November 17, 2025
Anthony Rodriguez, President & CEO of the LA Fashion District Business Improvement District (BID), lays out how pandemic losses, slow foot-traffic recovery, and the shock of recent federal enforcement have compounded pressures on the district’s predominantly immigrant-owned small businesses. He argues that rigid DTLA 2040 zoning—particularly in IX2/IX3—undermines reinvestment and adaptation in an area already defined by high vacancies and aging industrial stock.