Pershing Square Meet Up Draws a Sparse Turnout

I attended the event for about 45 minutes to an hour. I had some errands to run, but I also didn’t know what quite to expect. Good idea, though. I’d love to get to know more people Downtown.

i live two blocks from pershing square and knew nothing about it. im sure the turnout would have been better had the word gotten out…

“They” need to do some serious, active, studying of the people living in downtown and “inventory” the population there, sort of like what they do with the homeless count every now and then.

I believe the sparse attendance was due to lack of diligence in notifying the public about the event. Our building is the residential project closest to Pershing Square yet we received no fliers or bulletins. I spend time in Pershing Square and it got little fanfare there. The only way I found out about the event was when this site publicized it last Wednesday.

I ended up missing the event for the same reason I missed the blogdowntown picnic. A previously scheduled activity for a Sunday afternoon. By the time I got there around 4:15 everyone seemed to have packed up save for Don Garza who was still advising folks on the fine points of the APT.

Oh that’s what that was! There were just a handful of people there when I walked through the park. There was also another free concert of some sort at Grand Hope Park with only a few more people than were at Pershing Square.

Ah crap I forgot to go.

I’m afraid people didn’t attend because “meet your neighbors” isn’t attractive in this town. It should be, but it’s not. If they had advertised “Downtown cookout” or “Preparedness Picnic at Pershing” (and promoted the whole “disaster preparedness” thing), then maybe more people would have attend. Sadly, it's tragedy that brings people together in this town, unless there is a complete culture change.

While tragedy certainly has a way of bringing people together in this town (and every other town), I believe that LA, and particularly downtown are hungry for community. People want to know those around them and be known. It’s just a bit uncomfortable to be the initiator in building those relationships.

Last Sunday I had a few of my neighbors over for dinner. Some with whom I’ve only exchanged a quick “hello” in the elevator. After I slipped the invitations under their doors and sent emails, I was anxious to see how people would respond. I figured some would think I’m crazy for inviting people to my home that I barely know, and I worried that no one would respond and I would end up cooking for myself and my Westside friends who would likely pity me. But my neighbors’ response was one of excitement and appreciation. Even those that couldn’t make it expressed how much they liked the idea of meeting the neighbors and asked that I let them know if I do it again. We had a fabulous time eating, learning about each other, sharing our favorite downtown eateries and experiences, and of course venting about some of the problems with our particular building.

“Meet your neighbors” is absolutely attractive, it’s just intimidating. People are more receptive than you might think – it’s worth being the initiator. I’ve been blessed by my incredibly talented, creative, and interesting neighbors and cannot wait to do this again and get to know more of them.

sounds like we need an ice cream social!

These things need to start out on a much smaller level and then grow. Everybody wants to make a splash to begin without doing the legwork first.

as i live 2 blocks away and am a newbie downtown, i would have attended the pershing square event had i known about it. how does one find out about these kinds of events?

Never even heard about it! What’s up w/ that!?

DLANC did not do enough to promote this event. There is never enough promotion. These types of events need flyers in EVERY single residential and commercial building in downtown, posters, etc..

People in LA need things plastered in their faces before they will give it any attention.

Also, “meet your neighboor day” sounds slightly cheesy and campy, so it might have turned many people off just because of that. I would have tried for a less socially desperate sounding title.

Finally, Sunday afternoon is the WORST possible time for any social event. (Especially for the kind of people that would live downtown.) The best time to have these events I would think would be immediately after working hours on Friday, or Saturday.

this was not a dlanc event. it was put on by parks & rec and the pershing square advisory board.