Redevelop downtown, but do it right

Any longtime resident of Los Angeles such as myself knows that in reality, there is no such thing as the city of Los Angeles. There is simply a sprawling metropolis of connected communities paying taxes to the same address ““ or to different ones, in the case of tiny independent cities wedged within the city itself.

In fact, I have always wondered where a tourist might stay on a vacation to Los Angeles, which is why I have followed the sharp rise in development in downtown Los Angeles over the past decade with excitement veiled with skepticism.

The completion of first the Staples Center in 1999, and then the L.A. Cathedral, the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the sudden popularity of hipster downtown lofts over the past 10 years made it clear that things really were changing.

But this gradual buildup of downtown Los Angeles was expedited about two weeks ago, when the Grand Avenue Plan, a $2.05 billion plan largely supported by local billionaire Eli Broad and architect Frank Gehry, was approved by the L.A. City Council.

It includes a 16-acre park, an upscale hotel and both housing and retail space throughout a large stretch of downtown, according to the Grand Avenue Committee Web site.

The city will contribute to the plan as well. A city report put out by legislative analyst Gerry Miller supports the need for the more than $60 million in tax breaks the developers will receive. Also, much of the land used is public land.

This combination of public and private backing means the developers were asked to include certain conditions, such as paying a living wage to the employees and keeping 20 percent of the housing affordable for moderate- and low-income households, according to the Web site.

I drove downtown to look at the areas that would be affected by this project.

I very quickly passed the strange mixture of Starbucks, high rises, empty lots and old apartment buildings, and soon the streets became only old buildings and homeless people pushing carts.

Skid Row, the gathering area of thousands of the city’s homeless, and of recently heightened drug crackdowns, was right around the corner ““ literally.

Despite the plan’s attempts to integrate the surrounding community, it seems inevitable that this current population of downtown will be changed.

Perhaps the change will force the city to confront the issues of homelessness and poverty that plague it, but it is just as possible that the issues will once again be pushed away and forgotten. And while the Grand Avenue Plan attempts to invigorate the surrounding community, some have their reservations.

Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez raises pertinent questions regarding the high price the city will pay and whether this plan is best for the city.

Redevelopment means the chance to avoid some mistakes that result from the original development ““ gentrification at the cost of marginalization of the original inhabitants, buildings that wreak environmental havoc, and poor choice in the use of land that could better serve the community.

Let’s hope that the city takes advantage of that opportunity.

With reports from Bruin wire services. E-mail Mishory at [email protected].