Urban L.A.: It's Time to Get Real

I'm probably overdue for a meaty, real estate related post, but the last week seems to be a carbon copy of the week before: local and national consumer confidence is gradually returning (despite last week's stock market glitch), unemployment numbers are still high, and consumers still aren't spending money. Despite this news, investors, buyers, and sellers are returning to the bargaining table, but no one is showing their cards just yet. Sales are happening, but we're all still waiting for an influx of distressed inventory to hit the market place, providing new opportunity for eager buyers. Real Estate values in L.A. are generally stabilizing, though there is no real sign of growth any time before 2012.

Like everywhere, Angelonians are waiting for the good times to roll again, but it's hard to get a real sense of where the long road to recovery here in Los Angeles will lead us. Not a day goes by that I am not somewhat baffled by the state of the market and the reality of real estate in Los Angeles. I often refer to the industry as playing 'cowboys and indians,' with purchase agreements involved. Real Estate is complicated enough, but it really becomes a whole other animal in a city as diverse and nuanced as L.A.

A recent article in the L.A. Times, Finding the Real L.A., got me thinking more deeply about the City of Angels and what defines the essence, or true nature of a city. Despite their diversity, Angelonians reflect a 'United Colors of Benetton' kind of homogeneity, bred of the 'anything goes' vibe of sunny southern California. A brilliant blend of cultural diversity, layered upon an image driven need for individuality, has the ironic effect of defining our so. Cal. cultural norms from a rather limited set of influences. As members of one of the world's great melting pots, Angelonians appear and act in similar ways on the outside and across a broad and tolerant range of 'norm', but as individuals with varied backgrounds, their perceptions of the world are heavily influenced by an iceberg of cultural and life experiences that lay just beneath the surface.

Every sub-cultural has its odd and unique qualities, but Los Angeles and its people fascinate me for their elusiveness. New York, with all of its raw edginess, reminds us of our humanness. When we bump shoulders with the banker or the janitor on the subway, somehow we are humbled; reminded that we are all one in the same and cut of the same cloth. You know where you stand in cities like New York, and if you don't, someone will surely tell you.

Assuming that a city is defined by the collective state-of-mind of its citizens, I am really fascinated by what this implication means for the future of L.A., especially as we traverse the murky waters ahead. How will our essence be defined? What lessons have we learned from the past five years? Have we changed for the better, and if so, how? How will our culture be re-shaped based upon the collective pain we've just been through?

I'm curious.... how do you define L.A.? What are the city's most positive qualities and its less desirable ones? How do you think L.A. and its people will change in the next ten years?

As it relates to Real Estate, the answers to these questions are critical in redefining a thoughtfully planned and vibrant city experience that supports the Angelonian lifestyle, in all its diversity. We must first know who we are before we can become what we long to be.