Urban Living in California

By Eric Richardson – BlogDowntown.com

Eric RichardsonDowntown delegates stand outside the Portland Streetcar maintenance facility back in April.

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New Downtown Sushi School Plans to Teach Traditional Skills

by Richard Guzman

Dozens of sushi fans enjoyed food prepared by Katsuya Uechi (in white) at the opening this month of the Sushi Institute of America. The Arts District establishment will offer a $3,000, two-month course in sushi preparation, as well as one-day cram sessions. Photo by Gary Leonard.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES – Master sushi chef Katsuya Uechi admitted that as a kid, he wasn’t exactly a great student, which makes his role as the head of a new Downtown Los Angeles school somewhat ironic.

But this is a school where Uechi is right at home doing what he does best: preparing sushi.

There is also a noble purpose, implied Uechi, who founded the small Katsu-ya restaurant chain in 1998. He has partnered with Noritoshi Kanai, president of the Japanese food-importing business Mutual Trading Company and a pioneer in bringing sushi to America, partly because he is concerned about maintaining the authenticity of traditional Japanese sushi. He also noted a shortage of qualified chefs.

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Organizers Expect 30,000 People for Grand Avenue Celebration

The fifth annual Grand Avenue Festival will feature free performances, scavenger hunts and more. The event takes place Sunday, Sept. 28, on Grand Avenue between Temple and Fifth streets. Photos by Gary Leonard.

by Anna Scott from DowntownNews.com

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES – Much of the talk these days about Bunker Hill’s major thoroughfare, Grand Avenue, focuses on the street’s future. As the target of redevelopment plans, including the $3 billion Grand Avenue project and a proposed 16-acre park, Grand Avenue will no doubt become an even more important corridor for Downtown Los Angeles in years to come.

Later this month, however, the fifth annual Grand Avenue Festival will celebrate the street’s existing cultural institutions, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, the L.A. Opera and the L.A. Philharmonic. Those and other entities will present special performances and events. The festival will also offer sidewalk attractions, food and drink and interactive activities.

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SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign the state budget this morning, his office said. That would make the budget law 85 days after the fiscal year began, a record in state tardiness. Schwarzenegger is expected to veto line items amounting to millions of dollars in spending.

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By DEBORAH CROWE Los Angeles Business Journal Staff

The Los Angeles City Council has endorsed the Hollywood property owners’ vote to renew and expand the Hollywood Entertainment District for a 10-year period through the end of 2018.

The ballot tabulation, which was conducted by the Office of the City Clerk, resulted in an estimated 91 percent affirmative vote by property owners for renewal of the District, making the HED one of the more heavily supported business improvement districts in the Los Angeles area, officials said.

Property assessments will fund a $3.4 million-a-year budget for the district. The district pays for security, maintenance and marketing services that have helped drive Hollywood’s revitalization efforts.

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