Call it marketing, not artsy

Regarding “It’s an Artwork-in-Progress by the Beach,” Feb. 24: Marina del Rey was dubbed the Arts District by developers and real estate agents when transforming the properties into condos became commercially viable. For years it has been a quiet, unassuming and a bit dog-eared few blocks whose main feature was the city tow yard, which is still there, across the street from an as-yet-unfinished behemoth complex that spans the entire breadth of the block from Glencoe Avenue to Del Rey Avenue. No fewer than eight multi-unit complexes have gone up without the benefit of significant infrastructure or traffic planning.

Tacking on an artistic image to make a development sexy to buyers is a marketing tool Los Angeles commercial interests have adopted since the real estate boom, and its insincerity betrays the reality.

In fact, a massive Del Rey creative exodus has taken place as media companies, graphics and architecture firms have left the area because the rents have shot up, their tenancy was terminated when the building was demolished or they escaped the messy, noisy, distracting construction that devoured a tiny area and put a permanent stop to the traffic flow on a street pitted with potholes.

In an evolving city, smart growth is not to be feared or obstructed. However, if aggressively shoveling high-density occupation into an older area without planning and supporting the change (hello, city management) is artsy, then let’s call it performance art -- just throw it out there and see what happens. It’s the “shock of the new” run riot.

Nancy Swaim

Mar Vista