Ari Simon is one of those guys that runs shit behind the scenes in Downtown LA. He knows a hell of a lot about said scenes, and he has had a hand in a few different areas of local government. He is best known for his events and survey of the neighborhood, Get Downtown – a map and print publication that also has a heavy online presence and killer newsletter.

0:35 - What is GET DOWN TOWN?

• Tower Theater's first talkie

http://www.getdowntown.la/

http://www.towertheatrela.com/history-of-broadway

6:15 - Ari's involvement in DTLA - A2B

10:15 - Working with the Historic Core BID

● What is the BID?

http://historiccore.bid/about-the-bid/

15:35 - DTLA Perspective - The differences between then and now

○ 6th St - The most underrated street in DTLA

23:25 - The DTLA Cultural Stakeholders Group

○ The Broad comes to Los Angeles

http://www.thebroad.org/

25:07 - An Accidental Call to Action - Bringing venues together

26:53 - Eli Broad - One of the biggest art collections in the world

www.highsnobiety.com/2015/06/16/most-valuable-art-collections /

32:43 - The Future of DTLA

37:00 - What is Night on Broadway?

○ What is a way that we can inspire people?

http://nightonbroadway.la/

42:27 - "We're not old money, we're young money"

44:00 - The History of Pershing Square

http://la.curbed.com/2013/8/28/10203644/38-photos-of-pershing-square-from-1866-to-today

50:52 - Gentrification of DTLA

54:33 - What the fuck is Ari's job?

○ Separating different projects when representing different businesses

1:03:03 - The Development of Take Me Home LA

○ What does it mean to be home in LA?

http://urbanize.la/sites/default/files/TAKEMEHOMELAinfo.pdf

1:07:30 - Challenges faced as a curator

1:11:13 - When a creative's performance goes awry

○ Fabric Planet

http://myfabricplanet.com/

1:23:48 - What is Monkey Town?

http://monkeytownhq.com/

1:24:40 - The Sponsorship Debate

○ Levi's Commuter Space

http://www.levistrauss.com/unzipped-blog/2014/07/peddle-your-way-to-a-levis-commuter-workspace-this-summer/

1:37:40 What's in your event pipeline for the history of DTLA?

1:43:50 - What would you tell your 20 year old self?

Ari can be found in DTLA, NYC, Paris, Berlin, Mexico City... or http://getdowntown.la and http://instagram.com/getdowntown.la