Time Mag. Is full of it! Here's the Real Skinny. How Los Angeles Lost Its Mojo

The entire company of TIME Magazine is worth almost a much as NEWSWEEK, less than $1.00.

How Los Angeles Lost Its Mojo | Joel Kotkin

Time Magazine basically reprinted a redeveopment press release to boost a new football stadium and convention center. It's typical of its, post Luce, suck-up style that is reflected in the thin stories in the lean periodical. This is really just a booster piece, typical of newspapers like the Star Ledger, following political bias, for the developer AEG. ♘

Saturday, Jul. 30, 2011

The City of Angels Who Never Sleep: Can Downtown Los Angeles Be Manhattanized? By Jens Erik Gould / Los Angeles

Enter AEG, which owns sports franchises and other large venues, including Miami's American Airlines Arena. It is proposing to build a $1 billion football stadium next to Staples called Farmers Field that would bring an NFL team back to Los Angeles for the first time since the Rams and Raiders skipped town in the 1990s. The plan calls for AEG to build a 68,000-seat stadium where West Hall stands and for the city to sell bonds to afford a new convention-center wing. The field could also be used for large conventions. This week, the company and the city signed a memorandum of understanding to build the stadium, which AEG hopes can open by the 2016 season. AEG says the field would bring even more development and jobs to downtown, and allow the city to host mega-events like the Super Bowl and Final Four. "The greatest economic benefit for the city is through the convention, tourism and hospitality markets," Roth says. The field "will give it the biggest shot in the arm."

It's not just heavyweight AEG investing in downtown. Philanthropist Eli Broad is building a $130 million art museum that is scheduled to open in 2013. The historic Belasco Theater, which lay dormant for 20 years, just reopened after being restored. Developers new to downtown are investing in housing, like the Affirmed Housing Group, which chose the area for its first project in the L.A. market. Officials are even studying a project to build a streetcar system. Portland-based developer Williams & Dame bought a parking lot across from the Ritz Carlton to build a tower that will house a Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn. "The dynamics for downtown Los Angeles are terrific for the future," says Homer Williams of Williams & Dame. "You're getting that 24-hour feel that cities need."