Downtown:

In order to quantify the magnitude of Downtown L.A.’s renaissance, the Downtown Center Business Improvement District (a trade association of 480 property owners) retained the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation to gather business, economic and demographic data for its 2006 annual report.

The results were at the very least illuminating and, in some instances, positively eye-popping. Here are key findings:

• The average household income of Downtown residents is $99,600
• The resident population is 28,878 with a median age of 31 years
• Total employment is 446,317
• The largest private-sector employment category is professional, scientific and technical services  (22.7%), followed closely by arts and entertainment (20.7%)
• The average annual wage is $57,354 – second high in Los Angeles County after the Westside ($64,433)
• An overwhelming majority (more than 89%) consider Downtown to be their primary residence
• The largest category of new residents originate from the Westside, following by a move from outside California
• There are 12,545 business establishments – a 8.5% increase from 2005.

The data paints a portrait of the Downtown resident as a young professional with extraordinary buying power, with many involved directly in arts and entertainment. Combined with the Downtown work force, this burgeoning vibrant population is the perfect base to support continuous retail, restaurant and cultural development.

Of course, this isn’t the whole story about the potential audience for the Downtown Film Festival.  As Downtown is Los Angeles’ cultural and transportation hub, the festival will attract an audience throughout Los Angeles County and beyond.  For many, who already have traveled to Downtown to attend a concert at the Walt Disney Hall, see an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art or eat at a favored eatery in Chinatown or Little Tokyo, attending the Downtown Film Festival will be second nature.

For others, the Festival will provide the perfect vehicle to explore Downtown– seeing exciting new films while experiencing the dynamism of the Downtown renaissance for themselves.