L.A Downtown coming alive?

http://www.downtownla.com/EventDetail.asp?EventID=264

I missed this due to my trip in Dallas, but apparently downtown is experiencing a "renaissance."

It's been experiencing this "renaissance" for about 20 years now.

Yeah, hasn't quite made it yet.

I love downtown for many reasons--the Staples center, the Pantry restaurant, the library, the subway, the cool lofts. But there isn't a grocery store, you know what I mean? You're kind of isolated when it comes to living.

Plus it's pretty compact and you can find yourself right around the corner from a pretty sketchy area at the drop of a hat.

Once I was doing a show at the L.A. Theater Center (Complex?) on Spring Street. It's a wonderful complex and parking was right next door, but that 100 ft from parking to the complex was scary. People followed me, a homeless guy harassed me for change, and one time as I rushed to the front door, I found it was locked. It was like trying to be the final person on the last 'coptor ride out of Saigon--OPEN UP!! Scary.

Maybe in twenty more years. I hope. There's nothing like a "real" city, with high rises and one way streets.