The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 250 points, losing ground after Tuesday's election day upswing, and investors are looking for more less-than-stellar economic news even if the government forms another stimulus plan, reports the Los Angeles Times.
With a slipping economy delaying development around downtown, and skid row being part of the collective community, Main Street is a crossroad that has been waiting for some economic optimism.
The cheers heard at CNN’s projection for a win by Obama (and the concession speech of Sen. John McCain) was joined by a collective sigh of relief by supporters who gathered to watch election results in between blue and red colored drinks.
“I believed in him since Iowa,” said developer Tom Gilmore after the president-elect’s speech claiming victory. Gilmore, who rallied the city’s 1999 passage of an adaptive reuse ordinance that is often credited with reviving this part of downtown, used his Farmer’s and Merchants Bank at 4th and Main as an ad hoc town hall.
Just outside, Old Bank District resident Flo White, 71, who moved to downtown a year ago, was standing outside the former bank after Obama was projected the winner.
“I’ve been through 7 presidents,” she said. “Right now, I am so proud of my country.”
Nearby in skid row, where a majority of residents and homeless are African American, many were chanting “Obama! Obama!”
A few noted the change in leadership with caution.
A 56-year-old former truck driver, who didn’t want his last name disclosed, has been a living in an SRO the last four years.
“I’ve been here since Bush was re-elected,” he said Tuesday night. “I don’t know if it will do me any good now; but Joe the brother in the White House. Maybe he can do something.”
