L.A.'s historic Grand Central Market is undergoing an upscale makeover. Steve Lopez, an unabashed urban market fanatic, is concerned the changes threaten the market's role as discount center and bridge between affluent and working class Angelenos.
Lopez, market connoisseur and columnist for the Los Angeles Times, fears for the future of "Los Angeles' downtown treasure, the iconic Grand Central Market, which is undergoing a transformation that could either destroy it or revive it, depending on whom you talk to."
"For many years, the market has served primarily as a discount center, offering produce, dry goods and prepared meals to a largely working-class Latino clientele." But the "people's market" is adding new vendors such as a gourmet cheese store, seafood bar, and wood-fired pizzeria.
"Marc Wutschke, a downtown resident, fears the days of tomatoes for 50 cents a pound are numbered, and what is now an 'exotic' locale will lose 'its character and flavor.'"
"But such talk is nonsense, according to management, which says the character of the market is its greatest asset," adds a skeptical Lopez.
Read the full story: A blend — or clash — of old and new at Grand Central Market
L.A.'s Grand Central Market at a Turning Point, Faces Gentrification
The historic Grand Central Market has ridden the ups and downs of Downtown Los Angeles better than most retail locations, but can it retain its heart in the face of gentrification.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Move over, LA: St. Louis gears up for Olympics, invests millions in downtown redevelopment
The Missouri city will host the 2028 Olympic soccer group stage and knockout matches.
Dallas releases zoning code overhaul to officials
The drafted overhaul is over 400 pages long.
NYC renovations for dangerous, ‘mercilessly crammed’ street delayed until 2027
Construction was supposed to begin this fall.
San Diego’s Midway Rising project gets greenlight from city council
The project looks to become the largest affordable housing development in California's history.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello