Bringing the Future Into Focus : Movie megaplexes, other projects give Valley economy a new look
We confess a twinge of nostalgia on learning that the Winnetka 6 Drive-In could go the way of cheap gasoline, tail fins and all flesh: Pacific Theatres has announced it will replace this icon of the auto age with a 26-screen megaplex with shops and restaurants.
We’d barely digested that news when Northridge Fashion Center announced plans for a competing entertainment complex, with multiple movie screens and other enticements. Some observers were already speculating that too-intense competition might yet earn the Winnetka a reprieve.
However the dust settles, those of use who live and work in the Valley should take heart at these announcements. Even if we lose a sentimental favorite (and a source of relatively inexpensive family fun), these are the kind of developments that are fueling an economic rebound. It’s through these changes that employment opportunities will grow (albeit sometimes at less than ideal wages), community aesthetics will be elevated and the engine of economic growth will be given new fuel.
The rush for movie megaplexes is hardly the only example.
In West Hills, a Chicago company that runs engineering and business schools has agreed to develop a 15-acre campus on part of the former Hughes Aircraft site. The pay and scope of employment there won’t match aerospace, but its graduates should be in line for higher earnings. It’s good news that the site will be back in use.
And Burbank--long the butt of TV jokes and then buffeted by downsizing--is finally having the last laugh as it and neighboring Glendale welcome an honest-to-goodness entertainment industry boom.
The Valley’s economy is reviving and it’s transforming. We are unlikely to revisit the boom years of aerospace and real estate, but we are well-positioned for growth in other areas. Change can be wrenching but is worth the effort if it leads to greater entrepreneurial skills and the conscience to manage and grow existing economic resources.
