In Boston, the revitalization of downtown is being aided by an $11 billion highway project known as the “Big Dig” one of the largest public works projects in U.S. history.

In Washington, D.C., the arrival of Metrorail last fall in Columbia Heights is helping turn around an area still remembered for riots more than three decades ago. Now, developers want to spend $135 million to build housing, stores and movie theaters.

And New York’s revival has become legendary, including the transformation of 42nd Street and Times Square from havens for adult movie theaters and drug dealing to family-friendly tourist attractions.

Can Los Angeles replicate the types of successful redevelopment occurring in other major metropolitan areas? Or is L.A. too different in layout and politics for such sweeping transformations?

While local redevelopment boosters point to success stories in places like New York as a source of inspiration, others say such expectations may be unrealistic.

“I don’t see L.A. in this ballpark,” said Fred Siegel, author of “The Future Once Happened Here: New York, D.C., L.A. and the Fate of America’s Big Cities.”

“I think the problem in L.A. is you’re so different. The Westside has more office space than downtown. You’re not comparable to these places. You’re a different animal.”

Siegel said cities with the most successful redevelopment efforts have more traditional layouts; typically, a single downtown area that serves as the hub of the entire metropolitan area.

In Boston, for example, the edges of downtown are all within a mile of its center. Logan Airport is adjacent to downtown and the city remains pedestrian-oriented.

But perhaps most importantly, downtown is the core of government and business activity for the region, which has made it easier for local officials to sell its revitalization effort to federal funding sources.

Downtown Los Angeles, by contrast, can’t really make that claim.

Local boosters acknowledge that L.A.’s redevelopment efforts are smaller in scale and more spread out than what has been attempted in other large cities. But they still insist that the vision and talent exists for a similar revitalization here, especially downtown, which is seeing a spate of new development.

Dan Sitomer, a partner in DirectLine Partners LLC, a downtown redevelopment consulting firm, said projects like the $375 million Staples Center sports arena and the possible renovation of the Memorial Coliseum are indications that downtown L.A. finally could be ready for a rebirth.

“I think what’s happening in Los Angeles is very exciting. It’s the kind of excitement that existed previously in New York,” he said. “You’ll see that happen here. I think New York was ahead of the curve financially I think Los Angeles is really only at the beginning of that development curve.”

Randy Levine, New York’s deputy mayor for economic development and planning, said that city’s revitalization is closely tied to its emergence from the recession of the early ’90s. It also was aided by $2 billion in tax cuts that eliminated a number of business taxes and lots of red tape for companies that wanted to relocate or expand in the city.

Levine said those types of changes can be made in other big cities. “I think they’re translatable,” he said. “New York is different, but I think it’s a philosophy of governing.”

However, a recent push by L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan to simplify the city tax code and cut taxes for many businesses met with competing proposals from City Council members. A final version of the business tax plan has yet to be passed by the council.

“(Riordan) has spurred a lot of attention (for) Los Angeles, and although he doesn’t have the same kind of powers (Mayor) Rudy Giuliani has in New York, I think his vision as to business and the development of business has been influential,” Sitomer said.

Others, however, believe L.A. should look closer to home for inspiration. Michael Hastings, a founding partner of DirectLine and former mayor of Burbank, said San Diego has been able to draw residents to once-depressed downtown areas through a new baseball stadium and the successful development of the Horton Plaza shopping mall.

Hastings said a similar revitalization can happen here if downtown Los Angeles can create other destinations to go along with Staples Center.

“There needs to be something in downtown for a family from Canoga Park to come there on a weekend,” he said.

But Siegel pointed out that despite downtown redevelopment efforts, L.A. remains a city with many urban hubs, like Santa Monica, Century City, Glendale, Woodland Hills and West L.A.

That makes it difficult to build downtown development to the critical mass needed to attract further investment and funding.

“Do you need downtown redevelopment?” Siegel asked. “I don’t understand why the fixation with downtown when the L.A. economy itself is so multi-polar. L.A.’s not like Manhattan. It’s a different breed.”