The other day I came upon an article in Newsweek that truly caught my interest.  The article was titled “The Creativity Crisis” and the headline read “For the first time reasearcg shows that American creativity is declining.  What went wrong – and how can we fix it.”  As I read the article it occured to me the writer’s statement was just not correct.  There is plenty of creativity today in America and from Americans, it’s just that past generation fails to recognize the new gereration’s creative contributions. 

Years ago creativity was defined by invention of mechanical products.  The the cotton gin, the telephone and the assembly line were regarded as creative feats, which they were.  Today, video games are more complex than ever, televison shows and feature films are less formulaic than in the past, and art expands far beyond the canvas.  Americans are constantly looking to break new ground and explore what has not been yet discovered.

While it has been asked, what changed creativity in America, there are a few areas to visit in our educational system.  From an early age children are asked to color within the lines and are graded for such.  The better grades go to those who stay within the lines.  But it is those who see no boundries that are expressing their creativity in another way. 

The article in Newsweek continued to focus on the educational system in our country as well, noting that with the packed curriculum there is very little time for creative classes.  Art and music departments are being cut and replaced with higher level math and English courses.  Our children are being educated, but only to fit into corporate America.

As I read on it was mentioned that a prime leadership requirement is creativity.  With all that is focused every day within our schools you would think we would be preserving the creative courses somehow.  But then again, why would we – the education system in our country has been designed to help children grow into adults who fit into society’s little box.  But leaders are born, not taught.  To bring America’s creativity back we just have to begin to accept those that do differently than we do and appreciate their efforts.

City Councilmen Tom LeBonge has been kicking around an idea for some time now that would connect the Southern California Institute of Architecture to the Arts District located just south of the campus using an existing rail line that has been previously abandoned. This idea didn’t gain much support from the Mayors Office when it was first introduced four years ago. So when LaBonge was asked by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to sit in on the Feb. 25 Metro board meeting in the place of Councilman and Metro board member José Huizar, LaBonge made his pitch again.

Lebonge commissioned a feasibility report to be completed by Metro Staff. The report would include the environmental impacts of adding a service car to the Red and Purple Lines that would service a new station at Sixth Street near Santa Fe Avenue. Lebonge wanted to make it clear that no new track would need to be constructed and a platform could easily be erected either there or near Third Street.

LaBonge envisions the line extension as a way for people to get to and from SCI-Arc and the Arts and Industrial districts, and possibly as an opportunity to reduce congestion at Union Station’s Patsaouras Transit Plaza.

“If I can use a baseball analogy, a lot of times you try to get a hit and maybe you get a hit to the outfield but you don’t score,” LaBonge said. “I didn’t hit this one out of the park, but we’re at least in play to get around the bases.”

Looks like Anschutz Entertainment Group is not done with their multi million dollar development at LA Live. The Community Redevelopment Agency is considering a request from AEG to develop the South Park entertainment district. Their intentions are to create a more business oriented development that will provide customers for the existing restaurant tenants.

Today, January 21, 2010, the CRA is considering the request to add office and production studio space to the site, while reducing the number of hotel rooms that were part of the original LA Live master plan. This doesn’t come as a surprise since the hotel industry is still hurting the recent recession. More hotels have gone out of business in the last 3 years compared to the previous 10 years combined.

This would allow for AEG to add approximately 600,000 square feet of office space. No timeline has been provided. In addition the above mentioned project, the City Planning Commission separately considered plans for AEG to develop a 269,182 square foot broadcasting studio at LA Live that could accommodate a nationwide cable television network.

 Met-Romantic:: L.A. Metro :: Swoons Creative Angelenos

A recent move, at the end of a decade replants this seasoned Angeleno as a new resident of Lincoln Heights… Not unfamiliar with this area that’s a pocket of cultural diversity, this area also is home to many visual artists, and the hip canyon dwellers of Mount Washington. Where is this, “pocket”, you ask? Try Avenue 26 at Lacy Street :: Lacy Studio Lofts. Home to small businesses like Marketing and Branding, Design, Fashion, Film Production, Photography that make live work look like chic modes opperendo of the free world.

Knowing that the Metro is just down the street, is something that cannot be ignored- After spending 9 years of commuting up and down freeways and side routes (to work!)  but also across town to music venues, like the Wiltern, or the Hollywood Bowl, fighting for parking to no avail….the Metro Line is romancing us from the corner : I welcome it with open arms. Having only been a resident of Lacy for a few weeks – the holidays are here – and X is playing a Christmas show with Calexico at the Wiltern-Awesome! – A Band that is from Los Angeles, and has influenced hundreds since the 80′s…and BONUS! No driving and No parking : The Metro is just on the corner, sweet…..

So, because we could have an extra cocktail, we did, and we enjoyed our wait for the train that much more, but also the scenic journey: The Metro rolls up…we board,and as we roll west towards Union station where we transfer to the purple line that will take us to destination The Wiltern, we are happy to see the layout of our city as if we are on a monorail ride at Disneyland- but better, it was Chinatown! Seeing the city glitter passing over Chinatown with a birds eye view, I have to tell you, is quite cool.  And no driving mind you- Look Los Angeles, going across town no longer requires hands.

Not only can we travel to great music venues in a jiff, we can also get to view some of the hippest Art galleries, and Events, all happening downtown, such as…..”Live the Dream 2010″ > Jerico, the original artist bar,  is hosting an event this Thursday Jan 14th at 7pm, featuring the best of the best L.A. Downtown Artists, and will be featuring one of the Lacy Tenants, Emmeric Konrad. Of course….I’m going, and, I’m taking the Train

Living in Los Angeles has proven to be an existence in various shades of tan, brown, acrid yellow and if we are lucky to be missing the notorious smoggy grey haze a scientific blue. I ask, in this perfect climate where is the green?  I am sure our extreme lack of “green” space does not help with the production of the much needed supplemental oxygen and room to wiggle our toes. Los Angeles is considered to be the most park poor major city in America, with a sparse 7.8 % of its city space allocated to parks.  It seems that other Angelinos might be feeling the lack of green these days and perhaps find more value in parks and recreational areas, because the “Green Alley Movement is gaining momentum:The city of Los Angeles has officially committed to an innovative proposal to transform some of its neglected alley ways, typically used for dumping, trash bins, slumbering quarters for the occasional drunken bar hopper unable to make the staggering trek home and just good old fashioned crime.  This transformation comes by way of “green space”The proposed green alley project will use existing spaces in a new progressive way.  It is creative ideas using mostly existing infrastructure that will quickly transition urban areas to sustainable pedestrian havens.  Most of the existing alleys in LA are in dense single-family residential neighborhoods, and the majority of these are in South Los Angeles.   The goal is to give these spaces back to the public for recreational use, and in turn increase the green space of the city. The City Council approved recommendations advancing the proposal of the Green Alley Project. It included provisions for developing design guidelines, determining cost, building a detailed map of alleys and identifying pilot project sites.  The first pilot project site to be Cosmo Alley and slated for completion the summer of 2010.This alley runs north and south from Hollywood Boulevard and Selma Avenue between Cahuenga Boulevard and Cosmo Street and has been gated for many years.   Adjacent businesses have used the public alley for private purposes and the public has been denied access to the alley.  This canker sore of a street and eclectic mishmash of dumpster valet is soon to be reborn as a pedestrian mall as City Council with Garcetti’s motion has declared this alley to be returned to the public and require business’s to apply for revocable permits for the use of the public space.What does this mean to business’s and local property owners? Simply, more pedestrian traffic and opportunity to increase business and revenue.  What does this mean to residents and tenants in the area?  A well maintained relaxing space to enjoy lunch alfresco, and a great place to take a stroll and wiggle your toes.