Nice shots.  Downtown LA is on fire these days--booming!

LA is much more urban, interesting and historic than it gets credit for being. Also, there's a lot more art moderne and deco downtown than I realized. Great shots!

Great set of photos! I've been wanting to get out to LA at some point but don't really know anyone out there that I'd be comfortable asking to stay with for a vacation.

 

Whenever I see pictures of the historic architecture in Downtown LA I always want to push it all closer together. There's a really strange feeling of very selective demo that left a dominant historic building every few blocks but then got rid of everything else. And over time that has resulted in gorgeous historic midrise buildings surrounded by lowrise buildings leading into the post-war Downtown that acts as a sudden wall 700' tall. Thankfully that appears to be changing with the amount of investment happening Downtown but it's such an odd looking city at the moment. But one that I want to visit. It's just so vast and has so many moments of great urbanism even though they appear to be quite spread out and located far from one another.

 

Thanks for sharing.

One of my favorite cities in America. Thanks for posting.

 

LA will always hold a special place in my heart. All the best girls I've been with are from there or have lived there at some point in their lives. The diversity and strong arts scene are second to none. It's LA, Toronto, and New York at the top as far as I'm concerned when it comes to cosmopolitan vibe. The culture is incredible and it's overall a very safe city considering some of the gangs it has (it ain't got nothing on hella overrated Oakland). Where LA stands out in California is its progressive development. It's the exact opposite of the anti-development and protesting in the Bay, which is becoming a gilded society for the world's wealthiest. LA still spans the class spectrum and is California's last best hope of the American Dream. It is the mega city that made the mistakes of other American cities, but is doing everything it can to change.

 

It's LA's recognition of past development mistakes and its push for transit-oriented development that gives hope to other cities across the United States. It is becoming a very unique place not only in California, but really anywhere in the world. Old and new clashes together with brute force in Los Angeles, and it will be fascinating to see just 5-10 years from now.

Reminds me a lot of Detroit if it had remained intact and growing. Lots of 20s, car-centric architecture, multinodal, late mass transit system. What could have been...

Id highly recommend taking the gold line to Pasadena not only is the city really nice it's also got a gorgeous train ride to get there

 

Great set of photos! I've been wanting to get out to LA at some point but don't really know anyone out there that I'd be comfortable asking to stay with for a vacation.

 

Whenever I see pictures of the historic architecture in Downtown LA I always want to push it all closer together. There's a really strange feeling of very selective demo that left a dominant historic building every few blocks but then got rid of everything else. And over time that has resulted in gorgeous historic midrise buildings surrounded by lowrise buildings leading into the post-war Downtown that acts as a sudden wall 700' tall. Thankfully that appears to be changing with the amount of investment happening Downtown but it's such an odd looking city at the moment. But one that I want to visit. It's just so vast and has so many moments of great urbanism even though they appear to be quite spread out and located far from one another.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

I tend to agree with you and the pics seem to support your point.

 

Why is it that a city like Vancouver with a third of the population seems so much "put together"?

 

LA, with its population, wealth, diversity, youth and well established institutions (not to mention the weather) should be the best America has to offer.  It is one of our "international" cities but it should be competing with London (it doesn't compare) not San Francisco (which also have a better urban fabric).

Great set of photos! I've been wanting to get out to LA at some point but don't really know anyone out there that I'd be comfortable asking to stay with for a vacation.

 

Whenever I see pictures of the historic architecture in Downtown LA I always want to push it all closer together. There's a really strange feeling of very selective demo that left a dominant historic building every few blocks but then got rid of everything else. And over time that has resulted in gorgeous historic midrise buildings surrounded by lowrise buildings leading into the post-war Downtown that acts as a sudden wall 700' tall. Thankfully that appears to be changing with the amount of investment happening Downtown but it's such an odd looking city at the moment. But one that I want to visit. It's just so vast and has so many moments of great urbanism even though they appear to be quite spread out and located far from one another.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

I tend to agree with you and the pics seem to support your point.

 

Why is it that a city like Vancouver with a third of the population seems so much "put together"?

 

LA, with its population, wealth, diversity, youth and well established institutions (not to mention the weather) should be the best America has to offer.  It is one of our "international" cities but it should be competing with London (it doesn't compare) not San Francisco (which also have a better urban fabric).

 

I agree with jmicha here, the downtown would be a lot better if some of the giant parking lots would be pushed together, though everytime I've been to LA I've seen massive amounts of progress towards achieving this goal - entire blocks of housing are constantly being built. (I have friends in SoCal and my SW Ohio blood can't handle the winters in Chicago so I visit a lot).  What's really sad about the "new downtown" was that much of it was previously a mini San Francisco neighborhood (Bunker Hill) and Angels flight was an incline to get there from the traditional downtown: http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/history/la-as-subject/rediscovering-the-lost-neighborhood-of-bunker-hill.htmlhttp://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/history/la-as-subject/rediscovering-the-lost-neighborhood-of-bunker-hill.html

Great set of photos! I've been wanting to get out to LA at some point but don't really know anyone out there that I'd be comfortable asking to stay with for a vacation.

 

Whenever I see pictures of the historic architecture in Downtown LA I always want to push it all closer together. There's a really strange feeling of very selective demo that left a dominant historic building every few blocks but then got rid of everything else. And over time that has resulted in gorgeous historic midrise buildings surrounded by lowrise buildings leading into the post-war Downtown that acts as a sudden wall 700' tall. Thankfully that appears to be changing with the amount of investment happening Downtown but it's such an odd looking city at the moment. But one that I want to visit. It's just so vast and has so many moments of great urbanism even though they appear to be quite spread out and located far from one another.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

I tend to agree with you and the pics seem to support your point.

 

Why is it that a city like Vancouver with a third of the population seems so much "put together"?

 

LA, with its population, wealth, diversity, youth and well established institutions (not to mention the weather) should be the best America has to offer.  It is one of our "international" cities but it should be competing with London (it doesn't compare) not San Francisco (which also have a better urban fabric).

 

 

Comparing LA to London is apples to oranges. Totally different ways each city evolved. I live in LA and I've only  grown to like it more as the years pass. Development right now is at an all time high. Almost all of the parking lots in downtown LA are being built on and the historic core has 4 or 5 times the building stock of Cleveland and Cincy put together. It is a surprisingly large, vibrant and growing downtown. Not to mention the dozens of other neighborhoods throughout the city that are seeing growth, revitalization and a focus on walkability.

 

Nice pic.  The Wilten theatre and Bullocks (not shown, a few miles east) are two of my fave art deco buildings in LA.

Well done.