Pershing Square

South Olive Street and West 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA

Submitted by: Keith Malone

This open plaza that sits on top of an underground parking garage is rarely used.

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06/01/05 Giang Cao said:

Living in downtown LA, is a really different urban experience. Everyone commutes from outside Los Angeles, and after 6pm everyday the streets are completely empty. Pershing Square wouldn't be as bad if there weren't any homeless people around---their presence is very intimating and down right people fear for their safety. Pershing Square would be amazing if it had sometype of commercial aspect inside the park and more seating that would discourage homeless from sleeping everywhere.

12/14/05 Jessica Hall said:

I have enjoyed Shakespeare shows at Pershing Square, but agree that it's not a fun place to linger. From my perspective that has more to do with the absence of good seating & shade, and the rather extreme sense of separation from the street(both elevated grade and walls) and therefore other people. It is quite ironic to look at historic photos of this park - in the 1890s it was a gracious leisure space. I think we could do with more of that kind of space, less "programming," more grace.

11/24/06 edward ferry said:

thank you ricardo legoretta for giving us the ugiliest, least inviting, vulgar public space in the history of mankind. you seemed to have awakened as an artist in the middle of watching an episode of dynasty. i get angry when i walk through your world. your park isnt worth the extra minute i save when seeking a short cut between 5th and 6th streets. please give back whatever money you got from the idiots of los angeles and let them give it another shot. p.s. satan called he would like you to do the re-design of hell

01/22/07 Ronald Shimokaji said:

There seems to be a residential revival in the downtown L.A. area but there is no "place" for the new "Angelinos" to gather. Pershing Square can be that place with the right planning.

01/26/07 Don Massingale said:

I haved lived downtown since I got here from Cincinnati on the 1st of Dec... I take my dogs there at least twice a day and the biggest problem that I have seen is all the people using the park as a restroom...the place smells like a out house...imagine what it will smell like when it gets warm out...security just walks around the outside area, never saying anything to anyone...I have only seen a cleaning person one time in 2 months...I guess there is no management company in charge of this place...if they want downtown to start being a better place then this park is certainly a good place to start.

08/16/07 Fiona Akins said:

It is easy to berate Pershing Square and other such failures, but such criticism is useful only if we carefully consider why it has reached its current state. To this end, I think PPS could do a more thoughtful job of justifying Pershing Square’s entry into the Hall of Shame. I spent a lot of time in this square over two weeks in March 2007, and my comments are informed from this visit. The park does indeed smell like pee - whooooeee, does it ever. This must be cleaned up. In the hot Los Angeles sun, the stench of urine is a significant discouraging factor to passersby and potential visitors. The homeless population, however, should not be blamed for the decline of Pershing Square. Rather, the decline of Pershing Square and its subsequent abandonment have enabled homeless people to hang out there, where more lively, populated spaces would reject their presence. (This is why we see very few homeless people in Maguire Gardens and other more successful spaces). This is an important point because revitalization efforts should therefore focus not on expelling homeless people, but on drawing the general public to the square. But how to do this? I suspect that the major barrier to the success of Pershing Square is a management philosophy which seems literally scared of public life. The park exudes authoritarianism, from the rules posted at entrance corners, to the public washrooms locked away in the parking garage, from the paltry six tables and chairs which are put away at 2pm everyday, to the fenced off stage at the square’s northern end. One immediately feels that this is a place under close surveillance and that one wrong move will see you turfed. Where is the civility in such behaviour? Many bemoan the purple tower, the open paving, the lack of shade. These are trivial faults when put in context of the anti-civil management of the square itself. Happily, this can be very easily and cheaply remedied. Add a hundred tables and umbrellas, two hundred chairs, a hot dog stand and a permanent ice cream stand. Keep the security guards, don’t kick out the homeless, clean up the urine three times a day. Remove the fence around the stage. Stick chairs in the shaded enclave on the west side of the square to support WiFi users (the square has free WiFi!). Encourage buskers at entrance corners, and ensure that stoplights at these corners have very short pedestrian waiting times. Allow cafés and retailers to spill onto the sidewalk surrounding the square. Continue supporting free concerts and ice skating (!) throughout the year. As the central, historic, civic square in Los Angeles, situated between the gentrifying old downtown core and the modern financial core, Pershing Square should be the keystone – a public emblem – of California’s largest city.

09/29/07 Barbara McCarren said:

Indeed it is easy to berate Pershing Square. Please note that at the time plan check was required for the renovated square, 1989-90, little or no grass was allowed in the square because, the ADA ruled, that grass was not handicap accessible. In addition, the entire park had to be retrofitted to sit on top of the existing parking lot, unlike McGuire Gardens which was built from scratch with funds from Rob McGuire as well as public money. The space available for the root ball of a tree is virtually non-existent at PSq. How do I know? I went through the process as the project artist. Design requirements were in place when I was brought on. Angelenos have been whining ever since and as usual have little understanding of the process. In addition, law enforcement was in no way going to allow "hiding places" in the square, so no groves of lush trees and dense planting that homeless could sleep in and drug dealers could deal in. Goodbye green space. Want to blame Americans with Disabilites? Also, the plan required removal of the public restrooms, seen as a nuisance by the city and the owners. Hence the smell of urine in the court of war memorials. Since it is a public park the city itself would not allow the private commercial venues discussed. The architect, Legorreta, lobbied strongly for vendors. In the main zocalo in Mexico City, where he hails from, there are no trees but tons of people mulling about. It is located in the center of a city that has been vital for centuries. Vendors come daily to ply their wares. There is a well-attended church on the square. People protest there because they don't have to pay $14 to park (thank you Rob McGuire who, by the way, owns the parking lot). No one could have submitted an ideal plan with the funding available and restrictions required. Anyone have about $ 200 million dollars to rebuild from the ground up?

08/18/08 Brian Leng said:

Born and raised in the city of the angels I have come to love the historic architecture of the downtown area and it’s people. Truly a “melting pot”. To me, a college photography instructor, who leads photo workshops that uses the Metro Rail System to get around to view different historic downtown areas of Los Angeles. One of my photo workshop is called, “Photographing Historic L.A.” and we go to such places like the Watts Towers where all my workshop participants have always wanted to go. But because of the area, they would never venture down there for the fear of getting into a dangerous situation. And who can blame them? The word “Watts” leaves a harsh and explosive memory of the riots that took place in the 60’s & 80’s. As a group, everyone that I asked, “have you ever been to see the Watts Towers”? I hear back from them, that they have always wanted to come and see the Towers, but because of the bad connotations Watts has, they would never venture to such a place alone but in a group, yes! Which is sad to me because they would have missed out on one Italian immigrant’s dream of doing “something great” in his life which is what makes America what it is today. On my workshops we visit Union Station, Heritage Square, Grand Central Market (the very first farmer’s market), Chinatown, Alvera Street, and Pershing Square. Which is everything and more about the condition of the square. The comments about Pershing Square, no one can de-nigh. And yes, it’s all true and then some. But instead of pointing fingers and putting the blame on anyone group or people, we should figure out what the problem is that is making Pershing Square the way it is and fix it. Most of the complaints were that it is the homeless people that have made Pershing Square the “Sewer” that it is, and the city has no budget for keeping the Square clean and tidy, like the parks on the West-side of Los Angeles. My suggestion is to find a place for the homeless to reside so they can have a home and stop making the Square what it is today. They’re people too. And if it’s a location away from the downtown, say like 6th and Wall, then the problem is solved. (I know, easier said then done) But that’s the problem. Every major American city has a central park somewhere within the middle of the city. San Francisco, Lincoln Square, New York, Central park, Chicago, Millennium Park, and so on and so on. Los Angeles doesn’t even have a major football team like all of the other major cities! The downtown area is getting repopulated with young professional adults moving into downtown lofts and the area around the Convention Center. The Staple/Sony Center are the crown jewels and soon L.A. will have a Light Rail System that will allow people to move and to reach different locations around the city as well as transporting our downtown work force. L.A. can be fixed, it just takes more people to get involved along with city government making a commitment and making it their priority to clean Pershing Square up and bring pride back into the downtown area. Go on-line and look at the photos of Pershing Square in the late 1800’s and see what Pershing Square looked like back then. It was a “garden”, an Oases right in the heart of the city. There is even a time capsule which is slated to be opened in the year 2025. I hope I’ll still be around to witness that moment in the history of Los Angeles and I hope that the Pershing Square situation will be “put to bed” once and for all.