. The project will also have an additional 1,001 total rooms and 77,000 square feet of meeting space, which has already been booked for two years of conference room meetings. "Under-Construction L.A. Live Books 25 Conventions to 2024" The hotel will be a big hit for visitors because there will be plenty to do when they aren't wandering the halls of the convention center. L.A. Lives’ bars, restaurants and shops, combined with its entertainment venues and the promise of nightlife, will provide something for everyone, and draw more and more people back to L.A.. A new generation of young people, including college students, are already adopting the idea of a ‘downtown L.A. night life.’
Critics of L.A. Live are not hard to find. Some have called it “a tragic waste of city land, time and money.” They believe that the development will not enhance the city for anyone but the wealthy, and will contribute nothing to making life better for those on the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum. “So, all we are doing is letting the billion dollar developers and their international financial backers profit on the building of the affordable housing, as well as the high-end, five star, luxury stuff!”
Others charge that the development is sucking away state money, including funds from voter approved bonds for affordable housing, from needier and worthier areas in order to make the area around the development more suitable. According to the LA Times, “State officials passed over nearly 100 requests for needy neighborhoods to recommend $30 million for improving the area around the L.A. Live entertainment complex.”
Still others complain that it is promoting too much of the wrong kind of activity, and that large video screens, bright lights and security guards will dicourage aSpace The problem is not just that the space is primarily aimed at visitors to L.A. Live's concerts and restaurants rather than local apartment- and condo-dwellers; it is that it actively discourages any of the activities we traditionally associate with the use of collective space in a city: talking, reading, sitting under a tree, even pausing with a friend for a cup of coffee.
While there may be some validity to these and other complaints, there is no reason to believe that in the long run the entire City, including those needier and economically depressed areas, will not achieve a significant benefit from the presence of L.A. Live. Estimates of its economic potential vary, but according to the media press kit L.A. LIVE is projected to produce an economic impact of over $10 billion, create more than 25,000 jobs, and produce more than $18 million in new annual tax events/room rights revenues. Over 13.5 million visitors are expected annually. Additionally, drawing a number of large scale sporting and entertainment events to the area should create new jobs, additional developments and increased tax revenue. ‘AEG President and CEO Tim Leiweke Opens Up on the Project He Has Been Working on for 14 Years’
Perhaps these numbers are ambitious and inflated, particularly in these economic times. However, the new development is sure to draw more and more people back to downtown. Too many urban centers in America have decayed because consumers abandoned them for the suburbs. Bringing them back will not only improve existing nearby businesses, but it will encourage more investment, and more new business and development across the city. As people rediscover downtown L.A. it just may become a hub of social and entertainment activity, and a source of civic pride, and maybe this revitalization will spread to the areas that need it the most. Maybe this is an overly optimistic viewpoint, but it is worth trying, and certainly preferable to allowing downtown L.A. to become stagnant and lifeless.
Although our country may be going through an economic crisis, this bold development will not only create jobs, but it will generate cash flow and opportunities that will benefit the surrounding community. Yes it is flashy, and yes, maybe a little too commercial, but they have done a lot with very little space, and it is a user friendly environment in terms of access, parking and getting around, and there is something for everyone. L.A. Live right now is single handily one of the best things that could happen for this city given our country’s current situation. For years people have been wanting downtown Los Angeles to be a fun outgoing and inviting place, free from crime and violence. Now things are turning around, and people are actually fleeing to L.A. in search of a new exciting and entertaining life. Personally, I can not wait for L.A. Live to open. Along with more jobs, more business and less crime, there will be more choices for food and entertainment, more parking, and more fun.
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