Field of Folly (Part 1)

L.A. Live, a 5.6 million square foot mixed-use development on 27 acres, North of the Staples Center, continues to rise, heedless of the prevailing scale, as if magically relocated from some 21st century wunderberg, like Shenzhen or Abu Dhabi. Imposing, like a drunken sumu at a Viennese Waltz ball.

Where Do the Commissions Go? Remember that topic line, dominated by housegoods and Japanese pull saws? Of late, the commissions have been CD bound, determined am I to grab a pequeno piece of Pico Union real estate, poised to absorb the value of downtown's swell. Turn of the century munificence amidst, well, the recentering, the urban rapture. Jogging distance to that ultimate destination: L.A. Live.

Then without warning last week, I began to reconsider the colossus, "will this be the height of folly?"
At least one of my planning wonks harbored similar concerns, "there's no retail, it's billed as an entertainment campus, and the mix may prove lacking."
"The next Grove," I asked, "or a tourist tourniquet, like Hollywood and Highland?"
"Pack the tower with millionaires and they'll be fine," came the response and a wink.

Still, I teeter. Certainly the reflected heat of the Staples Center, North America's most active arena, could be better captured. Yet, other downtown entertainment options like the ImaginAsian Center have failed to catch fire.

Will parking make the difference? I once offered in an interview, "the popularity of downtowns Culver City and Santa Monica have everything to do with parking. Cheap, plentiful, access easy, parking." Downtown Burbank offers the same. Parking planning in downtown L.A. on the other hand, despite the sort of off-street requirements many urban purists deride, exists as an exercise in premium pricing and little else.