In a city that has emigrated west for much of the last century, LA’s social axis tilts once again to its downtown as a decadal promise of urban rebirth is alas fulfilled. Beyond the touristy LA Live with its forgettable Ritz Carlton, a second generation of new development takes shape along its southern edge as Ace Hotel debuts as a grandiose deco design palace with eatery, rooftop bar and live theater that will make a believer even out of downtown skeptics.
Outside, hipsters strut in their red flannel despite the 80-degree weather in tattoos that camouflage them among this very urban landscape of incredible history and immense homelessness. Stores like Acne Studios show signs of what the area could be, like East Berlin’s Mitte in its infancy. There are moments when you swear this is where you should live, followed a few hours later by sudden desolation as office workers flee and tumbleweed seems to pass in the wind. And those very long Sunday when virtually everything and everywhere is closed.
Dining is incredible, but not the SF-foodie scene so many expect. Instead, it’s a more approachable restaurant market where meals at Alma or Bestia yield to ingredients if not not tradition and the only obstacle is actually getting a reservation. Nightlife remains edgy and cool at bars like Crane's, Perch and Honeycut, but it could also become the next Meatpacking District and edge out everything that’s substantive about this incredibly new and still very impressionable neighborhood of Downtown LA.
