Plans to build a football stadium in downtown Los Angeles hinge on more than football. A major element in making the idea work financially for the city is to make it an attractive site for conventions and conferences.
But it's still unclear whether the project will be able to lure convention planners and their potentially lucrative events to the city.
"Football is the public focus of a bid by Anschutz Entertainment Group to add a downtown stadium to its portfolio of arena, hotel and theater venues adjoining the Los Angeles Convention Center. But the massive project, using public land, also rests heavily on a hope that a simultaneous overhaul and expansion of the center itself will lift the city into the top ranks of the nation's conference destinations.
"What's driving this vision is the Convention Center.... It doesn't work right," said Timothy J. Leiweke, the AEG chief pushing the stadium deal.
Some convention experts and Los Angeles tourism officials are optimistic that AEG's plan to move a wing of the Convention Center to create room for the stadium would make Los Angeles more attractive to event planners. But others said the project would have to overcome a number of substantial hurdles."
FULL STORY: Attracting more conventions would be a key to success of downtown L.A. football stadium project
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Houston Mayor Pauses Complete Streets Projects
The move raises concerns among road safety advocates who point out that traffic deaths continue to rise.
Twin Cities Trains Move to Fewer Cars, Higher Frequency
Headways will drop from 15 minutes to 12 minutes.
DC Bikeshare System Breaks Ridership Record
Capital Bikeshare users took over 20,000 rides on one day in March.
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