Downtown LA

November 17, 2025

Attention Should Be Paid to LA’s Fashion District: Anthony Rodriguez Offers a Reality Check

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.

September 11, 2025

Dan Rosenfeld on Preserving Los Angeles’ Civic Center

Framing the Civic Center as Los Angeles’ essential “common ground” for governance, culture, and public gathering, Rosenfeld traces its history, highlights past collaborative planning successes, and critiques current decisions that jeopardize its future. He challenges cost studies used to justify agency relocations, contrasting them with successful, lower-cost retrofits of comparable buildings. His central message: preserving and reinvesting in the Civic Center is vital to maintaining civic unity, cultural identity, and functional efficiency for Los Angeles.

July 3, 2025

Vacancy to Vitality: A Path Forward for Downtown Los Angeles?

From serial CEQA litigation and jurisdictional fragmentation to the politics of vilifying developers, Jessica Lall and Carl Muhlstein unpack how outdated processes and a culture of distrust undermine the city’s capacity to address housing affordability, revitalize Downtown, and deliver on its Olympic ambitions.

Advertisement

© 2026 The Planning Report | David Abel, Publisher, ABL, Inc.