Posted by George Raft (205.188.208.134) on December 09, 2002 at 23:31:55:
In Reply to: Whoever tears this building down should be horse whipped! posted by Tim on November 29, 2002 at 00:43:30:
Among the myriad of other issues listed on this board, the main reason for the hotel's troubles lies in poor zoning and recent development projects.
The neighborhood is overcrowded due to a massive amount of apartment buildings in the neighborhood. It is as if the city has allowed and continues to allow this glut to happen.
More people bring more children...and now the neighborhood is overstuffed with kids being bused to other neighborhoods.
Perhaps legislation limiting the amount of apartment buildings in a given area should have been a beforethought rather than an after thought.
It's sad that many stately homes have been wiped out in order to build multi-storied cheap Asian influenced apartments.
The look of the neighborhood continues to deteriorate. Even a school the size of the LAUSD's proposal could not eliminate the overcrowding because the new apartments keep sprouting up like wild mushrooms.
Without the Ambassador Hotel, the area will be an ordinary, indistinguishable slum without any hope of recovering its allure. It is angering to see the fate of a once prestine neighborhood hanging in such a delicate balance.
Perhaps it is time to take this matter to the city politicians. An Ambassador housing project utilizing the hotel is the best answer for the area, not a school--which will fall short of meeting all proposed school board expectations.
Blocks of apartments should be seized through public domain--only then will the problem be addressed on two fronts--providing an educational facility while thinning the overcrowded population at the same time.
Slum lords will get what they deserve for contributing to the delinquency of a neighborhood.