So what happens to all those communities in Riverside and San Bernardino that have been at the center of the foreclosure mess? "It’s going to be a long time before those places come back, if they ever do, because they’re not job centers, says Richard Green, director of USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate. I spoke to him for my real estate overview in today’s Financial Times, part of the paper's in-depth look at Los Angeles.

Foreclosures made up more than 45 per cent of all home sales in southern California in August, up from just 10 per cent a year earlier. Economists worry that the additional inventory will keep bringing down home prices, which will lead to more foreclosures. Some of the heaviest-hit communities are littered with for-sale signs. “This is going to be a slow burn,” says Christopher Thornberg, a principal at Beacon Economics, a research group that monitors the real estate market. “Eventually, prices will hit bottom and when they hit bottom they’ll stay there for years.”

Most of the package was reported by L.A. bureau chief Matthew Garrahan. Here's what he says about the growth of digital media:

Crackle, a Sony-owned site that specialises in original, short-form video content, will shortly move its operations from the Bay Area in northern California to Los Angeles. Sean Carey, senior executive vice-president at Sony Pictures Television, says the move to southern California was not driven by a need to find technical talent. “Arguably there’s more technical talent in the Bay Area,” he says. “But the talent and the mentality around the media industry is certainly deeper and more robust in Los Angeles.”