Making a Home of Our Concrete Jungle
Being a current member of the South Park community, a graduate of a local University and a lifetime Angelino, I have been witness to the transformation of our civic center from the beginning. And while billions of dollars have been pumped into the area, and much change has been made in downtown, and specifically South Park, it seems as if our locale is suffering. One of the first and biggest additions to the “neighborhood” was Ralphs. This supermarket absolutely helped draw people and families to the area. This showed a level of commitment to our local infrastructure in making downtown livable, but it seems as if the road ended there. Sixty-two point eight percent of households in the area have more than one person. To me, this means that developers as well as business owners need to think along these lines meaning that within this micro-metropolis a neighborhood needs to be created. Outside of the people, a neighborhood is created by family stores, parks and schools.
Currently in our “neighborhood”, there is a vacancy rate in retail space well above sixty-five percent. Current and recent tenants include Starbucks, Premier Real Estate, State Farm Insurance, Castlewood Real Estate, Eleven Salon, PYO Gallery, and the company which I partially own and manage, The South Park Development Group. With limited retail space in general in the area, the types of stores which are being placed into available spaces, should really be well thought out, in terms of creating a community. Starbucks and Salon Eleven are real neighborhood stores, and help build that sense of community. Outside of ourselves, who are actually striving to create this local neighborhood, a lot of the current tenants do not give South Park the feel of a neighborhood; rather they give the feel of a central business district, which is not what I am looking for in my home neighborhood, as I can only speak for myself. Here at The South Park Development Group, we currently have clients under contract as well as our own plans that do indeed bring that sense of neighborhood to the area. So as residents of South Park, I am calling on you folks to fill my inbox and post on this blog, ideas of what you would like to see in the spaces below your homes. It is your home, your neighborhood. What do you believe the area needs to turn this “neighborhood” into a neighborhood?
full disclosure: please email me your thoughts and/or opinions at btomich@flvllc.com
south park l.a: hub of innovation, center of a new cycle workshop: wabicycles.com
south park's own cycle workshop
there are more and more cars in the u.s. than ever. a lot of people are driving their cars to do something as simple as going to the grocery store or returning a dvd. but how awesome would it be to be able to bike to those places or use your zero emissions electric bike to go to work? not only would you be doing the environment a great big favor, but you also would be saving yourself a lot of money and getting the exercise that everyone needs.
here in downtown l.a., it’s pretty easy to find parking, but majority of the time you have to pay. but if you started biking, you wouldn’t have to worry about all that. as more people start to take up biking, i can visualize bike racks on every street and bike shops opening up all around the southpark neighborhood just because of this up and coming trend.
how could we encourage more people to take up biking (besides the environmental and money factor)? i think customizable bikes will grab peoples attention. just think about walking into a bike shop, telling them exactly what you want, and then having them design it for you. everyone likes it when you can customize your own personal items… because it’s unique.
so peddle to the max.
follow-up to earlier post: e-road electric vehicles road test (zero carbon emissions)
phenomenal, fast, and fun-whilst achieving true sustainability.
the e-road’s a winner and a vital component toward moving los angeles toward a better, cleaner, sustainable future.
Brett, Steff, and I were impressed and noted the multitude of customization possibilities.
We’re excited-for consumers, for Los Angeles, and for the future of sustainability.
full disclosure: the writers of this post, the team of Forbes Legacy Ventures LLC-South Park Development Group, are developing a relationship with E Road to explore future business endeavors- for info: mcporter@flvllc.com or btomich@flvllc.com
ladt news article on wine bars: “Grape Expectations” – south park los angeles
not the south park we want
Ryan Villancourt notes that downtown los angeles is “awash in wine bars….” and considers the question of their viability, noting, in particular, wine bars situated in South Park L.A.
There are a multitude of reasons why wine bars will not sell in south park los angeles: demographic trends (unexpected and brought on by the recession) and shift in consumer values which will outlive the recession.
south park los angeles will be awash in the next three-seven years in something that was neither planned for, or expected: families, small, couples run businesses, and soon-to-be families. ethnically speaking, south park l.a will be far more diverse than developers had originally anticipated, and will be, interestingly enough, about as affluent as had been anticipated.
back to the wine bars: these folks will like wine but love their kids and value their savings and how far a dollar goes.
kids, couples, small businesses, and values=small, ‘content rich,’ graphically dynamic shops stocked with needs as much as wants. lots of service businesses (conservatories, nanny services, the list is, in fact endless). it also means high value, median pricing-an odd, tough mix to generate unless south park los angeles’ stake holders catch up with future trends, extend flexible terms to up-and-coming businesses, and are open to this concept-which this editorial page will be talking more and more about: ‘pop-up-shops.’
salon eleven: moving up.
on the corner of hope and 11th, you’ll find salon eleven. they are currently in the process of re-vamping their look. so right now, outside the salon, you will see sleek, metal signage. you will also see a wooden v-sign on the sidewalk. they are a clear example of southparkla moving towards the right direction because they know the potential that their salon can be and all they really need are new graphics to support them.
i personally have gone in the salon a few times and can say that everyone there is friendly. they are always inviting people in, which shows how much they want to be a part of the southpark community and southpark welcomes them to their neighborhood.
*pattern in the circle by: persijin broersen and margit lukacs.
south park los angeles-pockets of sustainable industry-bound together into a common, innovative hub?
today the south park development group team visited a local distributor of self-designed bicycles. he is local in that he lives in south park and his distribution hub/workshop is in south park los angeles. he is international in scope in that his ’shop’ is virtual.
his product is innovative, simple, sleek, and imminently customizable.
there is no question that he is leaning into future trends: more and more of us will be getting out of our cars using alternative forms of transport: creating, by default, to a certain degree, hyper-localism within a global financial edifice undergoing intense stress and, also reform (yes, things will get better-the equity markets, multiple, straining, under duress, will even out in the next three years, and as innovators, innovate, capital will flow and the markets will slowly, in fits and stages, make a long, winding come-back).
as we learn more and more about south park (Michael Van Parys notes that nearby there are still-possibly, local blacksmiths) it becomes clear that a stage has been set for alternative innovation-for southpark los angeles to become the hub of alternative innovation if we can come together a grow a unified, regional brand: south park los angeles, california’s hub of sustainable innovation.
the markets will reward sustainable, alternative innovation….in spades.
south park development group is going to, step-by-step, develop this idea and, as we are able, discuss and promote it with stakeholders, residents, politicians, leaders, and especially with entrepreneurs and consumers-the two forces best suited to change our world for the better as they are the ultimate influencers.
sustainability:the great new game, good for you and good for business -southparkla.com
first posted in www.flvllc.com
south park l.a and the fortune cookie- southparkla.com
it is interesting the degree to which residents of south park l.a fall within a category: couples working together in the same business, moving toward the same goals of safer, brighter, better lives.
these are essentially family owned businesses sans the family-which, if all the best demographic reports are to be believed, will soon have children and become families.
south park l.a has this great opportunity:to brand itself as the hub of innovation through the prism of family values, powered by family-owned businesses capital.
Nielsen and a broad grouping of studies show that weather the powers that be make the decision to formulate all the congruent positives found in this trifecta: innovation, value strength, and family owned businesses, that’s what south park will look like.
why not build on this? why not unify behind a neighborhood vision branded into a tribemark ™ full of gleaming stories and hopefuleness, that,together do many things right- one of which is strengthen property values and, well, our collective values.
it is the position of southparkla.com that the recession and the power of youthful vitality, almost boundless, that it is being met with by young innovators, will change the global values landscape and that means, the power of commoditized brands and power collectives will diminsh, increasing the power of innovators, change agents, and ideas companies.
about the fortune cookie: my wife and i went out to dinner tonight at one of our favorite places in China Town: Yang Chow. The fortune cookie reads: “be tactful-do not overlook your own opportunity…”
quite right.
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