The Grove, Beverly Hills, CA

If you were to drive north on La Brea from the 10Fwy and turn west onto 3rd St. The Grove (shopping/entertainment center) and the famous Los Angeles Farmer's Market would be on your right. I took my daughter and two of her friends to experience The Grove for the first time two weeks ago to analyze public space and observe those there to utilize that space. My daughter and I were really excited to explore The Grove, being that were are great fans of The Americana shopping/entertainment center in Glendale, CA (which is the most recent completed project), of Developer/Owner Rick Caruso. His vision of this three story, (600,000 sq. ft.) shopping/entertainment center known simply as The Grove, opened for business in February 2002, complete with a central park and water fountain that dances to the music (like that of the Bellagio in Vegas), many high end stores, restaurants, a 14 screen movie theater and even an electric trolley that transports shoppers up and down the street between The Grove and The Farmers Market. At first glance, for my first experience, there was a lot to take in. I was quite pleased that there was plenty of economic self parking, though valet is offered as well. I parked on the third floor of the parking garage and upon my decent on the escalator, the first thing I noticed was how clean the grey carpet was on the floors in between escalator rides to the bottom, as apposed to simple concrete or tile flooring. At the bottom floor, however, more elaborate interior decor was visual. A beautiful large round wood table held a crystal vase of at least three feet tall filled with a beautiful arrangement of fresh star gazers that permeated the air, below an ornate crystal chandelier. There was attendants assisting those that chose valet parking next to a complementary concierge desk for anyone that needed help and or information. With parking to my left, a wall of art in front of me, the natural flow was to my right, that put me on a wide side walk with a view of water spraying many feet in the air, while being choreographed to the music of Michael Buble. To my left of the water fountain, I noticed a bridge that crossed the water to a partially shaded grassy area, including brass statues of children playing with various forms of water sources, like hoses and water cans that trickles water themselves. Surrounding this natural environment were plenty of high end stores and restaurants with storefronts reminiscent of an Italian piazza. There were tracks down the center of the street to my right for the electric trolley, though at the time of my visit, I did not see it running. Also not seen on my visit (because of the time of my visit), The grove offers a wide variety of entertainment experiences such as outdoor movies on summer evenings or falling snow on winter nights and a variety of weekend shows, etc...
I can appreciate that this complex would receive 20 million visitors annually (that's 6 million more than Disneyland each year), for its overall experience, but I do find there could always be room for improvement. For example, location. For those that do not live in the area, it is not conveniently located near a freeway, nor does it have many signs posted for directions in this already congested area of the Fairfax District in Los Angeles. And though the Farmer's Market offers many unique eateries, I would have liked to have seen some "middle of the road" shops and cafes to accommodate "in betweener's, such as myself" (like The Americana does). My daughter and I would like to take another visit there sometime, but overall, we prefer the simplicity and convenient location of the Americana over the Grove, in general.