little yerevan idea
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A little piece of Armenia transplanted in Hollywood.

There are a few cities around the world now with "Little Armenia's" in them (Boston, Jerusalem and Isfahan come to mind), but none of them have particularly Armenian architecture or attemps at an Armenian them. I say that the Little Armenia in Hollywood be transformed into a really cool area with hip shops and restaurants, some new buildings built in an Armenian style and the existing ones covered in a surface of tuff. Some khachkars and a replica of a really sweet Armenian church and we are in business. I describe the idea below as well. It would become a great place for non-Armenians and tourists to visit as well, especially since LA really does not have that many things to see.

The way I would imagine implementing this plan is to start a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) and oversight comittee which would buy a few key buildings, and use the revenue from them to renovate in the manner I described and purchase additional land and buildings. Meanwhile they could cooperate with the owners of the places they don't own since presumably this is an investment which will pay off.

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NOTE:  The text below is the original idea I had.  It has been almost completely realized now with the completion of the subway and the official declaration of "Little Armenia" between Hollywood Blvd on the north, Santa Monica on the south, Vermont on the east, and the 101 freeway on the west.  It is even adjacent to a "Thai Town".  Now all that is left is to transform this large area into something to be proud of.  I am not sure how this area got declared "Little Armenia", but I am happy to see that others seem to have been thinking the same thing.

Everyone has been to Chinatown, and depending on where you live Little Italy, Little Tokyo, Olvera Street, Little Saigon, etc. It is time to build a Little Yerevan or Little Armenia.

Since Hollywood has a very large Armenian population, is very central, is very touristy, is undervalued, and soon will be linked to LA's new subway, it seems like an ideal location. The Hollywood Walk of Fame would only be a mile or so away across the freeway if it were to be located in the heart of the Armenian neighborhood in the area of Hollywood Blvd/Santa Monica Blvd near the original Zankou, Panos Pastry, Sassoun Bakery and of course Falafel Arax. (Well, OK, the original Arax and Panos were in Lebanon, but you know what I mean).

A few years ago, LA had a handful of Ethiopian restaurants scattered. Somehow they decided to consolidate for higher visibility and now they are all on Fairfax. Since the area I am thinking of is already primarily Armenian, it would be even easier.

I envision 4 square blocks so that there would be two streets with the Armenia theme on both sides. The buildings would be refaced, remodeled and/or rebuilt to have the traditional tuff face with traditional carvings and khachkars. There would also be a lot of those beautiful hand-carved wooden balconies that you see a couple of in old-town Yerevan if you look hard enough. There should be a nice church too of course. The stores would all have an Armenian theme, preferably touristy oriented, and you would enter through some beautifully carved arches at all four entry points.

I do not see why the adjacent four blocks couldn't be a Little Persia, Little Thailand, Little Phillipines, and so on, it would make it even a bigger draw.

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