L.A. Dichotomy

The pair of articles by Sam Hall Kaplan and Frederick Nicholas (Opinion, Dec. 21) regarding the seemingly now inevitable Disney Concert Hall could no more strongly characterize the tragic dichotomy of Angeleno life in general and of downtown specifically.

On one hand, Kaplan observes the obvious: “The centrist trickle-down theory doesn’t work.” On the other, Nicholas has clearly not wandered around downtown very much: “It is at the hub of this sprawling and fragmented metropolis that its many diverse communities come together.” Nicholas should try walking down Olive or Hill Street, short blocks from the concert hall site. There is little coming together there save poverty and desperation.

Not unlike “City Walk,” the proposed ersatz L.A. to be built at Universal Studios, the Disney project is an insult to the spirit of Los Angeles and a denial of the fearful memories of fire and of tragedy which still dwell in all Angeleno hearts.

Los Angeles has enough music and theater venues, not the least of which are the ever-threatened theaters on Broadway.

The “outdoor terraces, gardens, and pocket parks,” Nicholas so lauds, will afford homeless Angelenos of downtown yet another place in which to remind us who have homes of how desperately bifurcated our sociocultural surroundings have become.

RICHARD NEWTON MEYER

Los Angeles