Problems With 'Prestige' Infill Development

Prestige developments may make for good plans, but they are "hell" for surrounding neighborhoods.

1 minute read

August 29, 2005, 9:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Prestige developments such as the [Los Angeles, Hollywood] Kodak Theatre may create an illusion of grandiose urban renewal, but they are hell on surrounding neighborhoods, inflating traffic pressures and inflicting a variety of hidden costs on local residents and businesses.

...When plans were unveiled for the Grove on 3rd Street, between the Farmers Market and Pan Pacific Park, the artists' renditions showed an idyllic shopping mall on what had been a scruffy baseball field. The impact on traffic was glossed over, and no one seemed to have anticipated the way the high fortress wall on the Grove's southern boundary turns its back on 3rd Street west of Fairfax, robs it of pedestrian life and compounds the bleakness of the parking expanse that serves the aging strip mall across the street."

Thanks to Ashwani Vasishth

Sunday, August 28, 2005 in The Los Angeles Times

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