Maybe you missed it, I almost did too.  The news item in the L.A. Times made it seem like a joke.  But they are in escrow for 55 acres and plan to spend $3.55 billion (with a B) on this development.  This is the “City of Angeles Monument” that will take over Crown Hill.   The map shows the development taking all the land from 1st St./Beverly Boulevard on the north to 3rd St on the south.  And from Beaudry on the east it goes to the old Belmont High campus and Loma Pl. on the west.  The whole Angel City development will cover 85 acres when it’s finished.  Crown Hill is at the south end of Glendale Blvd., and this development will make a very gigantic impact on us in Echo Park.  If you thought the #2 freeway was the only problem, just you wait.

The centerpiece of Angel City is the angel tower and statue.  The tower will be 750 feet high and the angel statue will be an additional 350 feet on top.  This adds up to 116 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower.  The angel will be more than twice the size of the Statue of Liberty.  Plans include a concert hall, museums, galleries, cafes, nightclubs, and observation decks in the tower. They also plan for four hotels and other commercial buildings.  This all adds up to a major destination and “venue” for commuters and tourists.  It also means intolerable traffic for us along Glendale Blvd.  Obviously, this is a community-killer mega-development.

Transportation planning is crucial for us and also for Angel City.  The developer is quoted as saying he will pay for a feasibility study for a “magnetic-levitation” monorail system.  He wants to connect Angel City with the Music Center, Little Tokyo, Dodger Stadium, Staples Arena, the Coliseum and LAX.  But even if it’s feasible in theory, would it actually get built??  Who will pay for it??  Will it be in place and operating when Angel City opens for business??  Will the requirements of residential communities like Echo Park be a top priority??  Or, will L.A.’s traditional incompetence in transportation planning continue again here too??  So, we will all need to become political activists on local transportation, or Echo Park could be doomed.

Look up the article in the June 17, “99, L.A. Times, Section B, the Metro section.  They claim to have the money lined up.  The developer expresses great self-assurance even though the picture looks like a bizarre theme park.   The architectural style will be Gothic like Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  I’m not kidding.  I wish I was.