Industrial Uses Compete with Residential Development in East L.A.

The article features in-depth Q&A with Central City East Association Executive Director Estela Lopez:

"For the vast majority of the last 25 years, the city has ignored industrial Downtown. In the last year and a half, there has been renewed attention to jobs and retaining jobs in the city of Los Angeles. The way to do that may be to look at the development of this area as an industrial campus for the new industry-clean technology."

"When the Industrial Land Use Initiative was first discussed by the CRA/LA and the Planning Department, it divided this community. It divided the community between the industrial operators and the people who understand the demand for housing throughout Los Angeles. There aren't many communities that want greater density. Here you have a community that sees housing as an instrument for the realization for the new vision for the Arts District, an artists' community that has been a vital part of the area for several decades and wants to remain a vital part of the area."

"The streets here in CCE are narrow and incapable of meeting the goods movement requirements of today's modern industrial economy. The parcelization of the district works against anyone needing to amass land expansive enough-to provide the proper setbacks. That is a question that has not been remedied in 25 years, and I don't see how that could be easily done. The land here is simply not well-suited for reintroduction of massive industrial uses."

Thanks to James Brasuell