Read the Writing on the Wall
I just arrived at the office, and I’m dying to drink a Tropicana juice.
That’s because I drove past one of those big supergraphics on a building that everyone seems so upset about. It’s a big advertisement for Tropicana, and I succumbed. It’s in my head and I can’t get it out. I must drink one.
I’m sure I’m not alone. People all over Los Angeles are probably rushing out this very minute to drink one. At least, that’s one of the arguments against supergraphics; since they’re immense and convey such an overwhelming message, we weak humans just can’t resist. That’s probably true. I mean, have you ever been able to ignore a single commercial message? Just one? I didn’t think so. Those supergraphics must come down.
Now, I guess you could argue that Los Angeles has gang problems and school problems, and the recession is hurting everyone, so maybe we shouldn’t worry about supergraphics. But I for one am real happy that some of our elected officials are spending a good deal of time and energy on this menace.
State Spins Wheels on Mass Transit
If you ask David Fleming about L.A.’s infamous traffic congestion, he’ll tell you it is one of the most complained-about problems of doing business here. In fact, Fleming, who’s chairman of the Los Angeles County Business Federation, said when that organization last year surveyed its members, traffic was the No. 1 concern.
Heck, it’s a big issue for just about every one of the 10 million of us who live in Los Angeles County and who spend countless and needless hours inching our way along streets that seem more like moving parking lots.
So that’s why he was flummoxed last week about what’s been going on in Sacramento. State legislators are seriously toying with the idea of pinching off a funding source for L.A. County’s Metropolitan Transit Authority, the agency that runs buses and commuter trains.
It looks like the MTA could lose about 16 percent of its budget not only now but in the future, and that upsets Fleming, who also is a director on MTA’s board. (Believe it or not, the guy sits on 14 boards.)
SAG Travels Dangerous Road
Will the Screen Actors Guild do to Los Angeles what the United Auto Workers did to Detroit?
It’s starting to feel that way. Consider the situation.
The most radical faction in the 120,000-member SAG is in the leadership. They want authority to strike. A couple of weeks ago, moderates tried to negate the leaders but got beaten back. It’s unclear that the leaders will get their way, but the point is those most agitating to strike still have a leading role in this drama.
Besides this internal blood feud, SAG has a second fight that it believes is the big one. That is the external fight with the studios over how to divvy up revenue streams, including future new-media residuals.
But has SAG lost sight of the fact that it is in a third fight? That third fight really is the big one, because it is about survival.
Shine the Jewel, Don’t Smash It
I attended an event last week at the Los Angeles hotel everyone still calls the Century Plaza, and I was reminded of what a truly nice structure it is.
Walk into the interior, and you’re quickly put at ease. That’s a bit surprising, since the décor is sleek and the space is cavernous. Instead of being put off, you want to linger in its comfortable formality. You’d be forgiven if you sat and ordered a martini because there’s an honest mid-’60s glamour to the place that survived the hotel’s recent and very expensive makeover. Shaken, not stirred, please.
But outside is where the hotel is at its best. It’s a building that’s not ashamed to be simple. The front of the building makes that perfect arc, a curve that seems to reach out and embrace visitors. The room balconies form nice symmetrical rows. The entire appearance makes the hotel seem sturdy yet graceful.
And the building fits perfectly amid its neighbors. It faces and complements the 2000 Avenue of the Stars building directly across the street. The horizontal mass of the hotel nicely offsets the towers that have sprung up, and continue to spring up, in Century City.
Positive, Negative in ’80s Revival
If you read the January 12 issue of the Los Angeles Business Journal, you may think we accidentally republished some articles from the 1980s.
Privatization and poison pills – common terms from 20 years ago – are the subjects of two articles in the issue. Both seem to be making a bit of a comeback.
It would be heartening to see a true revival of privatization. Outgoing Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick floated the notion of leasing out or contracting out some city functions.
Think about it: Is there really any philosophical justification for the city of Los Angeles, or any city or any county or state for that matter, to operate golf courses and parking lots?
The Retirement Problem
A Los Angeles Business Journal poll last week asked at what age people planned to retire (or already retired). The biggest number of respondents – 35 percent – said “never,” and 28 percent plan on retiring well after age 65.
Granted, this is a decidedly unscientific poll, but still, a total of 63 percent are planning to blow well past the age of 65 before they hang it up, if they do so at all. That’s pretty amazing. (What prompted the poll question, by the way, was a recent special report in the Business Journal, “Eight Over 80,” which profiled eight Angelenos, all 80 or older, who are not just still in the game of business but still throwing heat.)
I bring this up because of a pet peeve of mine: all those consultants out there striving to persuade business owners that they have a big problem on the horizon because of the tsunami of retirements of baby boomers.
Leno to Act as Prime Mover
Hey, did you hear the one about Jay Leno moving to prime time?
It’s probably a good move. That way, Leno’s audience can actually watch half the show before nodding off. Ba-dum-dum.
Of course, to make room, NBC will have to find someplace to put a lot of its prime time programs. Shouldn’t be a problem, though. Forest Lawn is nearby.
But seriously, folks … NBC’s announcement last week to move Leno to prime time does have implications for L.A.’s economy. That’s because the army of actors and wannabe actors who live in and around Los Angeles will have fewer opportunities for work.
Just what good are recessions, anyway?
Last week we were told we are officially in a recession. That brings up a question: Just what good are recessions, anyway?
The biggest benefit is that they drive down inflated prices, a task this recession is carrying out with cruel efficiency. When prices get so low that buyers can’t resist the bargains, buying activity resumes, and the cycle begins anew.
The good news is that we’re seeing that occur already. Despite terrible retail sales generally, Black Friday results were better than anyone expected, thanks to one thing: low prices. And even Los Angeles’ beleaguered homes are now priced so low they’re moving briskly.
As you can see in the real estate section of the current issue of the Los Angeles Business Journal, the number of homes that traded hands in November in L.A. County was 48 percent higher than the same month last year.
These examples are the early stirrings of the recovery that will follow.
Some Love for eHarmony
The decision by eHarmony to create a same-sex dating Web site is an intriguing one.
At first blush, it appears the decision was risky because it frosted off its core constituency, conservative Christians. After all, the Pasadena matchmaking service was started by a born-again Christian. And, as pointed out in an article in last week’s Los Angeles Business Journal, eHarmony had long resisted creating a gay matchmaking service.
For those reasons, eHarmony was seen as a champion by evangelicals and other dedicated Christians. Their support helped propel eHarmony to the top of the Web-dating world. (The fact that eHarmony focuses on matching up singles for matrimony and not for quickie hookups also endeared it to the Christian right.)
So when eHarmony a few weeks ago said it would create a separate same-sex dating service, some evangelicals viewed the decision as a betrayal just short of Judas Iscariot’s.
Beyond Reach of Relief
As the mortgage crises deepened, one mortgage-relief program after another popped up as fast as rooftops used to in the Inland Empire.
All those programs sure make Congress and everybody feel good, knowing that they’re helping distressed homeowners stay put.
But lately, articles have appeared saying that lots of those homeowners essentially are treating the programs like door-to-door salesmen, saying “no thank you” and slamming the door shut before they even hear the pitch.
Frustrated lenders are trying harder to entice stressed borrowers to take a good deal. IndyMac Federal Bank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which now runs it, recently held walk-in counseling session in Van Nuys and is set to hold another in the Inland Empire so they could hawk IndyMac’s aggressive loan modification program.
Why are the drowning homeowners so reluctant to grasp at the straw of the various mortgage-relief programs?