“New Downtown Los Angeles” by Debbie Kim
In keeping with the new downtown blogging trend of having guest authors on blogs, I am posting (with her permission) a great piece of prose that was sent to the Higgins Building mailing list by Debbie Kim. Debbie is a resident of the Higgins, and an “early adopter” of living downtown. From time-to-time she will send out pieces of poetry to our Higgins mailing list, and it all is great, but I wanted to share this piece with you here, as I think many of you longer-term downtown dwellers will appreciate her sentiments. Without further ado, here’s what Debbie wrote:
We have been excited for a long time. Yet, for those of us who have been here for a while, some of that shine and the novelty of living, working, and playing may have lost its luster. But, I think this is the time to reflect on how far we’ve come as a community and as individuals and see how much we have collectively and individually contributed to the growth and expansion around us. And own it.How often do we talk about wanting to be part of a start up and here we are right in the center of it. The Civic Center of it. I’m reminded of the woman who worked as a masseuse at Google when it was a start up, and how she cashed in years after and made millions with her company’s shares. Patience and perseverance have their rewards.I wonder and ask, has the Higgins building met its full potential?
An architect friend told me that a life of a building in Los Angeles is typically about 50 years. Our building has lasted a lot longer than that. Why? What have we got here? Why are we here? Do we know what we own? When I look out my window, I see our building reflected in the glass panes of the new LAPD building.
This building for me represents our new city, the new Los Angeles.
The old City Hall stands behind it as the reminder of the old Los Angeles.
And our building faces this changing of the guard, as a constant representative of our new community. The Higgins Building is the headquarters of the people of the New Downtown Los Angeles. And behind us is the rest of the new downtown neighbors looking to us for leadership. We are at the helm, the driver seat of our growing neighborhood. We have huge influence over what happens here for decades to come. That’s quite a charge.
But as I assess the individuals and the qualities of those individuals that inhabit our building, it’s clear to me that it’s no coincidence that those individuals who live here, are here to help shape and define our new city.
We are a great opportunity. We, who live in this building have enormous talents, skills, and abilities, especially in the area of leadership. We are leaders, and it makes sense that we live here with this purpose. This is bigger than amenities.
This is the birth of a new city.
I plan to live out a healthy, creative, dynamic, passionate, fulfilling and prosperous life. I think we all do. I want that for all of us. I believe that for all of us. And I’m proud of us for courageously living in the frontline for our growing community now and for later.
I know that I will have many highlights in my life.
And I have no doubt that the time I spend here at the Higgins building will be one of those highlights. I know it, because it already is. Sometimes I think we forget our worth. Let’s remind ourselves of what we are. We are the heart of downtown.
We keep the beat. That’s what we’re worth!
Debbie Kim is an Emmy-nominated Producer at Fox 11 Los Angeles and blogs at MyFoxLA.com. She is currently working on a show called “Asian Heritage Special: A Celebration” that will feature a show on the ImaginAsian Theater. The show will be broadcast Friday, May 11th at 10:30 on Fox Channel 11