In addition to host Lisa McRee's web reports from the show's road trips, the "California Connected" crew at KCET is also posting to a newsroom blog that looks like it could be pretty meaty. What caught my attention was a four-part blog series by web producer Thomas Kelly on upscale development in Koreatown, much of it driven by Korean-Americans returning to live in the community devastated by the 1992 riots. Photos are on the show's Flickr stream. Blog excerpt:

Demographer Peter A. Morrison, whose research on Koreatown housing patterns uses 2000 Census figures...said Asians in Koreatown are trending upward in the local housing market as more luxury units are developed. He said Korean-Americans also seem to be re-coalescing in Koreatown because it has many attractions for them, including proximity to downtown, Korean stores and cultural institutions.

West of Western Avenue, north of Wilshire Boulevard on Manhattan Avenue, is just such an attraction, a major development in progress, the Courtyard, MaDang: a shopping and entertainment center that will include about 100,000 square feet of retail, a nine-level parking structure with 480 parking spots, a gourmet Korean restaurant and a three-screen, bilingual cinema.

For first-generation Korean-Americans, the movie theater will show English-speaking movies with Korean subtitles, according to Diana Kim, property manager for the Courtyard, MaDang. The theater will also feature Korean movies with English subtitles for second and third generation Korean-Americans who are often less fluent in Korean, she said.

“Business in Koreatown is always booming and growing,” Kim said. “These new developments will have a fundamental effect on the area. But it’s not just for Koreans. We’re targeting all ethnic groups.”

Photo: California Connected