Spotted downtown near Disney Hall.
Business and economy
News and observations on the economy, business, real estate, aerospace, tech, wealth, poverty and more.
 
Incorporating LA Biz Observed.
As explained by a team of Los Angeles Times Community News reporters, Senate Bill 50 touches the sanctity of a home and the independence of local officials by allowing high rise apartments next to single family dwellings. Nowhere is this clearer than in the Orange County suburbs explored by the reporters.
County Supervisor Kathryn Barger shares mixed feelings of many officials as they contemplate public reaction to growing number of homeless on the streets
Larry Mantle, host of KPCC's AirTalk, expressed the frustration of almost everyone dealing with homelessness when he interviewed City Controller Ron Galperin: "Trying to get one's arm around this thing, very challenging, Ron."
City Atty. Mike Feuer was his usual knowledgeable self as he explained what he'd been doing to combat Los Angeles' seemingly incurable affliction of homelessness.
No matter how the dispute between the teachers union and the Los Angeles school district ends, poverty, the root cause of failure in L.A. schools, won't go away.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis agrees with critics of the Los Angeles County Homeless Services Authority.
"There are people who shoot up and there are people who are mentally ill," said Koreatown activist and attorney Grace Yoo. "How do we ensure the safety for the homeless and the people nearby?"
Elise Buik is president of United Way of Greater Los Angeles. Mark Ridley-Thomas is the Los Angeles County supervisor from the 2nd district.
Under fire from his hometown paper, Mayor Eric Garcetti says he will work on a plan for every Los Angeles community to agree to accept housing for the homeless.
Pressure will be heavy on Mayor Eric Garcetti and County supervisors board chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas to show much more progress with the so-far insoluble housing-homeless problem.
Homelessness is an emergency, says Councilman Mike Bonin, and requires a response equal to what the federal disaster agency does when a hurricane strikes
The first batch of homeless housing to be built by last year's $1.2 billion bond is to be scattered around Los Angeles instead of being concentrated in Skid Row.
Ai Weiwei, the Chinese dissident and artist, has added his very personal perspective on the global refugee crisis.
Broad chooses the New York Times for announcement that he wants to spend more time with his family and "catch up on my reading."
Failing to plan is planning to fail. Don't hurry home. Be grateful you made the effort.
The total jumped 23 percent over last year despite many more homeless people being moved into housing. So it could have been even worse.
A homeless encampment appears under a freeway or in a park near you. You’re a public spirited Angeleno. Who do you call?
"As Mayor, there’s no issue I spend more time on," Garcetti says in his annual state of the city speech.
After the surprising victory of Measure H, county and city officials and non-profit organizations are planning to move quickly to put its money to work.
It’s something of a miracle that Measure H, the Los Angeles County tax increase to improve services for the homeless, may be near voter approval.
Trump's orders to block refugees and travelers from Muslim countries - even U.S. legal residents - caught Homeland Security by surprise. Protesters and lawyers flooded the airport.
Hard to imagine a bigger change to the infrastructure and environment of the Westside.
The mega airport is such a vital and vulnerable piece of our infrastructure that it employs two anti-terrorism experts with top-secret clearances.
Mark Lacter and LA Biz Observed
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006 and posted until his death on Nov. 13, 2013. His 10,000-plus posts
are archived here.
New at LA Observed
KCET control room
A peek inside the TV station's Burbank studios.
Whitt's Wood Yard
Elon Musk wants to drill here at Pico and Sepulveda.
BCAM
The Broad Contemporary Art Museum at LACMA.
Mountain lion family
From Robert Martinez's trail cam in the San Gabriels.
Streetscape: Westwood
Westwood Boulevard looking north and a little bit skyward.
Sign from LA's past
Sign from an old Love's BBQ restaurant at the Valley Relics Museum in Chatsworth.
Visiting her old ballet costumes
Melissa Barak at LACMA Chagall exhibit with the artist's memorable designs.
Barnsdall Park
Under the trees.