Palm Trees, part deux

The 2007 blog starts where the 2006 blog....started!

With a Palm tree rant.






The highwinds came last week, and our palm-lined streets were doused by thousands of pernicious, sole adhering, gutter clogging palm berries.





Fronds meanwhile are piled by the dozens in parkways and alleys, hopelessly exceeding green can limits. The boomerang shaped fronds encircle vent pipes, collect in roof valleys, and dangle from phone and cable lines. Their spikey lengths bloody hands and snag clothing.








Yeah, palm trees are GREAT.

Christmas Reading

I knew I liked author/illustrator Chris Van Allsburg, even if his wonderfully dreamy evocations (Jumanji, Zathura) frequently become story-stretched big-screen patience testers.

In the Polar Express, Van Allsburg depicts the North Pole not with rocaille-rich, german rococo architecture (and the typical Bavarian-esqe derivations); but more delectably, as a greying, industrial, factory town.



The North Pole as Detroit. Right on!

So Long 2006

Peanuts creator Charles Schultz grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, another community noted for it's Craftsman-era architecture. (Try google-ing, Twin Cities Bungalow Club.)




Hmmm, this Charlie Brown and I have a lot in common. (I never was much good with kites either.)






Thank you everyone for reading, and commenting on, Recentering El Pueblo. I will return in 2007 with more, more, more.

Fiiiiire!!

Invariably, the fire originates from some over-stuffed shit-can, breezeways littered with sidewalk play equipment, choked with a trapeze-like swirl of drying lines, and sagging, potted crops.



Commonly, in even the smallest bedrooms of these over-burdened court-style buildings, large electronics consoles dominate, trophy possessions, powered by crimped, undersized, extension cords daisy-chained in an disjointed bramble.











As part of some broader laissez-faire social contract, the occupancy limits go widely unchecked, the burdens usually borne by shell-shocked home owners in marginal neighborhoods, previously victimized by decades old capital flight and economic re-tool.





In this case, my favorite two houses on the 4100 block of Woodlawn escaped nearly unharmed. The fire spread to the carriage house of "Big Yellow", compromising the structure and likely resulting in five years of higher home insurance premiums for the owner.

The water sogged burn wood lay along the parkway for three weeks. Several times I was tempted to salvage the window hardware from a charred, double-hung. Dump items attract dump items, and for a time the pile grew outward, topped finally by a laundry basket of boys clothes and a cotton-twill suit.

Finally, one day it all disappeared.

Lola the Dog

Kathryn Queen and her husband Michael live in Jefferson Park. I'm passing along an e-mail I received from Kathryn this week:

If there is anyone out there who has the room in their
heart for Lola.

My husband Michael’s shop is in City of Commerce and
for about a year this little red pit-bull was running
around the street of all the shops looking for food.
Michael, as well as many of the other guys in the
neighborhood, befriended her
but all assumed she belonged to someone. One
day his neighbor told him that the city came and took
her away. Michael felt horrible and knew that she
would be killed, as there are mostly pit bulls in
pounds these days in L.A. So, he went to the pound and
got her. We had decided that the only way we could
keep her was to have her as a shop dog. Home was not
an option, we have 2 small dogs and a baby who’s only
a year old. We named her Lola, and, after about 2
months of
having her at the shop, we realized that it was just
cruel to leave her there in the cold all alone at
night. Once you get to know a pit bull you find that
they are so cuddly and such big babies. Lola hates to
be cold. A lover of the sun she is. So Michael
began bringing her home at night. It took a while to
get used to her, but she is so gentle with the other
dogs and great with our daughter too! I’ve tried to
make a go of it, but three dogs is more than we can
handle. We love her and need to find a good home for
her.

Lola is an abandoned street dog and has some special
needs. She has had a least one litter of puppies and
has scars all over her body from who or what ever
happened before us. We think she was abused because
she is a little jumpy and startles if you move to
quick or yell. Lola needs someone who doesn’t work
long hours away from home and has time for her. She
has separation anxiety and needs to be outside if left
alone. Lola loves to play and go for walks. Lola is
very well trained to pee outside. Lola loves other
dogs and people too but is a little shy at first with
some men, I think because of the abuse. She’s really
small for a pit bull--only about 50lbs and not very
tall. We have already had her fixed, micro chipped,
and she has all her shots. We just need to find
her a home as soon as possible. If you can find it in
your heart and if you have the time and space, please
consider taking Lola into your home. If you can’t,
please pass this message on to others you know who
might be interested.

Thank You, Katie Queen
Queenie0010@sbcglobal.net

The Worst Paint Job?!

Two German architecture fans, Johann Lotter and Reinhard Wissdorf, have written a surreal detective novel in which a serial killer destroys a number of ugly buildings around Frankfurt. What might the fictional killer do with this manky facade, I wonder.

Technically, this may not be the "worst paint job"; only, the "worst color choices". Perhaps the owners are trying to bring whimsy to another "fortified" bungalow, smothered with inartfully applied stucco, its porch resembling the jaws of a robotic canine.

The front porch, the social spring, the fountainhead of communal relations, rendered inpenetrable, inhospitable, unneighborly, behind a veil of gleaming white.

Multiple Roof Lines

A joy of living in an architecturally rich community is that over time--or perhaps immediately for those more schooled--one can sometimes identify architectural differences on a street-to-street or block-to-block basis. The 3600 block of 2nd Avenue (in Jefferson Park) is lined with delightful Arts & Crafts style bungalows, most of which feature such a distinguishing motif: multiple roof lines.

In the first image, this sadly stuccoed example has three front gables, two of which are side-by-side and on the same plane. (Not to mention a dreadfully-placed downspout).










Here the porch roof is a separate gabled element and is "projecting".


This is a highly common bungalow subtype. What's more unusual is the way the solid, slightly-tapered (or "battered") porch-roof supports start and rise uninterrupted from the ground.



Wow! Cross gabled and with a gable above.





The asymmetry is almost shocking, especially when compared to our first example. The column supports, unevenly spaced, are more typical here, short and resting upon a solid porch balustrade.

How Now Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's, the discount gourmet food chain, has nearly 300 outlets in 18 states. There are at least eight locations in Los Angeles, not including two in West Hollywood, thirteen blocks apart. Pasadena, a city of 140,000 hosts three, with others nearby in South Pasadena, La Canada-Flintridge, La Crescenta, and Monrovia.

Trader Joe's doesn't yet have a location in Council Districts 8, 9, or 10. The combined population of CD's 8, 9, & 10 is nearly 750,000, greater than Wilmington Delaware, Annapolis Maryland, or Newport News, Virginia. Much greater than San Clemente, San Carlos, or Santa Barbara (home to three stores).



Possibly there's a bit more moola in Santa Barbara than in "South Center City". But there would seem to be some moola here as well, as evidenced by the price of homes in Country Club Park, Western Heights, and LaFayette Square, to say nothing of View Hills, Kinney Heights or Victoria Park. Moreover, one doesn't need a lot of moola to afford a 69 cent pack of pasta, a 19 cent banana, or a loaf of multi-grain bread ($1.89).

For arguments sake, the Figueroa corridor might offer the most opportunity for the/an aspiring retailer. Close to U.S.C's grub-happy student population, downtown's soft-lofters, and a better option than the 32nd Street market for University Park's well-to-dos.



But who needs 'em? I buy most of my produce, and some of my other essentials (rice, beans, and tortillas) at Mercado Numero Uno. The warehouse style market is high-ceilinged, with broad aisles and open space. The in-store soundtrack includes zippy Cuban music. The location I like best is at 701 East Jefferson, where San Pedro and Avalon split. The Jefferson store hosts a pocket branch of the popular full sevice food provider Gallo Giro, with an exhibition-style kitchen offering traditional Mexican dishes like guisados and tamales, a bakery (panaderia), and juice bar (Aguas Frescas).



I'm addicted to the Platano incidentally.

A Lazy Blog Entry

Monday started like this:



I stopped by the Lentini's duplex, to pick an old wall-hung cast iron sink. Their upstairs rental boasts a sly, double-hinged bathroom cabinet. Incidentally, anybody searching for a spacious, two bedroom rental, rife with Craftsman cool, should check out their site:

http://web.mac.com/bendewald/iWeb/Cimarron%20Partners/Listing.html




Later I drove East on 8th Avenue, past the former site of the Ambassador Hotel. Its absence intensified my concern for the future of the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The truck was drawn south to Exposition Park.





Tomorrow I'm getting inside.

30th Street Fortification

I know wealthy neighborhoods fortify too, sometimes more discreetly, with electronic paraphanelia or fences of wood rather than concrete block and spiky metal. (Sometimes less discreetly with guard gates and abundant security patrols.)

Even in areas where a decrease in crime is strongly "trending", fortifications can occur or persist, and as they do so, neighborhoods begin to lose their coherence, punctuated by an assortment of isolated bunkers, buildings that resemble power stations, duplicating-machine replacement-parts wholesale distribution warehouses, or the pokey. Frequently, windows are sealed or downsized, as the building's interior is effectively separated from its' exterior.

Perhaps intimidated by law and order demagoguery, the King riots, or a burglary, the process of fortification (not to be confused with the means of adding nutrients to food), and its dehumanizing face, claimed an outpost on 30th Street. Softened a tad by twin, un-tended, Birds of Paradise, and limp, patchy grass



Incidentally, violent crime, both in the city and in the local reporting district, is expected to show a statistical decline for the fourth straight year. Excitingly, Los Angeles may claim its lowest homicide rate since 1971, at which time the city had a million fewer residents!

The Galen Center

U.S.C.'s new on-campus events center, or adjacent-to campus events center, at Figueroa and Jefferson, strives for a retro look, part Midwestern fieldhouse, part clean-lined, Public Works Administration (PWA) Moderne.



Restricted by the confines of its single, narrow block, the Galen Center is refreshingly unlike many other contemporary arenas, ringed by acres of blacktop and parking.

The University's Eastern border make-over or build-up continues, including the "Gateway" development at Jefferson and Exposition: 421 student apartments, parking, and street level services (Quizno's, Robeks, Coffee Bean & Tea, etc).

I'd support the Galen Center utterly, even with the parking concerns, if only it didn't likely hasten the demise of the increasingly tenantless Los Angeles Sports Arena, previously spurned by the Lakers & Kings, and Clippers--and now Trojans!. Graced with a broad, distinctive crown (and slick terrazo floors on the concourse level), the arena was opened in 1959 (and ergo is not new enough to be "new", nor old enough to be "old").

Undoubtedly, the arena will now be sacrificed to the National Football League nazis, concessions to a relocating franchise.

Friday Filler

Youngstown, Anyone stirred 'em up. (Incidentally, I will be reconfiguring the blog soon to allow for comments.)

South of Jefferson strong man Allen Lulu added the following: Using a site called "measuringworth.com", I have come to learn this: the median price of a home in 1967 which you have listed as $24000 is, in 2006 dollars equal to $140,000. Aside from urban centers, this does seem to jibe with the rest of the country.

the real difference comes in the money from 1915. that 3200 house would only buy a 64000 house today. The dollar has changed, significantly, apparently. And inflation had a LOT to do with it, post 60's.



24K, the Cadillac kid, a surprising and at times abradant critic of economic expansionism, opines: this here is one of them hidden costs of growth. You got more people, you need more shelter. They ain't making more land, and some materials get scarcer. Of course it starts with jobs. Places are cheap in Youngstown cause there ain't no jobs. Few that pay good anyhow.

Thanks 24K, remember when they brought the Avanti back to the Steel Valley and Youngstown? Maybe you should go with a trade in.