I tooled around with Downey Mayor Mario Guerra today and got a preview of some of the new businesses and public projects coming to town.
Guerra, of course, has his fingers crossed that Tesla Motors, the electric car company, will choose his city to build a new plant. Long Beach is hoping the same thing.
With or without Tesla there's a lot going on in Downey:
- A new Kaiser Permanente Hospital at the former NASA site on Lakewood Boulevard and Clark Avenue. The full-service hospital will replace the aging facility in Bellflower.
- A new Fresh & Easy market coming soon to Firestone Boulevard.
- A Koll's in Stonewood Center.
- A new sports park on the old NASA site
- An aerospace learning center coming this fall, also at the NASA site.
It was a homecoming of sorts for me, as my first job at the Press-Telegram 10 years ago was serving as Downey Bureau chief.
