My Downtown Trip

The husband and I spent two days at the L.A. Convention Center this weekend. The occasion was Book Expo America, the annual publishing business trade show convention. It rotates cities (NYC, D.C., LA, Vegas) every year and this year was L.A.'s turn.

This was my second BEA convention and my first trip to the L.A. convention center in many years. The crowd seemed to be about half that the NYC BEA had last year, and I'm told that NYC publishing industry people don't like to come to L.A. because of the vast distances, lack of public transport, etc. For me, I think the Convention Center has a really confusing layout. And believe it or not, it needs more Starbucks and eating options.

I worked downtown for many years and really enjoyed the area even before it was gentrified. It has truly changed since then and I can sorta see what attracts people to expensive lofts. What is still missing, though, seems to be essential services: drug stores, grocery stores (I didn't see the new Ralphs), dry cleaners, street parking, mechanics. Are they out there?