Although they did not entirely represent the Los Angeles mosaic of diversity they praised, Mayor Richard Riordan, billionaire Eli Broad, former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros and several high-tech businessmen Friday provided a spirited vision of how the city is paving the way to the 21st century.
The panel spoke at an economic round table at the Central Library, moderated by CNN "Moneyline" co-host Willow Bay. It followed a media briefing at the Regal Biltmore Hotel aimed at recasting the city's Tinseltown image to one of a capital of technology, boasting the world's 12th-largest economy and leading the nation in manufacturing and higher education.
"The perception of Los Angeles lags behind reality by almost a decade, said Broad, a co-chairman of the nonpartisan Democratic National Convention host committee, which sponsored the events. "They remember the loss of the defense industry, the downsizing of the aerospace industry, and Hollywood. But we're really home of the new economy."
The convention is the perfect time to showcase the city and its business-friendly environment, he added, a key reason he worked so hard with Riordan and fellow host committee co-chairman Bill Wardlaw to bring the event here.
Broad and Riordan lost no time Friday in painting the downtown they have determined to reinvent as a haven for Angelenos from all around the basin.
Broad talked of turning Grand Avenue into a pedestrian paradise like the Champs-Elysees and cast the Disney Concert Hall, the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and the Museum of Contemporary Art as architectural icons that will soon define Los Angeles. He also predicted a threefold rise in downtown residents in the next few years.
"It was the Northridge earthquake that was the turning point for Los Angeles," Riordan said. The city rebounded in six months, and has been improving by leaps and bounds ever since, he added. "We are the capital of the new millennium."
Technology and Internet companies are springing up in record numbers, the panelists said. A wide range of talent emerging from the entertainment and former defense industries and research universities, coupled with the city's proximity to beaches and mountains, are helping attract such companies, they said.
"Here you can breathe," said Sky Dayton, a Malibu resident who founded EarthLink and ECompanies, which combined employ thousands of workers in Pasadena and Santa Monica. "It's a much better place to build an Internet business."
