How long until Downtown turns into Hollywood?

OK, seriously: What’s going on Downtown? At first the nightlife revival was great–the bars were original and edgy and they brought people back to the street after dark. But lately every new Downtown bar or trend seems to mimic the Hollywood scene. 

Exhibit A: The most popular Hollywood hotspots have a theme, from Balinese temple (Mood) to vintage salon (Beauty Bar). The latest crop of bars to open Downtown also have themes, like Seven Grand, a Scottish-style whisky bar decked out in stag heads and flannel print. 

Exhibit B: Until recently, velvet-rope rejects (and those too weary to try) abandoned Hollywood for Downtown’s laid-back door policies. Then The Edison opened Downtown and poof, Converse-clad kids are now rejected at the door for not dressing chic enough. I find this especially ironic given that Marc Smith owns The Edison –the very man who opened Hollywood’s grungy Burgundy Room in 1989, only to sell it when he felt the neighborhood became too pretentious.

Exhibit C: The folks behind the trendy Citizen Smith, where every celeb under the sun comes to nibble and lounge, are opening an outpost of their Hollywood location in a Downtown loft called The Roosevelt, not be confused with the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which houses Tropicana Bar and Teddy's.

It’s not that I don’t love Hollywood. I do, with a capital L. But I also have a heart-on for Downtown and it’d be a shame if the scene lost its identity and became trendy enough to attract the Paris Hilton types.