Crime in your area?

[Torie]

I think I live on perhaps the safest un-gated street (lots of old people (I am probably still below the median age) who stay at home, and it's a cul de sac), in the safest city, in the relatively safe county of Orange, in CA. I don't even lock my back sliding doors, unless I go away for long periods. Never had a burglary or any other incident in 25 years.

Former Moderate lives in the town (well it is part of LA but has its own post office name) that I grew up in for most of my youth - Encino.  We lived at 17437 Rancho St., Former Moderate, in case you are interested. That portion of Rancho is at the bottom of a former creek bed, kind of whindy, and has beautiful old Oak trees all around that are hundreds of years old. The big house on the hill to the east where Rancho meets Louise (and doglegs before continuing on east to Balboa) is where John Wayne lived, and then Walt Disney's daughter. Aretha Franklin lived on the SW corner of Louise and Rancho. Efram Zimbalist Jr. lived right behind us. His wife loved exotic animals, and occasionally this ostrich like creature would hop the fence, and wander around our pool area. The family cats did not know what to do with a bird that was 50 times their size. It seemed to them at once prey and predator.

Oh for you lawyers out there, nascent and actual, do you remember the Zimbalist violin contract case you read in law school? That was Efram's father. It's the case one reads to learn about the doctrine of mutual mistake. Both parties in good faith thought the violin that was sold was a Stradivarius. It turned out not to be. Can the contract be rescinded?

Sbane, Silverlake is almost totally gentrified now - and hideously expensive. I can rent out 1 bedroom apartments now for about 2K a pop.

[Torie]

Oh, I know Silverlake is totally gentrified. I was just wondering whether the area south/south east of Hollywood, sort of between it and Koreatown was gentrifying yet.

Also Napoleon, you should look into Pasadena. It gets a little warmer in the summer (average high in the upper 80's with no humidity), and it also gets smoggier than the basin (but so does the valley). Downtown Pasadena is a exciting place to be though, and will be cheaper than other gentrified places in LA. Also, the apartments are newer and nicer there.

Koreatown is to the SW, and in general no. I have not seen much change east of Western, and south of Beverly Blvd, say along Vermont, if that is what you have in mind. Echo Park however seems to be undergoing some gentrification. And East Hollywood definitely is - in fact all of the flats of Hollywood are. And the area around the Staples center in south downtown is a whole new chic world. Another area gentrifying is the Adams district.

Pasadena is getting rapidly more expensive. A friend of mine owns 16 units there, and rents are skyrocketing.

[Torie]

Pasadena is getting rapidly more expensive. A friend of mine owns 16 units there, and rents are skyrocketing.

What about Glendale? My step-grandmother (maternal grandfathers second wife ) was born there. IIRC, there's a huge Armenian-American community there.

It's less chic.  I don't know the market there very well. The north end (and Chevy Chase Canyon) has always been fashionable, and back in the day very WASP. Yes, it is heavily Armenian now for some reason. I have no idea why they gravitated there. There is another pocket just south of the Los Feliz district, and there is a city sign actually labeling it "Little Armenia."

[Torie]

Oh, I know Silverlake is totally gentrified. I was just wondering whether the area south/south east of Hollywood, sort of between it and Koreatown was gentrifying yet.

Also Napoleon, you should look into Pasadena. It gets a little warmer in the summer (average high in the upper 80's with no humidity), and it also gets smoggier than the basin (but so does the valley). Downtown Pasadena is a exciting place to be though, and will be cheaper than other gentrified places in LA. Also, the apartments are newer and nicer there.

Koreatown is to the SW, and in general no. I have not seen much change east of Western, and south of Beverly Blvd, say along Vermont, if that is what you have in mind. Echo Park however seems to be undergoing some gentrification. And East Hollywood definitely is - in fact all of the flats of Hollywood are. And the area around the Staples center in south downtown is a whole new chic world. Another area gentrifying is the Adams district.

Pasadena is getting rapidly more expensive. A friend of mine owns 16 units there, and rents are skyrocketing.

Actually Koreatown is southeast of Hollywood, at least the Kodak theater area. I don't know what area you are thinking of.

I was thinking of areas a little more northwest of there when I was wondering if there was gentrification. Like say Santa Monica or Melorose and Western.

Also, another place I did not mention is Eagle rock, along Colorado Boulevard. At least there are a lot of hipsters around there.

Below is a mappie for you sbane. And here is a link to a fantastic site for checking out the LA hoods. You might want to bookmark it. Santa Monica/Melrose and Western still looks rather drab to me (and I drove right past it the other night on the way to a "leather dance" affair with one of my boy toys just west of Vine on Santa Monica Blvd), but sometimes that is misleading. Parts of Sunset through Silverlake were the last to spruce up, even as the homes on the hills on either side were.



And another courtesy of Dave Bradlee. You can see Western and SM/Melrose is about 75% Hispanic. It changes as you go west a bit. It is still a pretty drab pocket.

[Torie]

No, I am not into leather sbane, but the dance was a blast. I had a great time. It was more of a costume ball than anything else. Folks were relaxed, and bare buffed chested with their straps and chains on, and having a great time. And you know what? Most of the guys were just "normal" guys, doing IT and whatnot for jobs. So many stereotypes, so little time.

Yes, I took my shirt off.

[Torie]

Wow. Read this article. Scary stuff!

Yeah I heard about this over spring break when I was in SoCal. LA is definitely not a very bike/pedestrian friendly place and the drivers are crazy, probably due to the incessant traffic.

The hit and run thing is disturbing. The idea that you hit someone, and if you stopped to try to save the guy it might mean the difference between life and death, but no, you don't give a damn, it's all about you, and just run, and it happens close to half the time, gives me the chills. We are indeed very flawed as a species. Just how can someone live with their conscience having done that?