> and last but not least.... downtown LA is now a legitimate downtown. it took 10 years of concerted effort by the powers-that-be, but it's a cultural destinati

> and last but not least.... downtown LA is now a legitimate downtown. it took 10 years of concerted effort by the powers-that-be, but it's a cultural destination and nice place to live now. a residential construction boom (you could buy a condo for < 100k at one point in the last decade!!!) has fueled a rise in shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, etc. in the downtown area. downtown is also the regional transit hub. The construction boom started about five years ago and is just peaking. Most of the work before then was commercial to residential conversions. Most of the "effort" went into zoning changes (almost everything downtown was zoned commercial leading to a major glut; occupancy rates were around 20% in some buildings). The reason it's a cultural destination now is mostly due to the "concerted effort" to raise commercial rent prices elsewhere in Los Angeles. I run a small art gallery in South Park, something that wouldn't make sense if it wasn't for the cheap rent. I know a lot of other people running similar spaces or smaller bars, the story is the same. In a few years when we have to re-negotiate our leases a lot of these places will move or shut down. I really don't care about hipster cafes, but having the Fashion District (all the fabric suppliers, textile printers, and mom-and-pop clothing factories in one place) is great (my wife has a clothing business and I help out sometimes). It's cool if people want a "nice, clean" place to live and spend their money on hipster coffee and lame clothes, but I kind of wish these people would stay on the west side.