Fax machines. Pagers. Eight-track tapes. 

The fabled Sunset Strip?

L.A.’s cultural tastemaker hasn’t hit history’s dustbin just yet, but the storied Strip has seen far better days.

Closed-up shops. Dwindling foot traffic. A discernible lack of zeitgeist-grabbing moments.

It’s the economy, stupid. And the homeless crisis, crime and the fallout from COVID-19’s draconian lockdowns.

Some factors are out of local leadership’s hands. Social media has made Gen Z less, well, social. Drinking habits are drying up, too, at least among the young and beautiful. The pandemic impacted city hot spots across the country, with some locales still trying to repair the cultural damage.

Pick a city, any city, and those economic uppercuts have left a mark.

Closer to home, local business owners blame rising rental costs, societal shifts and inflation woes for the disappearing foot traffic and sense of unease. It doesn’t help that you’ll drop $20 for an ordinary drink. 

Plus, the loss of local landmarks means fewer reasons to give the Strip a look-see. A single store packs endless memories. A half dozen or so vanish, and it’s like a page in history has closed before our eyes.

Think venues like Chin Chin; the former home of the Roxbury (The Pink Taco); and the planned closure of the Viper Room, once the city’s go-to place for rock legends like Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, The Ramones and Bruce Springsteen.

This is a job for Spencer Pratt, perhaps, but the upstart candidate came in third after LA’s laborious vote count. Pratt focused on common sense concerns, including addressing the homeless crisis in a more pragmatic fashion, crime prevention and cleaner sidewalks.

Those issues matter to business owners on the Strip, and an effective Mayor Pratt might have made progress on these fronts.

Maybe.

Now, it will be up to either Mayor Karen Bass or Councilmember Nithya Raman to reverse current trends. They’ve done little to address those trend lines to date.

The Sunset Strip still has history and nostalgia on its side, powerful emotions in our culture. Think both the horrific – River Phoenix left this mortal coil at the Viper Room – and magical, like Johnny Cash’s comeback concert.

It’s all part of Americana, a place where dreams can blossom or blow up in our faces. The parcel remains an indelible part of California culture, and a wave of newer retail installations hope to channel that sensibility.

The arrivals of Bar Jubilee, Galerie on Sunset, and new retail spaces offer hope to the struggling Strip. It’s noteworthy that some investments hail from outside the area. 

They may be in for a cultural shock sooner or later upon arrival.

Area shopkeepers describe a desperate situation, where a single economic downturn or crushing bill could push them over the edge.

And then there are the intangibles. Iconic urban spaces aren’t guaranteed to thrive in perpetuity. Lose enough landmarks and locals with ties to the community, and the magic of a given place suddenly gives way to something ordinary, even sad.

Allow enough empty storefronts and passageways littered with vagrants, and even the Strip’s vaunted legacy fades to black.

Few politicians can turn that cultural downturn around, even with the best legislation.

Sure, Pratt powered his campaign with AI generated clips, but the real-life Sunset Strip can’t be fixed with a few well-written prompts.

It might take a miracle to bring back the Sunset Strip glory days, or even just to keep its battered heart beating.

Christian Toto is the founder of Hollywood in Toto and the host of The Hollywood in Toto Podcast