LA Officials Talk About Downtown, But Few Hear the Message

LOS ANGELES-City officials, Jones Lang LaSalle and some key telecom players held a press conference Tuesday to explain how Downtown’s machine-filled, largely “peopleless” buildings will change to create a vibrant atmosphere in the heart of America’s second-largest city. Unfortunately, fewer than two-dozen people–mostly bureaucrats and PR folks for real estate companies–bothered to show up.

The poor turnout for the heavily hyped event, which included speakers from Jones Lang LaSalle and other real estate concerns, exemplifies what some experts say is LA’s perhaps hopeless battle to breathe new life into its Central Business District. The reinvigorated Times Square in New York enjoys ’round-the-clock action, and even much-smaller San Diego can boast of its vibrant nightlife.

Yet, Los Angeles’ CBD still becomes a “ghost town” around 6 p.m., after the last of its office workers jump into their cars and head for their homes in the suburbs. “There’s no reason for me to hang around after it gets dark,” says Susan Langley, a Downtown office manager who lives in nearby Pasadena. “Downtown sucks, and it will never get better. Nothing happens Downtown after the sun goes down.”