The 54th GRAMMY Awards and The City Around Them

February 14, 2012 Leave a comment

If you follow me on twitter (@stevenmwhite), it’s no surprise to you after this weekend that I’m a fan of the GRAMMYs. For both personal and professional reasons, I have followed and enjoyed the GRAMMY awards telecast for a long time. If you’re a recent acquaintance or twitter follower, you may not know that this website used to be a lighting portfolio, rather than a blog. I am intensely interested in show production and spent years as a lighting designer and programmer. My current dream is to operate a performance venue or theatre because it combines my loves of show production and civic space. All that to say, one of the reasons I started this blog was not just to write about development and transit, but live events and shows. That part of the blog has been somewhat neglected, but the GRAMMYs are bringing it back.

Me on this year's GRAMMY Red Carpet.

Personally, I got involved in The Recording Academy’s “GRAMMY U” program while in college and got the opportunity to attend rehearsals for The GRAMMY Awards and a related charity show, the MusiCares Person of the Year Tribute. Within a year, I found myself working on the MusiCares Person of the Year as the producer’s assistant. I’ve been back in other capacities every year since and now work full-time for the show’s production company (please note that the opinions here are not those of my company, but only myself). We also design and produce the Red Carpet and Media Center for the GRAMMY Awards, so I had a very busy weekend working on the two events this year.

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to attend the GRAMMY Awards — and take a date. That first date became my girlfriend, and we just spent our two-year anniversary watching Paul McCartney, Rihanna, Coldplay, and the Foo Fighters rehearse for this year’s show.

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Lessons from Seattle part 3: Retail Development

January 9, 2012 1 Comment

Completing my series based on a trip I took to Seattle a few months ago, I conclude with retail development. (Previous posts looked at Airport Transit and Local Transit in Downtown Seattle.)

Because my time in Seattle was brief, I undoubtedly missed the vast majority that the city had to offer in terms of retail. I’m going to focus on a specific development, Pacific Place, with a few side notes as well.

I first noticed Pacific Place when I was eating dinner across the street one night. I was sitting on the patio and looked across the street, astounded that there was retail above the first floor on nearly every building. It was amazing because I am so used to retail being a ground floor aspect of buildings, with housing or offices above. What I didn’t know was that the “many” buildings I was looking at we’re actually one and that it was Pacific Place.

The shopping mall was designed to look like a number of buildings that had been built over time, and the major shops on the outer edge all had street facing entrances (as well as interior entrances). They acted almost like independent buildings from the street side, each with their own style as well.

From across the street, Pacific Place appears as multiple buildings, with retail and restaurants on all floors.

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The Downtown Streetcar: My Thoughts

December 6, 2011 13 Comments

Downtown LA seems poised to get a new streetcar line in the next few years – the first of what will hopefully be a new system re-introducing the streetcar to Los Angeles, which at one time boasted the largest streetcar system in the world. In the 60 or so years since the streetcar fell out of fashion, it’s purpose has changed, and we must take that into account in planning for the new one.

An historic streetcar passes USC on its route between Downtown and Santa Monica. Today, this route is about to be opened as the Expo Light Rail Line. (Photo: Alan Weeks/Metro Archive)

The red and yellow cars of yesteryear were a regional mass transit system. Yes, they took people through Downtown, but also took them out to the “suburbs” of Pasadena or Hollywood and beyond. They were the equivalent of today’s Metro system, which is made up of busses, subway, and light rail. Today’s streetcar is more of a local transit option. It is an urban circulator, a “last-mile connector.” The streetcar of today will help pedestrians make the connection within that 1-2 mile area that is too far to walk. They should be quick, but speed is not ultimately the most important aspect as they are usually only covering relatively short distances anyway. One of the main purposes of the Downtown Streetcar is to be a development tool, according to Bringing Back Broadway and LA Streetcar Inc. The hope is that a permanent route, as well as the attraction of streetcars, will spur development all along that route (particularly on Broadway).

A rendering of the proposed LA Streetcar on Broadway. (Photo: LA Streetcar Inc.)

Someone may take the subway into Downtown for an event, and then take the streetcar to get drinks afterwards in another part of Downtown. The streetcar was not their main method of transportation to or from Downtown, but expanded their options once here. With that in mind… I’ve been following the LA Streetcar project since its inception and now that it’s nearing the time to choose a route, I want to put my observations and suggestions forward.

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Christ and Urban Development

October 6, 2011 1 Comment

Of all the places to look for wisdom on urban development, I would never have thought to go to the Bible. I should have known better.

For one, I should have recognized that civilization in Biblical times had in fact progressed to a point where great cities (if not cities with skyscrapers and subways) did exist. Business was important, as was development and building. Temples, government buildings, public squares and more were an important part of city life 2000 years ago. Secondly, it makes sense that Jesus would have used examples of this city life in his teaching. He often used metaphors from the culture, religion, government and recreation of the day.

While sitting in church a few weeks ago, I heard one specific example in Luke 14. Jesus was using the metaphor of building to teach a lesson about following him, but I think it can also be used as great wisdom for development. Lessons learned following Jesus have apply to all areas of life.

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