Which Way, L.A.?

Grand Avenue Fog

Los Angeles City and County officials have signed off on a plan to convert public property near Disney Hall and Our Lady of Angels Cathedral into a city center worthy of Paris or London. The total cost of housing, hotels, offices and public spaces will be $1.2 billion. Taxpayers will come up with four parcels of public land and $300 million in bonds, but while finances are being negotiated with the winning New York developer, architects for Related Companies admit they have no idea what the project might finally look like, and the general public has had no role in the process at all. What do Chinatown, Little Tokyo, El Pueblo and other neighborhoods have to do with it? Warren Olney finds out in a conversation with Supervisor Gloria Molina, architect Thom Mayne, and urban planner Richard Weinstein. Making News: Legislative Frenzy Tests Arnold-s Position and Patience As the August 31 deadline approaches to end this year-s legislative session, Sacramento is in its accustomed last-minute frenzy, but this year, there-s a new sheriff in town. Today-s San Francisco Chronicle reports that new bills -are lined up like jets on a crowded runway.- The question is whether Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign them into law. John Hubbell, who wrote the story, says Schwarzenegger has little patience for California's "girlie-men" and their "gut and amend" process.