Monday, September 8, 2008

Beginning NoHo

Well I have finally put pen to paper and begun writing.

Introduction

In their preface to The Suburbanization of New York Hammett and Hammett write, "Today New York is on its way to becoming a 'theme park city,' where people can get the illusion of the urban experience without the diversity, spontaneity, and unpredictability that have always been its hallmarks" (Hammett & Hammett, 2007, p. 20). Their concern echoes an analysis made by many scholars that cities are becoming increasingly similar. Andrew Wood and Anne Marie Todd argue that as big box retailers and fast food chains become more prevalent, neighborhoods lose their distinctive characteristics and become more like the generic city of "The Simpsons": Springfield (Wood & Todd, 2005). Marc Augé sees places with distinct traditions being replaced by "non-places," spaces "which cannot be defined as relational, or historical, or concerned with identity" (Augé, 1995, pp. 77-78). And George Ritzer describes the tendency of mass-produced goods to displace local and distinct products as the "globalization of nothing" (Ritzer, 2003, p. 3).

But the tendency for cities to become more generic seems to be countered in Los Angeles: while New Yorkers worry about their city becoming more like an American suburb, in Los Angeles, a city associated with suburban sprawl, some worry their city is becoming too much like New York. In an editorial responding to zoning rule changes that permit higher density development, urban researcher Joel Kotkin asks, "Why the rush to Manhattanize L.A.?" Kotkin despairs that "only a handful of politicians . . . seem to recognize that some Angelenos think that adding density to our already crowded region won't necessarily improve the quality of life" (Kotkin, 2007). Kotkin is referring primarily to large development projects downtown, but the anxiety over growing density extends beyond downtown to the San Fernando Valley--once the quintessential American suburb. In February 2008 a public meeting in North Hollywood brought out hundreds of neighbors, mostly voicing their opposition to several large scale developments in the southeast San Fernando Valley (Lopez, 2008).

If residents of suburban Los Angeles express concern about their neighborhoods becoming more like urban New York, an important question becomes what exactly "urban" means. Does it mean, "ethnically and economically mixed" with "diverse neighborhood scale stores" (Hammett & Hammett, 2007, pp. 19-20), dense and crowded multistory apartments where "human activities are more important than sunlight, nature or individual privacy" (Kotkin, 2007) or something else? The struggle over the meaning of urbanization in the Valley relates to the struggle over its physical transformation. This relationship will be the focus of this paper.

The paper first provides a brief history of North Hollywood and its establishment as a redevelopment area. Second, the debate over plans for North Hollywood's growing density is discussed. The anger over increased density has been interpreted as reflecting Valley residents' desire to maintain their suburban isolation, which historically has been a major factor in local politics. However, as explored in the next section, the new development surrounding North Hollywood does not represent the economic and racial diversity traditionally feared by suburbanites. Rather, the "NoHo Arts District" at the center of redevelopment resembles more closely the upscale urbanism of gentrified Manhattan. Thus, ironically, to become more like Manhattan may mean becoming more suburban.

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