Star Bucks, Carl's Jr. and Coffee

I used to go to Star Bucks here in Panorama city. I stopped because if one wants to write and be ignored Star Bucks doesn't serve that purpose. Always, but always, there is some lonely soul looking for a conversation partner. And writing in such a place seems to be the equivalent of having a neon sign above one's head saying, "Talk to me." So, I abandoned my local Magic Johnson Star Buck's.

Going to Carl's in the morning is nice as I have a pristine view of the street there. No one talks to me. But who'd thought that Carl's would be a regular haunt for a number of regulars. Most seem alone-really alone. There is a woman who comes everyday who sits with a depressed expression on her face. There is an elderly man who sits alone and eats the same chicken salad almost everyday. And then there are regular types: people waiting for a train, kids trying to bum dollars off of customers, blue-collar types and others.

What is most different about the whole environment is that in my childhood there were both speakers of English and Spanish. Now, for the most part, Spanish is the more common language in these parts, so I only have to step out my front door to practice it.

Last farm in Van Nuys

I live near this farm that is at the end of Hazeltine ave. in Van Nuys. I became aware of it riding on the Metrolink train as it heads towards downtown. I have asked about it, and no one knows anything about it. It is the last part of a stretch of farms that existed here 50 years ago. It is strange that it is still here. I do recall a farming store on Van Nuys in the '80s near here, so there must have been others nearby.

The Bubble Bursts: Foreclosure Comes to The Hood

About two weeks ago, a man approached me about buying a house, which unbeknownst to me, had been foreclosed upon. We are seeing reality of buyers having to be able to afford monthly payments meet the current unreality of them not being able to.

Here are two recent articles on this:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-fi-newochomes,1,3838206.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

http://www.toacorn.com/news/2007/0920/Front_Page/004.html

Pedestrain Fashion

In other parts of the world, there is high fashion on the streets of Paris, New York and Tokyo among other major metropolises. However, here in the hood, we prefer the thuggish aesthetic, which entails finding the clothes that closest resemble the fashion of last year's ax-murderer.

Going back in time and space, I found an interesting note on how a pedestrian samurai should attire himself even with specifics on swords.

Awwwwwww.....how human awareness of pedestrian fashion transcends time and space. In reading this, we are touching the timeless. Maybe, we can attain satori by a wholly new means.

Down Memory Lane (without any accidents)

As a kid when you went south on Van Nuys Blvd. and passed the underpass, there was Buddy's Bat away (I think that was the name) on the right. And on the left, there was an open field.

Buddy's Bat Away has been replaced by a car dealership, which promises you a loan even if you don't have good credit in both English and Spanish. The empty lot has become the Amtrak Train/Amtrak Bus/Metro-link train station. I remember when the train station opened. It was just a platform with a parking lot in the late '80s. There were always train enthusiasts with radios to tell how much the train was going to be late. It was never once on time. Now, it's pretty reliable.

First Day of Fall

After an intense heatwave, we now have our first overcast sky. It was the first day cold enough to get out the winter gear: a long-sleeve shirt.

Van Nuys Drive-In: now and then

I recently drove (was driven) by the Van Nuys Drive-In and took a picture of the school that now stands there. According to http://www.garbell.com/drive-ins/drive-in.htm, it was "built (in) 1948 (&) Operated by Pacific Theatres. (Its) Vehicle Capacity (was) Originally 890 (and) Eventually 1400." (It) Closed August 1996,(& was) demolished in August, 1998."

I went there with my family and saw "Fiddler on the Roof." I also went there on dates. I wasn't living in the area when it closed, so I don't remember when it closed. I do remember many a time sneaking views of movies from the adjacent wash or from friends'houses who lived in back of the theater and hiding in the bushes under the marquee (see above) after school. It was of several hide-outs that my friends and I had along the way home.

The area at the time was called Sepulveda. It's now called, "North Hills." The original North Hills was a break-away area west of the 405 freeway that was an upper-middle class area that didn't want to be associated with crime-ridden Sepulveda. I remember the change and how quickly the rest of Sepulveda joined and thus became North Hills that resulted in Sepulveda as an area name disappearing.

Van Nuys may have a similar fate as we lost part of it to Lake Balboa. We lost the southern part of Van Nuys to Sherman Oaks. Obviously, real estate drives our naming of areas and not history like it does in other places on the planet.

Symmetry to Beverly Hills streets and the Asymmetry of Los Angeles streets

I stood on the city limits between Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. I stood in the middle of the four-way intersection and shot these two photos. The contrast couldn't be greater between the two. Clearly, Beverly Hills is noticeable as the tree line is striking and the architecture is fairly consistent. What is not obvious from the top photo is that there are a few buildings that have a different architectural style.

With the second photo, the asymmetry is obvious. There is no tree line and already the buildings on both sides of the street are of different architectural styles.

It really helps if you left-click on these photos to see the details.

A walk in the neighborhood

Valerio street in Van Nuys is one of the oldest streets. These houses are between Van Nuys and Tyrone St. I took these this morning. It shows what the area looked like before track houses came to be the dominate type of housing.

Mansions in the hood

As a life-long resident of the valley, I grew up with one type of housing: single-family dwellings. They were all one story with the standard front and back yards. There was little variance. Correspondingly, the population was smaller and families didn't necessarily desire to live within blocks of one another. The predominant ethnic groups were White and Hispanic. These two groups remain. Now, we have a significantly greater number of ethnicities who have different goals with housing: primarily families want to live in greater proximity to one another and in multi-generational housing. In this mix of goals, some people also want these mansions as a sign of their making it in America.

The first photo is a satellite image that shows the lot before the mansion was built. It virtually occupies the majority of the lot to the point that the front yard and back yards are incredibly small.

As a native of LA, I find these mansions totally unappealing as they are asymmetrical: they're two stories and the rest of the houses are one story as well as the house occupies most of the lot whereas track houses have back and front yards. So, it just feel out of place. I think I speak for most natives. We definitely do have a clash of sensibilities here as you can see the local mansion in my hood. This is just one example

I invite comments. Any thoughts on this topic?