Downtown L.A.'s Residential Revolution

"A dearth of apartments is fueling one of the city's largest building booms in years," reports Dawn Wotapka. "There are about 14,000 apartment units in downtown Los Angeles. About 5,100 units are under construction, and more than 3,400 units were built between 2008 and 2013, according to Polaris Pacific, a real-estate sales, marketing and research firm. More than 3,000 additional rental units have been approved, with another 7,000 proposed. Meanwhile, there are only 17 condo units for sale and 68 under construction."

"This is a revolution," said Carol Schatz, president of the Downtown Center Business Improvement District. "We had a functioning downtown up until the '40s and then the car culture grabbed us by the throat and almost choked us to death." Sentiments have changed, she said, because "we have given people a reason to live downtown."