Building And Construction In Los Angeles, CA

The City of Los Angeles, situated near the Pacificconstruction, with a more than 15 percent increase to
Ocean coast, surrounded by the San Bernardinoapproximately 28,000 persons. This amount surpassed
Mountain Range, is the most populous city in California.estimates and, with a higher number of housing units
The city has come a long way since it wasbeing built, has pushed the total count to possibly be
established in 1781 by Spanish governor Felipe demore than 40,000 by the end of 2008. Unfortunately,
Neve. Building and construction has proceeded at athe number of extant jobs in the area has fallen to
somewhat uneven pace since then. The downtown418,000, down from an estimated 605,000 a decade
area, in particular, is currently undergoing something ofago.
a renaissance, with many historic buildings beingThis year, the City Council approved widespread
changed into expensive lofts.changes to the downtown's zoning laws. Muchly
Most major downtown department stores oncedesired by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the changes will
operated out of stand-alone buildings in the area. Manyaccelerate more building and construction by allowing
were closed in the 1970's and 80's, as there was afor bigger and more closely-packed developments. In
movement away from stand-alones and into modernaddition, builders who keep 15 percent of their units for
office parks and shopping malls. With the city'slow-income residents are to be exempt from certain
westward movement of the commercial center,building requirements and living spaces can be
downtown LA was lacking much nightlife until moreconstructed that are more than 30 percent larger than
recent times.existent zoning laws call for.
Despite the fact that the building and constructionInterestingly, a number of the core downtown buildings
process proceeded relatively quickly, the LA Citydate way back in the turn of the century. Between
Council made things even faster by enacting a reusethen and the late 1050's, a rigid zoning law restrained
ordinance, thus making it simpler for developers tobuilding heights at under 150 feet, causing a fairly
convert vacant old office buildings to high-class loftshomogenous skyline. Reportedly, it was done not for
and luxury apartment complexes. A slew offear of earthquakes, but to maintain a uniform height in
professionals, fed up with the city's notorious trafficthe area and to avoid New York City style congestion.
problems, were the first to move in.None of these laws exist today, as a skyline filled with
The number of residents in downtown LA has growntall office buildings bears evidence to.
since the early 2000's, in part due to all the building and