Just like in NYC: developers swarm into a "hot" neighborhod, destroy the very things that made it desirable, and move on.
1
But if you tear down all the sights then what will the people in those hotels be visiting?
Happens lots of places that are popular destinations, they tear down all of the destination to put up hotels then wonder why they have all those empty hotel rooms.
Sometimes the world needs a souvenir shop with a giant clam shell on top or a street full of nightclubs where people can pub crawl without getting into a car.
Happens lots of places that are popular destinations, they tear down all of the destination to put up hotels then wonder why they have all those empty hotel rooms.
Sometimes the world needs a souvenir shop with a giant clam shell on top or a street full of nightclubs where people can pub crawl without getting into a car.
2
This trend is happening all over the world where well known and often loved areas are being turned into hotels, condos and more hotels and condos. It is happening in even small out of the way places (like smaller Canadian cities in cold places.) Combination of very cheap money, capital inflows from the wealthy in often emerging economies looking to park money is fuelling the current indiscriminate boom - as booms tend to me. Can't wait for interest rates to start getting back to normal. As someone was quoted in a recent NYT article, the laws of finance have been suspended for some time but they don't go away. More expensive (i.e. normal interest rates) money leads to more careful decision making and as one good effect, less mass destruction of city areas for bland new construction.
I remember how electrifying the early 80's music scene was. X was a poor but wonderful punk band. Those days were my wonder years. But just like the Doors and Janis Joplin were not very significant to me, I'm sure that some new bands will hollow out a place in the hearts of young listeners somewhere on the Sunset Strip.
Yes, I, too, played the Whiskey in 1969-1970. Good music ended there decades ago. I also dropped off Madonna and Sean Penn at the Mondrian when they were together (before he beat her and tied her up). The glamor was over by then, as these two showed the way to a mindless wannabee culture that still persists today. Only, one needs to have some real bucks to hang around the Strip now. I prefer the country/city life in Silver Lake.
Don't worry, folks. Every place that was Someplace is being converted to blah by speculative real estate's specialty - big bucks. I spent a lot of great times between Hollywood and Santa Monica in the late seventies/early eighties. But the soul is long gone so why not the facade.
4
My dad was from Hollywood (go Sheiks!) and he moved to Oregon in 1948. He said that L.A.'s best days were over back then. When I visited relatives still there in 1964, I thought it was the most beautiful place I've ever seen, and marveled at the excitement of the Strip. In 1993, I stayed at the Bonaventure Hotel in the "revitalized" Bunker Hill area and was depressed that there was nothing on the streets around the hotel that was human scale and that the old, albeit blighted Bunker Hill neighborhood was wiped out. On my most recent visit, I still get why so many people live in L.A. It is the coolest place. But I hope the Strip doesn't become a non-human scale place surrounded by gated parking lots, guarded condos, and empty streets. Watch the "Sunset Strip" documentary (on Netflix) to get a sense of its history.
2
I grew up in LA in the 60's. The strip was the cultural center - so many great memories. "Borrowing" my mother's care while my parents were out of town to cruise there with 8 friends on New Years Eve. Seeing Cream at the Whiskey - not a football stadium, a club that held not much more than 100 people. Why would they play such a dive? Because it was the most prestigious rock music venue in the world. Replacing iconic clubs with high rises destroys the character of the strip - which is what makes it desirable in the first place. Granted - it's a lovely area and those condo residents will be happy. But the PUBLIC loses - they are essentially privatizing a cultural treasure.
5
We are making a world to match our own increasing banality: we are friending facelessness.
6
From an old part-time girl in the cage: the underappreciated Arthur Lee & Love also were the house band at Whiskey and were great, even though members of that band and most others were variously on LSD (still legal in 64) on stage and at times couldn't even make it in. It wasn't only the Doors and not by far the only time even w/ Morrison, as suggested in the video. It was a normal occurence, just not for the club owner.
But the music was all.
RIP old Sunset Strip, long gone anyway.
But the music was all.
RIP old Sunset Strip, long gone anyway.
6
It's hard to be heartbroken over the closing of the House of Blues on Sunset. It was just another soulless corporate outpost like the Gap or McDonald's, despite some of the great acts who occasionally played there. I used to call it "House of Some Blues", because a great number of the acts weren't even remotely blues musicians and the earpiece-wearing employees were rather cold and robotic. I would suggest that the decline of the Sunset Strip was made evident by the *opening* of the House of Blues there. I really don't know any locals who would spend a night out on Sunset these days, you might as well go to a mall.
1
Happy reading this article ancient architecture and its conservation improve the quality of life of economic city
I played a gif at the Whiskey A Go Go in 1978 with disco singer Karen "Hot Shot " Young.. Our regular road manager had to leave,so I was in charge of collecting the money for the agents back in NY...I got the money but owner was a little reluctant paying a 22 year old , and took me deep down to a basement office... I was glad to get out of there. Show biz is out,tech and Wall Street are in...
I remember years ago discovering a bar that seemed to have finished the nights business and closed the doors. Peering in the window you could see decades of stillness collected around the tables and chairs. The glasses left on the bar. This wasn't a location in West Hollywood but down in the flats near the Melrose district. Ity's always been understood Los Angeles unlike other cities just continues to evolve. Layer over layer. The stip is perhaps a famous venue but not immune to this. Just as nobody is ever really from Los Angeles. Perhaps its' history is really just the next movie it can cook up of itself. Move over Marlow, Harlow and all the rest. I have to wonder why Donald Trump never went there.
There once was a time when the Strip blew hot and wild like the winds that they call Santa Ana.Where the Mamas and Papas went sans kids and The Doors of perception were pushed open.
But that musics now over, replaced by bulldozers who's maestro's the almighty dollar.
But that musics now over, replaced by bulldozers who's maestro's the almighty dollar.
9
What's the point of the hotels and condominiums when the focal point of the neighborhood was the bands playing in all the clubs? Outside of the clubs really not a lot of tourist attractions in WeHo.
Aside, the music business in WeHo has been a joke for years. The lesser bands opening for the marquee acts do "pay to play." The bands are forced to buy a certain amount of tickets to either distribute for free or sell to their fans so the clubs know they're making a profit regardless of how many folks actually show up. All so said bands can brag that they played at the Whiskey. Imagine the bands that are participating, hardly the struggling artists of yore.
Aside, the music business in WeHo has been a joke for years. The lesser bands opening for the marquee acts do "pay to play." The bands are forced to buy a certain amount of tickets to either distribute for free or sell to their fans so the clubs know they're making a profit regardless of how many folks actually show up. All so said bands can brag that they played at the Whiskey. Imagine the bands that are participating, hardly the struggling artists of yore.
6
While reading, I couldn't help but think of Rodney Bingenheimer and... who will be the informal "mayor" of this new Sunset Strip.
2
I'm lucky enough to live down the street from The Strip and I make it a point to go up there at least twice a month. I think that this phase of change really started when The Mondrian opened and the Skybar was The Place. That's already about 15 years ago.
Happily two of my favorites, Book Soup and The Rainbow Grill are still around but who knows for how long?
Happily two of my favorites, Book Soup and The Rainbow Grill are still around but who knows for how long?
4
Skybar opened around 1996 or 1997.
WeHo is one of the densest cities in the US. There are ~35,000 people in 1.9 square miles. Compare that to Beverly Hills, which has about the same number of residents in 5.7 square miles. If the construction was just on the fabled Sunset Strip that would be one thing. But it's not. All over the city, houses and apartment buildings are being torn down to build apartments and condos in monster buildings that are changing the city in ways that will leave it's infrastructure (water, sewage, streets) severely over-taxed. There IS a severe shortage of affordable housing in LA County; what's being built here will be out of the reach of most people. California's Ellis Law allows developers to build an additional story if they will include a certain number of so-called affordable housing units. In this city that's a joke. Adding this many housing and hotel units in an already crowded city will do nothing but choke us to death. Prime-time traffic is already at near gridlock on all of our east-west streets (including Sunset Blvd). One doesn't dare think about going east after 3pm or before 6pm, unless one loves inching along. As for lighted billboards, they are, simply put, god-awful. Some of the imagery is literally sickening. I despair.
15
Again and again I find the comment writers expanding and improving the NYT coverage of different topics. I wish Mr Meier had made the obvious connections to the greater issue facing Los Angeles. Thank you for doing that. This article completely bypasses everything relevant and important to focus on night clubs.
1
The thing is, this _was_ the place where creative talent started out, but if there is any place for such people, it long ago disappeared. Who has appeared there since the late 60s?
Unfortunately, these things don't last; it was for a time, and now it is gone. It would be nice to see the place, to walk through there and see where they play, but aside from the nostalgia, it seems that the music was over long ago.
Unfortunately, these things don't last; it was for a time, and now it is gone. It would be nice to see the place, to walk through there and see where they play, but aside from the nostalgia, it seems that the music was over long ago.
2
I drive Sunset Strip on my way to and from work every day, I have for 16 years, and my gym is in the middle of it. Sadly, West Hollywood's government is in the grip of developers and big billboard companies. The article is good, but it is just observation and not investigation. West Hollywood is a small city and the amount of money that the developers and billboard companies have is enormous as a matter of proportion. As a city it is already exceedingly population-dense and this development will only make congestion worse. I love living in Los Angeles just off the Strip, but I fear that it is going to become a very suburban experience - you know, what people in the article refer to as "safe." If people want Brentwood or Sherman Oaks, they already exist.
18
Anthropogenic sediments all found in the history of a street and there the people with distinctive characteristics resulting from the strong and enduring influence of past human activity — memories like artifacts of what use to be. Each concept emphasizes a different aspect of the life history of the landscape, that demands the separate attention of each.
Interesting how little is said about the very distinct change that will come to the Strip, one that is far too common. Some developer decides that this is actually a nice area with relatively low prices for the land. So, throw out the people and businesses that have been there for years and made is desirable, and throw up poorly built, utterly boring, completely uniform overpriced homes and playgrounds for the rich - who will make sure that the "undesirables" will be kept out. What would developers do without the not rich enough? They'd have no cheap new land to take...
And it will be interesting to see what happens to all those huge, built fast if not built well, palaces when the next major earthquake hits.
And it will be interesting to see what happens to all those huge, built fast if not built well, palaces when the next major earthquake hits.
4
Typically blocks and neighborhoods that are in a condition to revivify, are inhabited by the following sequence. First come the bohemians, artists, the lower budget entrepreneurs (the risk oblivious) who make it cool because they are willing to occupy cheap residual real estate. Now this catches the eye of the developers (the risk aware). They come in and exploit the coolness the bohemians et al have created, economically forcing them out. Then comes the the wealthy vanilla, the bland, and uninteresting mediocre (the risk adverse). Set, game, match.
As a local, there is no Sunset Strip that tourists think of really left. Once the old Scandia went down, the handwriting was on the wall. Yes, during the '60's it was mostly Mardi Gras there every night, which included sex, drugs and rock and roll (mostly the first two). It was "safe" as long as you were still standing. By the '80's the Sheriff's Dept made sure there was no more crowds lingering in the streets. By the '90's cheap attractions came in, replacing venerable establishments and what is really the most jarring, currently, after this round of construction, there will be few spots left to see the beautiful views of Los Angeles, particularly at night. THAT was the main reason a lot of us would walk the Strip. The sweeping views are a lovely part of LA that all could enjoy. Now, you will be paying a few grand a night for those views. That is what the short-sighted folks in West Hollywood don't get as most of their constituency, (being politically incorrect here) had their "fun" down below, along Santa Monica Blvd. Blowing out the Strip matters little to the main demographics of West Hollywood now. Money does obviously.
4
Witness prints of the entire core of charmed former Hollywood architecture and one wishes the preservation planning Pasadena manages to apply could have been, and should be, applied to all of historic Los Angeles. Current architecture of the Dolby Theatre area lacks talent, foresight and thus is not pleasing or welcoming to the human spirit.
4
Ok, sure "things change". The Chinese recently pulled down ancient, historical Beijing to make way for brutalist high rise as far as the eye can see. Yes, "things change", but if they change without respect for history and a livable, human environment, what we get is more bland glass, steel and concrete boxes that look the same whether you are in Los Angeles, New York, London or Beijing. Le Corbusier wanted to tear down the entire Paris Left Bank and put up a vast brutalist ghetto. Thank God Parisians didn't apathetically just mutter "things change", and let Corbusier have his way.
17
It's boring, but redevelopment at higher densities is turning LA into a real city, one that's more walkable and therefore less environmentally unsustainable.
2
And what about the infrastructure? There is hardly any mass transit on the sunset strip. Plus, LA's century old water system has pipes bursting every few months, unleashing millions of gallons of water during the worst drought in the state's history. Tell me how building six dozen new skyscrapers and towers will help these problems when developers there are allowed the run of the city, profiting mightily while adding nothing to make the city better as a whole?
In the late '60s, some friends from back east came out to visit and a part of showing them L.A. was a drive through the strip. They were thrilled to see all the colorful people, costumes etc. It just happened to be Halloween, so they figured that that was the reason. I told them we could come back tomorrow and it would be the same!
A bit sad to see all the changes......and the traffic!
A bit sad to see all the changes......and the traffic!
3
It's still fun to take out of town visitors down Sunset, but I really like to start in DTLA and take them all the way to Beverly Hills. There's plenty of interesting stuff on the eastern parts of Sunset, including lots of clubs and music venues.
1
I have to agree here; the West Hollywood part of the Strip is only a small part of the Sunset 'experience.' One of my favorite things to do with friends and family visiting in the summer is leave Santa Monica up PCH to Sunset, then we drive on it all the way to Echo Park where I've got a pal with spare parking, and from there hike up to Dodgers Stadium for a game.
It is delectable sensory overload of an evening for said guests, and days like that are why I love LA.
It is delectable sensory overload of an evening for said guests, and days like that are why I love LA.
4
"Though West Hollywood officials like to say the Strip ends on the eastern border of their city, it arguably stretches farther, incorporating a hotel-and-condominium being designed by Frank Gehry on the corner where the Garden of Allah, an oasis of celebrity bungalows and glamour, once stood."
This doesn't make sense. WeHo's farthest eastern border is just past La Brea. The Garden of Allah is at Sunset & Crescent Heights - which is not even in WeHo but in L.A. And Crescent Heights is far from WeHo's eastern border - just about halfway between eastern and western borders, actually.
Not that being in L.A. instead of WeHo is any protection. L.A. is planning a massive redevelopment of Hollywood itself, to great neighborhood outrage - and Hollywood gritty makes Sunset Strip gritty look like, well, Beverly Hills.
This doesn't make sense. WeHo's farthest eastern border is just past La Brea. The Garden of Allah is at Sunset & Crescent Heights - which is not even in WeHo but in L.A. And Crescent Heights is far from WeHo's eastern border - just about halfway between eastern and western borders, actually.
Not that being in L.A. instead of WeHo is any protection. L.A. is planning a massive redevelopment of Hollywood itself, to great neighborhood outrage - and Hollywood gritty makes Sunset Strip gritty look like, well, Beverly Hills.
4
A little-known bit of Sunset Strip trivia: Before it became the Whisky. that corner building was the home of the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, where I studied violin as a kid back in the '50s. Yeah, me and Jim Morrison made music in the same place. It's been decades since I visited the Strip (I'd crawl along with the lookie-loo traffic back in the late-60s). Heading there for Thanksgiving this year, and I'm prepared to be shocked and disappointed. I knew it was over when Tower Records closed...
13
Interesting to see the perspective on the left coast, as similar things have been happening all over in New York the past few years.
Cities always are growing and changing- that's what they do- and their dynamic and nearly organic vitality is what draws people to visit and live there from all over the country and the world. But when these changes are for the sake of new, overpriced, banal condo buildings, or another outpost of a charmless chain store, the city itself is something that loses out.
Fine and well to build and create jobs, but if the cost of living skyrockets to the point of keeping out the creative class that gives a city vitality, or extinguishes unique businesses that give a city its soul, what's the point? Why would I fly six hours to vacation in Los Angeles just to visit the same chain stores that are already choking New York?
Cities always are growing and changing- that's what they do- and their dynamic and nearly organic vitality is what draws people to visit and live there from all over the country and the world. But when these changes are for the sake of new, overpriced, banal condo buildings, or another outpost of a charmless chain store, the city itself is something that loses out.
Fine and well to build and create jobs, but if the cost of living skyrockets to the point of keeping out the creative class that gives a city vitality, or extinguishes unique businesses that give a city its soul, what's the point? Why would I fly six hours to vacation in Los Angeles just to visit the same chain stores that are already choking New York?
13
So it's the "creative class" (self-defined) that "gives a city vitality"? How arrogant! The rest of us "drones," who merely create the jobs and pay the taxes that make the existence of the "creative class" possible, won't miss them when they're gone.
Don't worry about us. The city will be just as vital. Just cleaner.
Don't worry about us. The city will be just as vital. Just cleaner.
2
Dominic is right, GMooG. The people who made LA a place people from all over the world want to visit are the oddballs, loosely described as the creative class. Besides the usual film biz folks, they include a bunch of visual artists, a string of admired musicians too long to fit in the comment space and also some writers and academics. Don't feel bad; I qualify as a "drone" too. We have our role--we keep the nuts and bolts working together and we cough up the cash in a million small ways to keep the artists going. I'm very grateful for the color and magic that the creative folks give to this city; you can find it in the most unexpected places.
"Clean" is not something you get in American cities so don't look for it in LA anytime soon. I trust the sheer geographic size of Los Angeles will ensure that its creative vibe will survive, even if folks have to shift around from one neighborhood to the next every generation or so. Hopefully, there will still be a reason for Dominic to make that six hour flight so long as he remembers that his destination in town will periodically change.
"Clean" is not something you get in American cities so don't look for it in LA anytime soon. I trust the sheer geographic size of Los Angeles will ensure that its creative vibe will survive, even if folks have to shift around from one neighborhood to the next every generation or so. Hopefully, there will still be a reason for Dominic to make that six hour flight so long as he remembers that his destination in town will periodically change.
6
RE "Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin performed at the Whisky a Go Go, and River Phoenix died of a drug overdose outside the Viper Room — is being consumed by 1.1 million."
Wow there goes the neighbor, not. If there is really nothing better to say about the strip than it was the hang out of junkies who killed themselves with illicit drugs maybe the change is good.
Wow there goes the neighbor, not. If there is really nothing better to say about the strip than it was the hang out of junkies who killed themselves with illicit drugs maybe the change is good.
3
Not a word about Ciro's and the Trocadero, not to mention Bublitchki?
Happy to see that the Troubador is still there. Saw Cat Stevens, John Lennon was three tables behind us.
1
Some of our favorite residential and commercial neighborhoods are merely placeholders until the next big-money-project-makeover-takeover.
14
It is all about the cost of real estate and allowing big corporations to make more money. They have no concern, nada, for the street level environment, none for whether people actually want to live and work in an area, all they care about is buying the land, erecting the tower and makin' the dough. The tourists arrive just in time to see everything moved into a museum or to view the remains of what was once glorious. Creative places, like music venues, depend on low or lower rents to survive.
So...the music scene cities shift around the country. We were in Austin in the spring and it was going strong. How many people STILL don't know that Austin is the live music capital of America? Well, it is, unless you are talking about country-corn acts and geriatric pop singers recycling tunes in Branson
Just got back from Asheville (trying to change my profile info). Now, there is a musical treat. You wanna hear the younger generation practicing old style mountain music, Asheville is your city. We saw a young woman playing a fiddle like instrument that had keyboard instead of fingering the strings.
They had a once every two year MOOG Fest in Asheville, but it has decamped for Durham for 2016 because it couldn't get enough financial support from the city or county. (If you don't know what MOOG synthesizer is, there is a docu on Netflix.)
There is a massive amount of musical talent in the DC area with people living on what they earn with it, but not breaking out into the big time.
So...the music scene cities shift around the country. We were in Austin in the spring and it was going strong. How many people STILL don't know that Austin is the live music capital of America? Well, it is, unless you are talking about country-corn acts and geriatric pop singers recycling tunes in Branson
Just got back from Asheville (trying to change my profile info). Now, there is a musical treat. You wanna hear the younger generation practicing old style mountain music, Asheville is your city. We saw a young woman playing a fiddle like instrument that had keyboard instead of fingering the strings.
They had a once every two year MOOG Fest in Asheville, but it has decamped for Durham for 2016 because it couldn't get enough financial support from the city or county. (If you don't know what MOOG synthesizer is, there is a docu on Netflix.)
There is a massive amount of musical talent in the DC area with people living on what they earn with it, but not breaking out into the big time.
8
I've been visiting the "Strip" in West Hollywood regularly for nearly 20 years and this saddens me. Red Rock Bar, Tower Records, Miyagi's, Dublin's, now the House Of Blues - all gone. I miss the old and gritty Sunset Strip.
5
I'm a full-time musician that gets misty every time I see a music club shut down in any city, but in the case with the LA House of Blues has a bit of a slant- the residents near to the club who live on Olive Dr have dreaded that House of Blues ever since it opened. The massive traffic congestion that clogs their street every night there's a show has been driving them nuts ever since it opened- I know because I had friends there (I used to live 3 blocks down the street)...they have been trying to get something done for decades about that HOB- they may have finally gotten their way
5
Today's economics are far from the scene of 50 or 60 years ago. Up-and-coming rock bands discovered in hole-in-the-wall cellar clubs don't happen in such high-priced real estate.
LA is really always about change, not always for the better, but also not static. If you go back 100 years, the whole area was a forest of oil derricks.
Nice to see the shot of the Ramond Lowey Studebaker on the old Strip.
The place were the Garden of Allah used to be is in LA City, I think, not WeHo, and it's now a McDonald's; this is the legendary spot where birds were said to be heard of a morn, coughing in the trees. Across the street is a shopping mall which, years ago, replaced Schwab's Drugstore and the original Googie coffee shop by John Lautner. Plus ca change.
But I do miss Kookie.
LA is really always about change, not always for the better, but also not static. If you go back 100 years, the whole area was a forest of oil derricks.
Nice to see the shot of the Ramond Lowey Studebaker on the old Strip.
The place were the Garden of Allah used to be is in LA City, I think, not WeHo, and it's now a McDonald's; this is the legendary spot where birds were said to be heard of a morn, coughing in the trees. Across the street is a shopping mall which, years ago, replaced Schwab's Drugstore and the original Googie coffee shop by John Lautner. Plus ca change.
But I do miss Kookie.
5
The City Manage thinks having the world's largest Cheesecake Factory is an acomplishment? Really?
Of course not... his point is that you WON'T find that kind of garish nonsense in WeHo. And he's right.
4
He said " You are NOT going to find the world’s largest Cheesecake Factory in West Hollywood.”
1
No, he doesn't. Read his comment again!
As much as I hate change, it happens. A friend once said, "Times change and you have to change with the times." How true. But I'll still have the memories, like seeing The Doors in a small club when they were just starting out.
5
Like everything in Los Angeles, if it's been around for more than 25 years, tear it down and replace it with something garish and expensive for the Euro/Russian/Middle Eastern rich who gravitate here to own, rent, or frequent.
This place really is a tribute to the concept of 'temporary'.
This place really is a tribute to the concept of 'temporary'.
21
Time marches on, life marches on. Stop lamenting and quoting 50 year old song lyrics, and acknowledge that culture, music and art merely move to new locations. Whatever you want in this city, you can still find. People near Sunset are just upset that they'll have to get in their cars now to reach it.
The Strip has been a graveyard for 15 years. I worked at Book Soup on Sunset a decade ago and there was NO ONE coming through the doors. At least now there's the possibility of more out-of-owners browsing in the stores and restaurants that have survived through the downturn. For those of you still wanting The Doors to show up and play at the Roxy this coming weekend, it's time to take your grumpy nap.
The Strip has been a graveyard for 15 years. I worked at Book Soup on Sunset a decade ago and there was NO ONE coming through the doors. At least now there's the possibility of more out-of-owners browsing in the stores and restaurants that have survived through the downturn. For those of you still wanting The Doors to show up and play at the Roxy this coming weekend, it's time to take your grumpy nap.
14
I had lots of good times on the Strip. Very sad to see it become another corporate consumer center. At least I have the memories...
15
I was caught in LA between the last big Sunset Strip scene (hair metal?) and the arts/music movements transition further east on Sunset in Echo Park/Silver Lake.
Still no #1 acts or careers coming out though.
Still no #1 acts or careers coming out though.
3
Saw Keanu Reeve's band Dog Star at HOB. Hollywood two-fer ! Met his mom on the smoking patio. She's the one.
1
The big tourists areas in major cities are becoming more and more alike, losing some of their local charm and erecting PF Changs, Chipotles, Ruth's Chris Steakhouses in the place of original establishments that helped build the area up to its current myth. As legendary spots in every city start looking the same, what will become of American culture? Fly from Pittsburgh to LA to eat at the same PF Changs in the same cool area of the city? More and more this becomes the norm, as mom and pops can't hang in the big spots. Sunset is special because of the old clubs like the Whiskey, which hopefully will stay put. Sad to see big business and high rents weed out legendary historic and replace them with a Yardhouse or a Lucky Strike or a super Starbucks and create a sort of faux promenade experience culture. Go to LAs The Grove to see this in action. Ironically, The Grove is right near the old Farmer's Market-- a place that somehow keeps its original mom and pop charm while being a mega tourist attraction.
16
The Sunset Strip is an absolute hole. Grotesque billboards, prostitutes, sex shops, dumpy motels cheesy neon. The personification of everything that is dead wrong about LA. If there is any place in the country that is in dire need of gentrification it's the miserable Sunset Strip.
Anybody bemoaning the gentrification of this God awful place either has never been there or is totally lacking in taste.
Anybody bemoaning the gentrification of this God awful place either has never been there or is totally lacking in taste.
8
@ Lucian: I think you miss the point. Bad taste LA makes it different from Barcelona or Paris or NYC. Dumpy motels, cheesy neon, that dirtiness of the Strip is what made its name. Once it's gentrified it becomes something else. Got your PF Changs Sunset Strip tee-shirt? Inevitable, I guess, evolution, perhaps, but sad nonetheless. I think the trick is to evolve, but not destroy culture--if possible. Maybe in LA, and now it most American cities, that control of "growth" in the face of old-time culture, is becoming hard to manage. It's counter-intuitive in a market economy to not destroy, rebuild and expand. And LA is all about destroying and rebuilding the new. Still LA would be wise to hold onto some of the cheesiness of the Strip.
16
That hasn't been the West Hollywood part of the Strip in a couple of decades. You are referring to the part of Sunset that is much further down in LA, E of Crescent Heights.
That being said, as someone who has lived almost three decades above the old Tower Records and around the corner from the Whiskey, being trapped in the massive onslaught of high-rise construction that won't end for the next decade, making this truly a soulless row of shade and towers, taking away every reason there ever was to come to this part of town, removing its street-level walking aesthetic where you really do run into people from the area as well as from all over the city heading to the restaurants and clubs, for modern stainless steel and glass with little-to-no streetscape, is truly heartbreaking. One of the architects who was pitching his sleek, cold, looming tower referred to the Strip as lacking a neighborhood feel. Longtime locals would beg to differ. He won't be right until the construction is complete.
That being said, as someone who has lived almost three decades above the old Tower Records and around the corner from the Whiskey, being trapped in the massive onslaught of high-rise construction that won't end for the next decade, making this truly a soulless row of shade and towers, taking away every reason there ever was to come to this part of town, removing its street-level walking aesthetic where you really do run into people from the area as well as from all over the city heading to the restaurants and clubs, for modern stainless steel and glass with little-to-no streetscape, is truly heartbreaking. One of the architects who was pitching his sleek, cold, looming tower referred to the Strip as lacking a neighborhood feel. Longtime locals would beg to differ. He won't be right until the construction is complete.
4
Don't they have zoning in LA? Can't they design their city?
There is very strict zoning in LA.
The part of the Strip discussed in this article is in the City of West Hollywood. Don't know that they have - but they know how to stage a Halloween Parade!
The part of the Strip discussed in this article is in the City of West Hollywood. Don't know that they have - but they know how to stage a Halloween Parade!
3
Not that I dine out very often, but all this new money also means that all the new restaurants coming in -- ALL -- are high priced, outside the budget of the normal person who's lived in the area 20 or 30 years. What should be $10 sandwiches are $14, what should be a $13 plate of spaghetti is $17.
Now, would WeHo and LA please use some of that hotel tax money to fill the potholes us locals have to drive over every day?
Now, would WeHo and LA please use some of that hotel tax money to fill the potholes us locals have to drive over every day?
16
Wow. I thought stuff like this only happened in New York City....
10
Sad to say, but it's happening in every American city that's interesting enough to attract people and business. If there's a buck to be made, corporations don't care that their "blanding" influence is robbing our cities of whatever quirks and culture they may have had that made them unique.
Greed is killing every goose that ever laid a golden egg.
Greed is killing every goose that ever laid a golden egg.
15
"....But from an authentic soul point of view, it’s going to feel a little less authentic than it was before, and that is unfortunately what is happening around the world.”
Whether it's Sunset Strip or the Village, when the artists are financial marginalized in major urban areas, the "soul" of the city dies. This is as catastrophic sociologically as global warming is to the environment. It's 2:00PM EST and I am the second person to comment. I guess no one else cares. Pack up the circus tents and head of of town. No wonder art and music aren't being taught in schools. And the last laugh, tear down the art venues, and who on earth wants to visit a city that has everything but it's world-famous musical heritage? Much of all modern music was written and performed on the Sunset Strip. No more. Sad.
Whether it's Sunset Strip or the Village, when the artists are financial marginalized in major urban areas, the "soul" of the city dies. This is as catastrophic sociologically as global warming is to the environment. It's 2:00PM EST and I am the second person to comment. I guess no one else cares. Pack up the circus tents and head of of town. No wonder art and music aren't being taught in schools. And the last laugh, tear down the art venues, and who on earth wants to visit a city that has everything but it's world-famous musical heritage? Much of all modern music was written and performed on the Sunset Strip. No more. Sad.
38
"There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear"
With a tip of the hat to Buffalo Springfield
What it is ain't exactly clear"
With a tip of the hat to Buffalo Springfield
14
Darn - ya beat me to it. Saw Buffalo Springfield at the Whiskey in late '66 if I remember right - parts of the 60's remain rather hazy. "For What It's Worth" referenced the riots - this article doesn't and this event was one of the high/low points of the Strip.
1
Good memory...
From the play Tru: "To die in LA is redundant". The homogenization of our culture is slowly ripping away the unique character of our cities and towns - what makes us - "Us". While we can never go back, we can still do our best to hold true to what defined us and our culture. I'm glad that the Whisky is not being torn down for a Hyatt. Let's hope that enough customers will go there to keep it thriving.
19
There goes the neighborhood. More boring glass and steel replacing the character of a city. I cant wait to find where the city gets all the water the new structures will need. Maybe it should be called Wet Hollywood now.
23
The Sunset Strip was originally a free for all made possible by the existence of a benignly neglected island of land governed solely by the sprawling and unresponsive County of Los Angeles. This permitted what is now West Hollywood to host undesirable businesses such as music clubs and gay bars.
The incorporation of the City of West Hollywood spelled the doom of this dynamic in the teeth of the City's attempts to preserve it. Inevitably the City has been called to respond to the previously-totally-ignored resident complaints and much of the music club action and all of the Sunset Strip cruising was squelched over the past 20 years.
Real entertainment districts develop organically as the sum of actions taken by a multitude of individual actors. The music club activity formerly found on the Strip moved to the relatively freer environs of Hollywood, governed by the City of Los Angeles whose interference can never match the extent and elaborate detail of the micro-managing demonstrated by the City of West Hollywood.
The incorporation of the City of West Hollywood spelled the doom of this dynamic in the teeth of the City's attempts to preserve it. Inevitably the City has been called to respond to the previously-totally-ignored resident complaints and much of the music club action and all of the Sunset Strip cruising was squelched over the past 20 years.
Real entertainment districts develop organically as the sum of actions taken by a multitude of individual actors. The music club activity formerly found on the Strip moved to the relatively freer environs of Hollywood, governed by the City of Los Angeles whose interference can never match the extent and elaborate detail of the micro-managing demonstrated by the City of West Hollywood.
33
The more open and experimental music scene has, as you say, moved east to Hollywood, Silver Lake and then to Echo Park (where you can still get shot at leaving a club). In a couple of decades, maybe someone will write the same article about Echo Park.
3
You nailed it, Flaminia, my kindred spirit ... even if I am more the Giulietta Z type myself.
1
Double, double!