Los Angeles Gets Serious About Its Downtown - Property investors are luring professionals by turning abandoned buildings into stores, bars and apartments

From The Wall Street Journal:

For decades, "downtown L.A." was a just a punch line in this sprawling city famous for having no real center. Largely ignored by residents—except for office workers who cleared out at 5 p.m.—many of the district's store fronts and theaters were vacant. Its best-known neighborhood was Skid Row.

Now, downtown Los Angeles is in the midst of a transformation that's no joke.

In the last 14 years, its residential population has jumped to 52,000 from 19,000, after a city ordinance allowed historic and underused properties to be converted into housing. Abandoned buildings have been transformed into luxury lofts.

In the last five years, more than 450 new businesses have opened downtown, according to the Downtown Center Business Improvement District, a coalition of business owners and residents. Many of them are the city's hippest new restaurants and boutiques. Over 5,000 apartment units are under construction. Investors from Israel, Canada and South Korea have commercial or residential projects in the works.

Downtown neighborhoods are making a comeback in many cities, including Toronto, Detroit and Providence, R.I., where investors have snapped up bargains and turned vacant buildings into lofts and shops aimed at young professionals who want to live where they work.