It is a land of glitz and glamor. Palm trees and great weather. Optimism and excitement about the future. It makes one want to chuck all the bad vibes and negative, downer b.s. out the window.

We’re not going to say that the last year hasn’t had its share of negativity. California, like the rest of the nation, was taken to the woodshed by COVID-19. Los Angeles had already been in the midst of an unprecedented affordable housing crisis, only to see the pipeline for multifamily shrivel and a sliding economy blow up rent rolls.

And yet so much of the brightness shines through.

Soundstages and studios are ramping up in Hollywood as the streaming wars rage on. Leases are signed like, say, the 171,000 square feet Netflix grabbed in Burbank for its animation studio. Properties are reimagined, like Hackman Capital’s 550,000-square-foot office conversion in El Segundo, or Titans of the industry, like Blackstone, have gone on multibillion-dollar buying sprees. And visions like The Grand and Angels Landing move toward their gloried realization.

This is not to say that the top players have avoided looking the crisis straight in the eye; Nury Martinez and the L.A. City Council instituted a historic rent freeze and moratorium on commercial and residential evictions; likewise, affordable housing developers like Meta Housing have worked double time to address that housing crisis.

But all together we get a picture of an L.A. that will get through this tough time stronger and better than ever. — M.G.