Los Angeles is leaning hard into its “Decade of Sport” as it gears up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, 2027 Super Bowl and 2028 Olympics, but the story is bigger than stadiums. The Rams Village at Warner Center – a 52-acre mixed-use campus in Woodland Hills – will break ground in 2027 with offices, apartments, entertainment venues and nine acres of parks, signaling confidence in the Valley’s office-to-residential reinvention (indicated by the #5 Business Ecosystem ranking). Warner Center’s 2035 zoning already allows 24 million square feet of new commercial development and 14,000 housing units, putting investors on notice.
Cultural projects are not letting up either. The Natural History Museum’s $75-million NHM Commons opened in Exposition Park, while the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art debuts in 2026 on an 11-acre campus. UCLA’s new DataX center has become a magnet for AI and STEM talent. L.A.’s Top 3 University ranking isn’t surprising. On the street, the reopened Sixth Street Viaduct has turned the Arts District into Instagram catnip (securing a Top 3 Instagram Posts ranking), with galleries, boutiques and Michelin-starred dining pulling Angelenos eastward. Meanwhile, the rest of the U.S. looks longingly westward as the City of Angels rises resiliently from the deadly fires that swept the city.