Angelenos and the Annie Hall-obsessed, if you're on the hunt for an abode in Downtown Los Angeles, Diane Keaton has a stylish home for you. The 66-year-old actress and historic home renovator recently purchased a live-work townhouse in a 1906 Arts District building at 940 East 2nd Street for $570,000 and is asking $2,800 a month from tenants. more ›

Will the cupcake trend ever give way for something more rustic and hearty, like pie? Pie is personal, and it can also take on many flavors. So where can you go to stuff your pie hole with a few slices? How about the aptly named The Pie Hole, which officially opens today in Downtown's Arts District. more ›

As Glendale readies a plan for an expanded downtown arts and entertainment district, the city's Mann Theatres at the Glendale Exchange could be reborn, rebranded and renewed as nightclubs, reports the Glendale News-Press. more ›

The LAPD hope to nab three male suspects responsible for a violent daytime robbery of an Arts District business, reports blogdowntown. They've release surveillance footage of the crime, showing the armed suspects, all Hispanic men, "shoving guns into the faces of customers and employees." One robber wore a "Hannibal Lecter" mask. During the course of the crime, a female customer "was actually kicked in the shoulder while she lay on the floor, even though she was obeying [the robbers'] commands." The suspects took $6,000 in cash and fled. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact the LAPD. more ›

Cube's DTLA Marketplace is back today for food, gardening, shopping, learning, and fun, open to the public. There you'll find the famous Ludo Fried Chicken Truck and the Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwich Truck, along with pop-up style shopping for home, pantry, and garden, a variety of classes will be offered. (More info about classes and registration here); 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 550 Ceres Ave, 90013. more ›

Dana Hollister has done it again. The famed interior designer and bar owner and founder 's latest venture can be found in downtown's Arts District, under the long shadows of the 4th and 6th Street Bridges and tucked into a sleepy nighttime area. Perhaps, however, this will change things. more ›

Brian Alexik, the suspect who eluded police in a "Jason Bourne-style" escape last April, was arrested this afternoon following a standoff in downtown. Today's incident began in the morning around 8:30 a.m. on the 300 block of South Hewitt when the LAPD's major crimes unit was conducting a weapons violations investigation. more ›

This week plans to transform a forlorn triangular patch of land at 4th and Molino in Downtown's Arts District into a community dog park were revealed, and the upgrades to the roughly 6,000-square-foot space will soon be underway. more ›

An approximately 6,000-square-foot parcel of undeveloped land at the corner of 4h and Molino in Downtown's Arts District will soon go from blight to bark, reports the LA Downtown News. more ›

Last week, Factory Place Arts Complex celebrated its grand opening with an "Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms Party." The party was the brainchild of Josh Gray-Emmer and Stephanie Estes of AP Consulting, and is part of an ongoing series of projects to build a community and draw a creative, urban crowd to this neighborhood of Downtown LA. more ›

L.A. City Councilmember Tom LaBonge certainly thinks so. At yesterday's Metro Board Meeting, which he is temporarily appointed to, LaBonge entered a verbal motion in an effort to extend rail service on already existing track to 6th Street in the Arts District. more ›

The Santa Monica Food Truck lot is history for now, but thanks to a downtown property owner, a food truck association is testing out the neighborhood for three days this week. Beginning today to 4 p.m., five trucks are serving food in the Arts District at Alameda and Traction. more ›

For those living and visiting downtown Los Angeles today, there's a lot going on in addition to Unique LA. Beginning at noon and ending at 7 p.m. is the Arts District Open Studio Tour, which will include a free limo shuttle between areas of the district. Over a Crewest Gallery, from 6 to 9 p.m., a hand printed art show will feature a large group of artists, many known on the streets for their work. more ›

Considering the lines at Union Station yesterday, you would think there was a new death-defying adrenaline-inducing roller coster. That's not even close, but the excitement was just as intense, if not a lot more. more ›

The Downtown Art Walk, which is centered around Gallery Row, might be all the buzz tonight, but over in the nearby Arts District, a new 24-foot tall mural at Traction and E. 3rd by Shepard Fairey has just gone up, says Ed Fuentes at blogdowntown. It's called the "Peace Goddess" and is part of LA Freewall project, which could turn the area into largest outdoor art gallery. ALSO: Fairey's art gallery, Subliminal Projects, has a new show featuring work by WK Interact. It's a solo exhibition called "How To Blow Yourself Up." more ›

If you see the Gold Line running through the Eastside and East L.A. on a regular basis next week, don't think you can hop on board at the nearest station. Metro officials announced today that pre-revenue light rail train testing will begin Sunday, lasting at least a month before opening to the public. more ›

Crazy Gideon's crazy videos were always fun to watch with his yelling and the throwing of electronics around his downtown warehouse (never seen them? watch a collection below, they're great). But the times have changed and Gideon Kotzer has installed a "Going out of Business" sign on his Arts District-located warehouse, which he plans to convert into housing. Ed Fuentes of blogdowntown catches up with Kotzer in this great video. more ›

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Today, Metro announced that the Gold Line East Extension is 80% completed. But don't think that means you'll be riding into Little Tokyo and out to East LA by the end of this summer. Metro has always conceded that project will by done by the end of 2009, yet construction is now almost six months ahead of time. That means it could open in the summer of '09 if all goes well with the remaining 20%. Keep your fingers crossed. more ›

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Despite SXSW starting up this week with 100+ Los Angeles based bands heading over there, residencies are growing stronger and more venue-diverse across the line, especially on Monday nights where the volume makes it hard to choose from. Here's to a great month of residencies, rock on. more ›

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• Update on why Ventura Blvd. in Studio City was shut down this afternoon by the LAPD: according to the North Hollywood Police Division, the shooting took place at De Soto Ave and Gresham St. in Chatsworth. Later, the suspect's car was found at the Studio City 7-11, prompting the LAPD shut down the area to search (hence all the helicopters). The suspect was later found in the city of Fontana and was arrested without incident. That is what we call a BUSY DAY.
• And this is what happens when you build a bunch of new condos and raise all the rents: North Hollywood is making an effort to preserve its Arts District by making sure all the artists don't move out.
• Man, Dov Charney's all up in my ass crack! Er, I should say, these American Apparel brand thong underpants are really giving me a wedgie-ache -- maybe Charney should put his ass-cheeks in another man's underpants before he gets his skinny butt sued from here to Downtown.
• Speaking of underpants, there's a Panty Thief on the loose in Palm Springs!! "'He cleaned me out of my Hustler line, all my crotchless panties, g-strings, corsets and bustiers and costumes,' said Bonnie Reiss, owner of Sensuality, A Store for Her."
• What issues are important to the African-American LGBT community this election season? NPR goes to Los Angeles to talk with local bloggers and find out.
• John Edwards hit up Los Angeles today on his campaign tour, where he spoke to a local union, while Hillary Clinton went to church in Compton.
• Apple users are full of themselves: file this in Tell Me Something I Don't Know. They also tend to throw around words like "intuitive" and "aesthetics" when referring to their computers; I throw around words like "douchebag" and "I hate you, you stupid elitist posers!"*
• The AP has written Britney's obituary already.
• Spiderman and Mary Jane broke up! Is Wonder Woman single?

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Okay, so yesterday the Bank Heist set aflame, but thanks to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the fire did not put the restaurant/club in the NoHo Arts District our of business, only affecting the second floor club area (a smaller bar and full service restaurant are on the first floor). They opened last fall, but never had a grand opening, which was and still is officially scheduled for February. Owner Kat Johnson tells the LA Times that the bar will re-open soon. (h/t Eater LA) more ›

No, there was not a bank heist today in North Hollywood, as there was 11 years ago, the old bank building turned into restaurant/club on Lankershim Blvd., near the NoHo Red/Orange Line stops, is on fire. At 7:13 a.m. this morning, the fire was reported. One firefighter suffered smoke inhalation.

The fire burned between floors and in the attic area, said Ron Myers of the Los Angeles Fire Department. After about 40 minutes, firefighters determined that it was too dangerous to battle the flames from inside the building and went into a "defensive mode" outside the structure, Myers said. [NBC4]

Happy New Year from LAist and your brand new Food Editor! I've arrived home refreshed from a fantastic vacation in the Philly/New Jersey area, and now I'm revved up and ready for the New Food Year. It was difficult to leave Philadelphia and its fabulous dining options behind (cheesesteaks are only the tip of the iceberg), but nothing beats Los Angeles for its range of offerings. Here's my wish list for places to go, ingredients to cook, and meals to eat in 2008. What's tops on your list of must-eat destinations and recipes this year? more ›

A photoshoot held earlier this month was captured by a building employee who explains that the photos were being taken to help promote the sale of units NoHo Lofts, one of many housing structures that have taken over the landscape in NoHo Arts in the past several months. The development of NoHo has really taken off over the past few years, but concerns about "pricing out" current area residents may make selling apartments more of a struggle than developers expected. For more about the area, check out LAist's Neighborhood Project: NoHo Arts District. more ›

MUSIC: Machine Project is back with an evening of experimental folk music mix. The evening features the sounds of Ryan Fuller, Julie Carpenter, Laura Steenberge, Ruthann Friedman, rickyricky, Pilar Diaz, Pawko and Marshweed. more ›