Downtown Delights

Reader D.W. Jenks seems to have heard rumors about downtown living but doesn’t appear to have actually investigated those rumors (Letters, Aug. 25).

Jenks asks if there are plans for a supermarket. Escrow has closed on a property that is expected to become a Ralphs or Albertson’s; meantime, there are smaller markets that can provide just about everything one needs.

Are there plans for new department stores? Probably not--those we already have.

Same goes for doctors and dentists. The “frosting” to which Jenks refers is what makes downtown living so appealing.

Other communities also have the conveniences listed above--but how many can boast of free weekly concerts from all over the world, lots of live theater, fantastic museums, architecture to die for, a wealth of cultures--and cheap and easy public transit?

I agree that people who work in Santa Clarita probably shouldn’t move down here (I don’t know why they’d even want to). But for those who work on the Westside, it’s a quick commute, and those in the Valley can take the subway or Metrolink very easily. Metrolink trains run as far as Oxnard, actually.

It’s disappointing that after so much good press, downtown is still perceived so incorrectly by the majority of Los Angeles, and people continue to perpetuate the “ghost town at sundown” stereotype. There is a vibrant community growing every day, and I for one am delighted to be a part of it.

ANASTASIA McATEER

Downtown Los Angeles