Introduction
Los Angeles is the city that may attract the attention of many people because of its beauty, mystery, richness, and size. It is the largest city in California, and takes the second place according to its sizes in the United States of America. This city is usually called as the City of Angels due to its translation from Spanish. There are many projects, which are worthy of attention in Los Angeles, and LA loft project is one of those that has to be mentioned at first.
Loft projects are aimed to present people an opportunity to live in different apartments in different parts of the city, and LA downtown is the central business part of the city, where people can easily make some of their dreams come true. Bunker Hill project and Grand Avenue project are the most remarkable parts with their own peculiarities and sights, where people always find places to entertain, work, live, and enjoy this life in general.
The development of the project Bunker Hill actually fails the opportunity to bring Live to Downtown, and the new offer that is called Grand Avenue Project is a new hope for many citizens of Los Angeles. It is costs much money and many efforts of its developers. Los Angeles Grand Avenue Project is considered to be a unique place, a thriving center, the design of which captivates many people from the very beginning; this project is a good chance to change the way of Los Angeles Downtown and to prove that the mastery of American people, their skills and ideas are magnificent, powerful, and exciting for people around the whole world.
Main Body
Loft evolution started in the middle of 1900s: “loft was – and still is – a showcase for experimental architecture, a smart form of urban living and a positive addition to many a deprived urban area” (O’Kelly and Dean 6). Los Angele loft project is not only a good opportunity to have proper apartments and forget about the challenges of living, but it is also a huge opportunity to start and develop renting and sale business, to demonstrate unbelievable architectural skills, and to captivate tourists with one more place of interest that is available for any person.
Los Angele Loft Project
LA loft project should help to bring people back to Downtown. Famous Downtown Los Angeles is one of those business districts, which unite numerous sport facilities, places of interest, skyscrapers, and other magnificent corporations that represent American culture, American people achievements, and American style of life in general.
In fact, loft apartments may be compared to those derelict plants and factories, where much space may be used for living, however, before, much time has to be spent to create appropriate accommodations. For example, the idea to use loft project to improve the new Grand Avenue Project is winning indeed.
The Grand Avenue Project aims at reviving downtown Los Angeles and presenting a beautiful center like Champs-Elysees in Paris or New York Central Park. With the help of loft ideas, the Grand Avenue Project provides people with a good opportunity to be closer to Downtown culture, style, and traditions.
History of LA loft project. The history of loft project in the United States turns out to be very captivating, specially it concerns Los Angeles projects. When people talk about LA loft project, they talk about a lifestyle choice that “gives freedom to create personal space and identity” (O’Kelly and Dean 6). This project is a unique opportunity for many people to pick out any style, any form, and any details for their apartments. The loft project is also a kind of opportunity to enjoy space in any form: pinball tables, trampolines, and golf ranges become available not only at public place but at homes as well. Business is one of the most frequent activities of many people in downtowns, this is why it is crucially important to present comfortable and multifunctional places, where people are able to find as many useful things and services as possible. The history, the ways of development, and the influence of downtowns and loft projects in Los Angeles prove that people appreciate time and space most of all, and if they get an opportunity to have both of these concepts, they certainly use such a chance.
Bunker Hill Project
History of Bunker Hill project’s creation. Bunker Hills is regarded to be “‘the brow’ of the city…where many of the wealthiest had lived, above the desert haze” (Klein 5). This Los Angeles’ downtown is full of magnificent skyscrapers, which distinguish this downtown from the others; however, the buildings are not the only one feature that makes this part of the city unique. Bunker Hill’s history is one more point that has to be mentioned and discussed.
The end of the 1800s was crucial for this area, because Prudent Beaudry spent considerable sum of money and purchased the land, because the location of this place was really amazing and opened to numerous subdivisions. The times of World Wars had a significant impact on this downtown, but still, its boundaries and features survived. Business of Bunker Hill developed fast, and its houses were in demands among numerous realtors and renters.
As the vast majority of projects, Bunker Hill required for some changes and improvements in order to correspond modern people’s demands and needs. Tunnels were replaced by bridges, houses were cleared, and buildings were limited to represent a sophisticated image of a rich and comfortable downtown.
Bunker Hill faces difficulties to bring Live to Downtown. In spite of the fact that this part of downtown is occupied by wealthy people, numerous challenges and difficulties are still inherent to this area. And one of the most evident losses for Bunker Hill was the failure to bring LA Live to this part of downtown. This failure may be caused due to its short sizes, due to its abundance of skyscrapers, and due to the presence of numerous business centers and important American banks.
Although the major topic of this paper is the development of the Grand Avenue Project, the significance of Bunker Hill has to be underlined because these two areas will be connected to each other and may easily influence each other’s development, loft business, and policies.
Friendship between these two parts of Los Angeles downtown is probably one of the most successful steps for both sides to take in order to achieve mutual assistance and financial support. Placement is not the only thing that has to connect parts, it is better to find some kind of social and political connection, to have some common interests, and to be ready to prove their positions and abilities as unique and respectable parts of downtown.
Grand Avenue Project
“Downtowns are significant and important places in all self-respecting cities, and there have been seriously-intended and massively-funded attempts to reactivate the area” (Banham 183). The Grand Avenue Project is that very project within LA downtown that promises many significant issues to be taken into account. It is hard to present concrete numbers concerning the development and implementation of this project, however, it has been already mentioned that more that $3 billion were spent, and it is not the end.
Grounds of Grand Avenue project are strong enough to be noticed in the United States of America. The creation and development of the Grand Avenue Project is concentrated on such points like attention to civic and cultural interests and demands and their successful transformation into a center with numerous entertainment values, restaurants, and other places of interest.
The use of hotels, development of loft project, and respect to American culture – all this makes the new project unique. Its features surpass the already existed Bunker Hill with Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Music Center. Country Mall becomes another significant part of the project that has to be improved as well and to become one more “Central Park” of Los Angeles.
The Grand Avenue Project Authority started working on this project in 2003 and made several attempts to unite different organizations in order to organize a new regional center, the property of which should belong to these organizations.
It is necessary to admit that development of the project is supported by numerous organizations, the most notable among them are the Grand Ave Committee, the County of Los Angeles, the Broad Foundation, and private funding. Such kind of support provided concrete and consequent development of events: the end of 2007 was the time to break ground for the district, and the beginning of 2009 was the time, when the ground should be ready for constructions.
However, these dates have been postponed for two years already, and the stableness of the grounds for the Grand Avenue Project has been put under a question, but still, people’s hope to create something really worthy and captivating is alive.
Grand Avenue Project as another promise to change the ways of LA downtown. Some may think that the Grand Avenue Project is one more attempt to demonstrate richness of the country, abilities of American people, and the desire to correspond to current changes. This project should bring considerable changes into American style of life, and in order to achieve success with all planned pointes, it is better to create a plan and follow its steps properly.
One of the first points is to ensure the creation of the Park (16 acres) that will connect the famous Los Angeles’ City Hall and the new Grand Avenue Project. This park may even symbolize that connection that is inherent to each part of the United States and readiness of people to support and be close to each other.
The second point in the development of the Grand Avenue Project is the improvement of the streetscape that is located between 5th Street and Cesar E. Chavez Avenue. Such improvements should encourage pedestrians and provide safer traffic any time. The final stage of the project under consideration is the ability to divide the area into several significant parcels, which will be divided in accordance with their features and will be united because of their belonging to one project called the Grand Avenue Project.
It is quite possible that the most remarkable features of the Grand Avenue Project can be the developers’ attention to human needs and demands. First of all, people require space. The loft project is a part of the Grand Avenue Project that promises appropriate conditions of retail business and abilities for people to choose their apartments.
Nowadays, people want to live from 8 a.m. till the midnight day by day; and usually, people face numerous difficulties to have all the necessary services at hand. Taking all these points into account, the Grand Avenue is just the place, where people can find all these important services at hand and in their houses.
Real plans and attempts of project’s developers should meet all people’s expectations. As it has been mentioned above, developers of the Grand Avenue Project try to pay attention to a single detail and demand of the citizens. The vast majority of people forget some cultural, historical, and social aspects, which make this life complete and fulfill.
This is why this project has one of the most serious and important aims – to remind people about their traditions and their roots but not at expenses of business and other similar activities. It is obligatory to have place and time for many things and be attentive to culture, to fashion, to personal interests, and to the demands, required by the society.
These plans and details show how attentive people can be to own culture, now, their task is to prove that their attention is justified and correct. Some businessmen can think that they can hardly develop their activities on this area because of constant governmental support.
However, maybe, this very type of control is that important point many areas of LA downtown are lack of, and the Grand Avenue Project will become successful due to its ability to present freedom and space to its citizens and at the same time have some powers to control the situation and have time to correct everything.
Conclusion
The idea of LA loft project development has already pleased the city and its citizens: abilities to live in downtown, to have comfortable apartments, and to enjoy space constantly bribe people. This is why lots Americans are eager to be back to downtown just because of the opportunity to get a loft and have much space to live. Bunker Hill and Grand Avenue are the areas of LA downtown that have their peculiarities and benefits for its citizens. First, Grand Ave should be attractive more for families with children, because the presence of the park and attention to pedestrian traffic make grown ups be less bothered about the conditions for their children. The way of LA downtown may be changed due to the Grand Avenue Project: people will get a chance to remember about their culture, to be grateful to their past, and to be able to start business. The Grand Avenue Project presents a district, where culture, traditions, and past meet modern technologies and people’s demands; the district that takes the best qualities of Bunker Hill and the City, adds certain improvements, and provides people with a good chance to live safer, happier, and more interesting.
Works Cited
Banham, Reyner. Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2009.
Klein, Norman, M. The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory. New York, NY: Verso, 1997.
O’Kelly, Emma and Dean, Corinna. Conversations. London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd., 2007.