The Pricey Side of Town
January 12, 2005 by Eric Richardson
The LA Business Journal (whose website is now much more useful, thanks to more free articles) has a great piece today on the downtown housing market. You sort of know this stuff, but sometimes it doesn't really hit you over the head until you see it in black and white:
Resale asking prices at the Flower Street Lofts near Staples Center are higher on a per-foot basis than the median prices for condos in Brentwood’s 90049, Beverly Hills’ 90210 or Marina del Rey’s 90012. Only beach cities such as Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Malibu and Santa Monica’s 90403, along with Century City’s 90067, are priced higher, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
I don't know Flower St. Lofts specifically, but all these units are selling. The question, as always, is whether this kind of market is sustainable. I don't think you can even pretend to answer that question right now.
Consider Them a Captive Audience
January 12, 2005 by Eric Richardson
My last class to meet this semester is "Urban Transportation Planning and Policy." The class is taught by Michael Kodama, who is a transportation planning consultant. Interestingly, he's one of the consultants on the CRA's Downtown Parking Study, so I'll get to pester him for the next couple months about that. Jeffry Carpenter, who's in charge of the project for the CRA, is on the DLANC Transportation & Public Works Committee with me, so I get to pester him there. — Continue Reading...
1 Down, 4 to Go
January 11, 2005 by Eric Richardson
I had my first class this morning. It's titled "Public Service in an Urban Setting," and is taught by Dr. Richard Sundeen. It's the first of my two classes this semester from the School of Policy, Planning, and Development. It looks like it'll be interesting. Part of the class requirements is that students go get involved in some sort of volunteer service, and my participation in DLANC will count for that.
After just finishing my chicken strips from Carl's (who now once again serves Coke products on campus, ending a ten month or so flirtation with Pepsi) I'm sitting at Annenberg for another twenty minutes or so catching up on email before I head out to my next class. I then go straight through for five hours.
Update (1/12 1am): It turns out the Coke deal is university-wide. I definitely approve.
I Need Directions
January 11, 2005 by Eric Richardson
This is my eighth semester at USC. Understanding that you would probably think that by now I'd have a feel for the land, know where buildings are, etc. And yet for my classes this spring I need a map. One building I'd never heard of (and never been inside of); another got renamed. And two others I've been inside once or twice. And to make things even better, I get to cover pretty much the entire campus on Tuesdays, usually with 10 minutes between classes. For all the finagling I do to my schedule, this easy transit between classes thing is one I seriously neglected.
Blue Skies
January 11, 2005 by Eric Richardson
I got woken up this morning by something strange shining into my room. I was confused, and then realized it was the sun. But this wasn't just the sun peeking out from behind a cloud: this was the sun shining through a blue sky that you only get out here after a lot of rain. If it weren't my first day of classes, this is the day when I would start calling people and telling them to skip classes and follow me to the top of Mount Hollywood, where we can take in the entire Los Angeles area, likely including Catalina.