There isn’t much more that can be said about “The Grove”. It’s been open a few years now, and seems to have become the de facto downtown Los Angeles.

Californians don’t like surprises in their streetscapes, and The Grove doesn’t disappoint. The roll call of retail is lined up: Abercrombie and Fitch, Nordstroms, Barnes and Noble, Banana Republic, J. Crew, Apple. There are several thriving restaurants which dish out mediocrity and huge portions.

There are dancing fountains, a street car, ornate lampposts, potted plants, a village green, a bridge over a pond. The whole scene is patrolled by security guards, hidden video cameras, and even the mobile phone users are monitored by our government.

It has a well thought out organization. A parking lot behind the stage set has places for thousands of cars and is equipped with a digital sign that lets drivers know how many spaces are available on each floor.

The Grove has no homeless people, unlike Santa Monica, and no hidden corners of the property smell of urine or rotting garbage. The crowd is full of beautiful young and aspiring people and there are celebrities here too. I saw Jesse Metcalfe in the Apple Store last week.

Developer Rick Caruso has reinvigorated Farmers Market, which was formerly a vast blacktop and pidgeon filled old time tourist attraction. Now it is paved, landscaped and rationalized to maximize both profit and potential.

But Los Angeles is a fickle city. Only ten years ago, Citywalk in Universal was the IT place, and before that Westwood sparkled, and people once thought Melrose was cool. Even Beverly Hills is diminished in the imagination of Angelenos, and most locals avoid Rodeo Drive, despite a glitzy make-over.

We treat our city as entertainment, and when we are tired of what we see, we turn it off. The bubble will burst at The Grove, and it will one day seem as passe as a re-run of “Melrose Place”.