California Culture: Circa 2000

[methodwriter85]

Well, there was that one article you posted upthread talking about another option, building over old, obsolete buildings. Which seems to be what they're going for, and there are still quite a few areas/buildings in LA that are viable options for that kind of flipping. In Long Beach, there's even a project to renovate an old government building that the new city center made redundant.

 

 

Yeah. Los Angeles doesn't seem that big on historical preservation of their old buildings. Here's another video from Tom Explores Los Angeles, where he talks about the tearing down of the historic Riverside Figueroa Bridge:

 

 

Pretty sad. Someone said that San Diego and San Francisco are more proactive about protecting their historical buildings because they tend to have more "core" founding families there, whereas Los Angeles tends towards being a bunch of transplants that doesn't mind tearing things down to make way for the new.

 

That would have been a really cool idea to do something like the Highline in New York City with the bridge. Oh, well.

 

My little hometown doesn't really care that much about saving historic buildings, either. They'll tear stuff down and that make buildings that try to look old. The end result is that our Main Street looks like Disney Town, U.S.A..

Edited February 26, 2015 by methodwriter85

[B1ue]

"If we continue to knock down our past, it will be harder and harder to know and understand our future."

 

What a dork.

 

So...in sum, they made a bridge that's safer for cars (that are the primary users of the bridge) and less safe for pedestrians and bikers. That's unfortunate, but acceptable. And I say this as someone who walks everywhere it is convenient to do so. I would also offer that building over and renovating existing properties should probably be considered a historic tactic for the LA area at this point. We've been doing it since LA started to become heavily populated at the beginning of the twentieth century.

 

I'm curious why they fail to mention that there are two parks (one a rather large recreation area) on either side of both the current and former bridges, that the pedestrian pathway used to link (not sure if there is a new pedestrian pathway, I don't head to that part of town very often). It would have made a more compelling argument, I feel, but perhaps they did not think so.

 

I'm also carefully not making any comments about how historical preservation was not a high priority when it came to tearing out the entire East bank and making it into a wetland. You should admire my restraint.

 

As to why the core founding families aren't terribly interested in preserving the historic core, look up "White Flight." While not generally applied to LA for some reason, it in fact happened in response to increased number of Blacks and Hispanics moving into LA during the fifties and sixties. Those founding families wrote central LA off as a loss five decades ago.

Edited February 27, 2015 by B1ue

[methodwriter85]

"If we continue to knock down our past, it will be harder and harder to know and understand our future."

 

What a dork.

 

I'm also carefully not making any comments about how historical preservation was not a high priority when it came to tearing out the entire East bank and making it into a wetland. You should admire my restraint.

 

 

You're still annoyed with Tom for making his plea that Piggyback Yard needs to be turned into a park for the L.A. River, aren't you?

 

I think his videos are cool and beautifully shot, but a lot of them come with a clear slant. He's an L.A. transplant hipster, trying to find odd and historical little bits of fabric pertaining to L.A., with the idea of encouraging more people to take ownership of their town and pushing for the kinds of things that he finds important like historic preservation and parks. Which would probably be annoying to people that have generations of family there.

Edited February 27, 2015 by methodwriter85

[B1ue]

You're still annoyed with Tom for making his plea that Piggyback Yard needs to be turned into a park for the L.A. River, aren't you?

Ya think?

 

I'm also slightly annoyed by his presentation of Los Angeles as a place entirely devoid of greenery and recreation areas, which is simply false. Like this video's extended eulogy for a recreation area that could have been that completely ignores the existence of a pair of parks literally across the street from either end of the bridge itself. I'm also never going to agree with the idea that looks are more important than utility, which seems to be his stance.

Edited February 27, 2015 by B1ue

[methodwriter85]

Ya think?

 

I'm also slightly annoyed by his presentation of Los Angeles as a place entirely devoid of greenery and recreation areas, which is simply false. Like this video's extended eulogy for a recreation area that could have been that completely ignores the existence of a pair of parks literally across the street from either end of the bridge itself. I'm also never going to agree with the idea that looks are more important than utility, which seems to be his stance.

 

Well, yeah, but the bridge could've been the next High Line, which is pretty cool and about as hip as you can get.

 

I do think Los Angeles, like most cities of the early 21st century, seems to be in the middle of a identity makeover. New York City is seeing Brooklyn and even Staten Island becoming rich, hipster enclaves while the foreign investors are buying up Manhattan and making insanely rich residential towers there. Philadelphia, long known as a rough and scruff blue-collar town with a massive crack cocaine epidemic, is seeing this influx of young, urban professionals that are making places like Fishtown desirable places to live and sparking all this residential and commercial construction around Center City. Meanwhile, it seems like Los Angeles has a lot of competing ideas going on about how to go forward in their future, and what to define themselves as. This guy represents the whole "let's get the Millennial with their bikes and quirky ideals about urbanism to move into Downtown!" viewpoint, I think.

Edited February 27, 2015 by methodwriter85

[B1ue]

Well, yeah, but the bridge could've been the next High Line, which is pretty cool and about as hip as you can get.

You say that like its a good thing. Or even a practical thing. Did you notice that leaving up the old bridge would have prevented finishing the new bridge, right? That doesn't get mentioned in the video either, but you can kind of see it on google maps. It currently shows the construction of the new bridge, which when completed will be a four lane road, plus a bike path, as opposed to the old two lane. However, even the two lanes the new bridge opened with comes almost against the old bridge, and it would have been impossible to expand it further without knocking down the older bridge.

 

And that's really the problem I have with both this guy and the Friends of the LA River. They're not just slanted, they're lying, and presenting misinformation like it is unquestionable fact. I don't even object to their vision for Los Angeles, but the way they go about it annoys me, and makes me question what else they're lying about.

 

Edit: Also, Millennials aren't going to move into downtown. They can't afford it. Further, while as I said I don't object to a more pedestrian friendly version of LA, that ideal has to align with the reality that Los Angeles is, in its current incarnation, designed to move cars and freight. It should also reflect the reality of how large LA really is. Los Angeles city itself half again as large as all five boroughs of NYC (discounting water, adding in water area brings both cities to near parity), and the Greater LA area is three times as large as the New York metropolitan area. Finally, it should also take into consideration that the geographic features that LA organizes itself on at this point in time are the freeways themselves.

Edited February 27, 2015 by B1ue

[methodwriter85]

Well, I was kind of being in jest with the first comment. That's why I included the smiley. I don't necessarily agree that it was a huge loss.

 

Interesting bit about the Millennials. I didn't realize Downtown had to be that expensive. I mean, I thought they were trying to revitalize it, which suggested that it can't be that expensive.

Edited February 27, 2015 by methodwriter85

[B1ue]

Actually, let me more fully illustrate some of the things I'm worried about with the Friends of the LA River project, using Google maps. Ven conmigo!

 

 

This is a picture of the Piggyback yard. The red arrow points directly to the yard, the blue to Union Station, our main train station in downtown LA. Just on the other side of that, there's Olivera St, the historic heart of LA, as well as lot and lots of government buildings. There are also two jails and the coroner's office visible, but never mind. As you can see, the Piggyback yard sits more or less smack dab in the middle of one of the most heavily populated and heavily built up section of the greater LA area. And while I'd not want to live on that kind of toxic waste dump (honesty compels me to admit I already do work on one), developers must salivate over the idea of either a residential or commercial area taking over all that nice land. It is not only accessible via five different freeways (the 10, the 60, the 5, the 210, and the 101), but a major hub for three different passenger rail systems AND three different bus systems is a twenty minute walk away. With all that pressure, and citing the traditional trend of making over less utilized structures for newer improved ones, I think the Friends of the LA river will get their way eventually. The UP will probably demand every cent they can possibly get away with to fork it over, but I would guess it is inevitable.

 

But this is worrying, because of this.

 

 

THIS is the end junction of the Alameda Corridor, one of the most important stretches of railroad in the country. Basically, if something says "Made in China", "Korea", or "Indonesia", odds are high that it passed along that little green arrow. The same is true of things that say "Assembled in the US," and a lot of things that don't. Car parts. Housing materials. Machine equipment. And in the other direction, lots and lots of food and assembled goods. An average of 45 trains a day pass along that section, mile and half to two miles bruisers that help shape the US economy as we know it.

 

 

And that little rail section is a bit less than three miles to the south of the Piggyback yard, and just as much alongside the LA river as the yard. So when I say I don't want people that favor form over utility in charge of deciding what should go and what should stay in my city, I'm not just being contrarian. The friends of the LA river group, and that one dork, has demonstrated via their articles and posts that they are less than concerned over the business and logistical impacts of their proposals. They seem to feel someone else can worry about that, so this is me. Worrying about it.

Edited February 27, 2015 by B1ue

[B1ue]

Interesting bit about the Millennials. I didn't realize Downtown had to be that expensive. I mean, I thought they were trying to revitalize it, which suggested that it can't be that expensive.

Yes and no. Its not a lot more expensive than the surrounding areas, but it is some. Actually, if you had a roommate or two and all of you were working, it is probably fairly reasonable, if not cheap. But considering the current job market, especially for people just out of college...

[methodwriter85]

Well, the interesting thing about this is that it's taking "Rust Belt" brownfield makeover ideas and applying it to areas where the industry is still there. That should have some interesting consequences. They're trying to force it into becoming a brownfield, rather than happening organically.

 

Interesting bit about the cost of living downtown. I know in Philly, there are lots of young people taking over, but Philly is also a city that was built for 2 million people and lost about 500k people. There's going to be lots of empty lots and housing for them, which probably keeps pricing down.

Edited February 28, 2015 by methodwriter85

[methodwriter85]

So this is more 1978 than 2000,but check out this really cool/funny picture of Cali rock climbers from the 1970's:

 

 

 

It's currently trending on Reddit's OldSchoolCool. Check out the shorts!

 

I really do love looking at photos from that depict bygone eras and times. I love imagining what it might have been like to live in those times. According to people in the thread, they're guessing that these are Yosemite climbers from the 1970's.

[methodwriter85]

Not surprisingly, San Francisco invented the whole "parklet" craze about a decade ago. It's hitting Philadelphia right now and trickling down to Newark and Wilmington, DE as well. (They did a display of the concept at a community day event here in Newark last summer, and apparently did a temp one in Wilmington.)

 

Have you seen the parklets in Los Angeles, Blue? I think it's kinda cool, but I'd also be terrified of someone running me over while I'm sitting down on some park bench.

 

For those of you who haven't seen them, it's basically when a parallel parking spot in front of a business gets turned into a mini-park:

 

Edited March 14, 2015 by methodwriter85

[methodwriter85]

Not necessarily California culture (though I'm pretty sure Buzzfeed films at YouTube studios in Los Angeles), but I thought Blue would get a kick out of it:

 

 

I love Taco Bell, but yeah, I doubt they're all that authentic. I lived in Spain when I was really little, and according to my sister, Spanish burritos were fried/grilled. Which is something that Taco Bell has imitated in the past few years. Currently, I'm digging the beefy frito burrito.

 

 

Anyway, back to California culture...

 

 

It wasn't until I lived in Western P.A. that I realized that Dunkin Donuts wasn't as widespread as like McDonald's or Burger King. It was a big deal that the town I was living in was getting their first Dunkin Donuts, which was strange to me as a guy for whom Dunkin Donuts were almost as common as like 7/11.

 

If you ever go there in the fall, Blue, please get the pumpkin donuts. They are bangin'.

[B1ue]

Of course Taco Bell isn't authentic. They don't really try to be. Almost no "Mexican" food served in America is authentic; most of it is Tex-Mex. Mind, it's good food, but it is its own thing and it is probably unfair to compare it to something it is not trying to emulate, and then ding it for not emulating it properly.

 

Dunkin Donuts. That franchise is nuts, worse than Starbucks. We joke about Starbucks being on every corner in California, but when I went to Boston, there was almost literally a Dunkin Donuts on every corner. That was fifteen years ago, so I assume the landscape has changed somewhat. But, possibly not.

[methodwriter85]

Of course Taco Bell isn't authentic. They don't really try to be. Almost no "Mexican" food served in America is authentic; most of it is Tex-Mex. Mind, it's good food, but it is its own thing and it is probably unfair to compare it to something it is not trying to emulate, and then ding it for not emulating it properly.

 

Dunkin Donuts. That franchise is nuts, worse than Starbucks. We joke about Starbucks being on every corner in California, but when I went to Boston, there was almost literally a Dunkin Donuts on every corner. That was fifteen years ago, so I assume the landscape has changed somewhat. But, possibly not.

 

 

Well, they're now trying to take over California as well. Like I said, try the pumpkin donuts in the fall. They're bangin'.

 

Anyway, in this episode of Tom Explores Los Angeles, we get to explore the dead Hawthorne Mall in Hawthorne, CA, which closed in the 1990's after the middle class imploded due to the collapse of the aerospace sector.

 

 

I've always imagined that Southern California had the best malls, after New Jersey and Texas. I still wish desperately that I could hang out in 1983 Sherman Oaks Galleria.

 

Anyway, this mall was recently featured in Gone Girl...there's talk about reviving it, but given the demographics in the area...it doesn't seem likely.

 

Were any of you guys ever there in its hey-day?

Edited April 10, 2015 by methodwriter85

[PrivateTim]

Taco Bell has never, ever been good. Of the chains Del Taco was okay, Naugles was too. Then came the fresh taco places like La Salsa, Sharkey's and Baja Fresh followed by the fish taco places, Rubios and Wahoo's, then Chipotle.

 

The best are always the hole-in-the-wall one offs. The are very small local chains like King Taco and then the taco trucks.

 

Dunkin Donuts was in CA, but Winchell's was dominant. Then CA went on a health kick and donuts were out. Winchell's & Dunkin' completely disappeared and donut shops became individually owned shops by Vietnamese & Chinese immigrants. Maybe 15 years ago Krispy Kreme came to CA and nothing is as good as Krispy Kreme, especially when they are hot.

 

Hawthorne Mall went away because it couldn't compete with Del Amo and South Bay Galleria. It wasn't the collapse of the middle class, it was the growing affluence of the South Bay that doomed Hawthorne. Who wanted to go to JC Penny & Montgomery Ward?

 

You want to explore fascinating So Cal past....  explore Pacific Ocean Park, Marineland, Busch Gardens and the Z-boys.

Edited April 10, 2015 by PrivateTim

[B1ue]

When I said "good", I meant Tex Mex generally, not Taco Bell specifically. And I certainly include all levels of fake Mexican food in there, including full restaurants that proclaim that they serve "Authentic Mexican Food," but have fajitas on the menu. My mom makes...comments when we go to such places. And then glares at me because I order it.

 

Although, that said, I do prefer Taco Bell to King Taco. And the only reason I go to Chipolte is because Freebirds in Isla Vista is a bit too far of a drive for my lunch break.

[methodwriter85]

Dunkin Donuts was in CA, but Winchell's was dominant. Then CA went on a health kick and donuts were out. Winchell's & Dunkin' completely disappeared and donut shops became individually owned shops by Vietnamese & Chinese immigrants. Maybe 15 years ago Krispy Kreme came to CA and nothing is as good as Krispy Kreme, especially when they are hot.

 

Hawthorne Mall went away because it couldn't compete with Del Amo and South Bay Galleria. It wasn't the collapse of the middle class, it was the growing affluence of the South Bay that doomed Hawthorne. Who wanted to go to JC Penny & Montgomery Ward?

 

Krispy Kreme is fantastic. However, I really like apple fritters, pumpkin donuts, Munchkins and the coffee that you get from Dunkin.

 

Not surprised to hear that donuts went out because of the health kick. Krispy Kreme disappeared from Delaware for 7 or so years because of the Atkins diet craze. It finally came back last year.

 

It'll be interesting to see if the Hawthorne revival plan works. Of course, it might just be a pipe dream. I like following the stories of dead malls, and how some dying malls are able to re-invent themselves. Christiana Mall in Delaware was kind of getting ready to die, but then they did an ambitious facelift and the mall has been going gangbusters since.

 

The key seems to be having retail at different price points, as well as good restaurants and entertainment options.

 

 

And I certainly include all levels of fake Mexican food in there, including full restaurants that proclaim that they serve "Authentic Mexican Food," but have fajitas on the menu. My mom makes...comments when we go to such places. And then glares at me because I order it.

 

Although, that said, I do prefer Taco Bell to King Taco. And the only reason I go to Chipolte is because Freebirds in Isla Vista is a bit too far of a drive for my lunch break.

 

Yeah, I thought you would get kick out of that video for that reason. Bummer to hear that you haven't really found any American restaurants that have faithfully recreated Mexican food.

 

Chipotle was a big disappointment for me. If I'm paying 8 dollars for a burrito, I want it to taste amazing, god damn it!

 

Have you heard of Capriotti's? They were founded in Delaware, are based in Las Vegas, and they're now trying to move into California.

 

 

The Bobbie. My god, so good. I don't know what it'd taste like on the West Coast, though. They can't use Amoroso rolls, I think.

Edited April 10, 2015 by methodwriter85

[TetRefine]

Jeremy, as a fellow East Coaster, I am revoking your membership card for saying something positive about Krispy Kreme. We all know Dunkin' is king and KK sucks. Ok? Thanks.

 

As for Chipotle, its okay. The only reason I really go there is because a.) its right by my gym and its quick and relatively healthy after a workout, b.) my boyfriend is obsessed with it and constantly drags me there. Though theres this great little place in the city called Tres Jalapeños that makes far better burritos then Chipotle. 

[methodwriter85]

I had forgotten that Dunkin Donuts originated around Boston.

 

I don't think Chipotle's is bad, but for the money you pay for it, I don't think it's that good. It's the same reason I stopped going to Five Guys. Five Guys just stopped being worth it. I'd rather go to Jake's Wayback Burgers. (Or I guess it's just Wayback Burgers now.)

 

Waybacks are making their way to Los Angeles now, although to be honest, from what I've heard of In & Out, they really have nothing to fear. I love Jake's but they're not as legendary as In & Out sounds.

Edited April 11, 2015 by methodwriter85

[PrivateTim]

Maybe we can get a chapter in CAP where Will or someone goes to Bay Cities Deli for a spicy godmother.

 

[methodwriter85]

I posted this in the lounge, but it also fits here..."Average Joe" Buzzfeed writer Sam Stryker decides to try modeling for a day, at LAFW.

 

I wish he could have worn cooler-looking clothes, but I loved how much fun he had with it.

 

I figure Blue and Tim know model types...that world has to be crazy.

[methodwriter85]

Private Tim, is there like a "set" time for debutante season in California, or no? I've gotten the impression that on the East Coast, it's right around the Holiday season, but according to an article I've found, the San Francisco Debutante ball seems to take place in June...so in California, is it more of a spring/summer thing?

[PrivateTim]

Private Tim, is there like a "set" time for debutante season in California, or no? I've gotten the impression that on the East Coast, it's right around the Holiday season, but according to an article I've found, the San Francisco Debutante ball seems to take place in June...so in California, is it more of a spring/summer thing?

 

I recall debutant season as being the spring, but a quick glance at events in LA/OC say Nov-Dec.

 

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/laguna-648668-san-niguel.html

http://tolucantimes.info/inside-this-issue/coronet-debutante-ball-2/

[impunity]

People still do the debutante thing? How bizarre.