Good Night Los Angeles, You City of a Thousand Something, Somethings

*apologies in advance about the formatting. I tried manually resetting the columns, so that formats it correctly. But no go. I'll try to fix it later. Maybe it's just an error tonight. Or maybe Blogspot doesn't remember me or think that I'll notice due to my lack of posting! Enjoy!

I have now lived in Los Angeles for one year, though sometimes it feels like forever and other days it seems like I just moved here.

I was talking with my friend Luke, who had signed up to be a peer mentor and one of the reasons he said that he chose to do this is

because he says, it takes a year to learn your way around L.A. And it's true.

One of the reasons that I love L.A. is the incredible diversity it possesses. West LA is NOTHING like East LA. West LA is a mix of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Century City, Westwood, Culver City, Brentwood, Palms, Venice, Jefferson Park, Park La Brea, West Hollywood, etc., Some of the names non-L.A.'ers may recognize as very tony places such as Westwood (home to UCLA) and Brentwood, as well as Venice. I have no idea what's in Cheviot HIlls, Palms, or Jefferson Park. But I am conducting a very successful one-sided love affair with Culver City, which I find to be a small nestled in a big city. Off of the downtown Culver there is an adorable elementary school surrounded by houses. In DT Culver there is a movie theater, a historic hotel, bank, shops, eateries- a new urbanist's dream!

East LA is technically unincorporated. And it shows. Dominately Mexican and other Latino countries in culture and composition it suffers from lack of political attention. Unfortunately, it is economically disadvantaged, as well as weather-wise. The East side is always at least ten degrees hotter than the West side and at least fifteen degrees hotter than Santa Monica, where the ocean meets the shore. However, you can find some super tasty food in East LA and people are more connected there due to stronger social ties. Unfortunately, we can't do anything about the weather. :p

People say that L.A. doesn't have a center. And while we have a downtown, like many cities' downtowns, it is mainly for business and does shut down in certain areas at night. Though we have some really great bars like the whisky (or whiskey) bar, SevenGrand (at 7th and Grand), the Golden Gopher (on 8th between Hill and Olive), the Broadway Bar (830 S. Broadway between 8th and 9th), the gorgeous Edison Downtown (technically 108 W. 2nd, but it's on Harlem Place, wedged between 2nd and 3rd, Spring and Main) and the low-slung Library (at 6th and Hope). Dress code is pretty strictly enforced, especially at the Edison. But the bartenders are competent and it's always lively. And as my transpo professor, Dr. Genivieve Giuliano observed today, L.A. has a crescent of a center- starting from downtown, going through Hollywood and ending in Santa Monica.

I have had so many fun adventures in just one year in L.A. I live right by school, which is also within very reasonable walking distance to Exposition Park, which is home to the Natural History Museum, which is free for USC students! The Cal Science Center is also there and a beautiful rose garden that is huge! Also, one of the buildings is used as the Jeffersonian Institute for one of my favorite TV shows, Bones and another building was used in one of my favorite movies, Monkeybone. I think my brother and I are the only two people, besides those who attended the premiere, who have seen that movie. No matter. I love it.

Back to L.A. In L.A. I've seen movies in cemeteries- Hollywood Forever, and the classic Arsenic and Old Lace, on the grounds where wooly mammoths and dinosaurs once tread, ie the grounds of the La Brea Tar Pit, where I saw Encino Man! I've seen celebrities in historic theaters, Lea Thompson and Gene Kelly's widow, at the Egyptian (one and a half blocks east of Hollywood and Highland). My best friend and I accidentally (!) almost ran over Chris Pine, aka Captain Kirk, in our quest to get gelato at Pazzo Gelato at Sunset and Hyperion- kitty-korner from the famed Sunset Junction. That night we also parked right next to Russell Brand' (and friend) and we were leaving at the same time. I looked over as the other party was getting into their car and I wanted to make sure that they did not scratch Jeannette's car and I look up at the passenger and see that it is the author of My Booky Wook!

Not to give you the impression that I'm only interested in movies, I've also seen priceless works of art at the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and scuffed at some of the more modern pieces- some stuff I can categorically say is NOT art.

I'm obsessed with great food and sometimes the best bites aren't always the priciest. My friends and I sometimes hightail it up to Burbank where one of the last remaining Big Boys is in business. It is also an example of "Googie" architecture I am informed by my friend. At first I thought that he was pulling my leg, but there is a legit style of architecture called "Googie." Good to know. If you love good Mexican food, obviously there are may fine places to sample all over L.A., but across from the historic Union Station it's hard to beat the eats on Olvero Street. I've also eaten soooo well in Little Tokyo, or LT, to those in the know. Hama Sushi is dee-licious! As is the place with the yellow awning that has amazing ramen- this is nothing like the freeze-dried packets from college! I also love Panini Gardens in Santa Monica, on Main Street, but that technically is not L.A. And anything from the farmers' markets that are scattered throughout L.A. are awesome! But I am especially partial to a place at the farmers' market on Thursday at City Hall that advertise crepes, but make a deelish tandoori chicken. I get it every Thursday!

I also love free stuff such as going to the Griffith Observatory, especially at night and seeing all of L.A. stretch out before you, glittering below the night sky, hightailing it up to Forest Lawn in Glendale, which Jeannette and I discovered totally by accident- we noticed something that looked like a castle on a hill and drove to it to investigate- it's actually a cathedral, going to Art Walk in downtown L.A. every second Thursday of the month, window shopping on the Third Street Promenade (Santa Monica), walking around Silverlake, or West Adams and gawking at all of the gorgeous architecture, some of which is in disrepair, perusing the cute bookstore at Weller Court in Little Tokyo, or enjoying the perks of being a USC student and going to First Fridays at the Natural History Museum for free and trying not to snicker at the hipsters who are trying not to geek out over the dinosaurs that are mere feet from them.

And some experiences in L.A. defy description. Driving down the 110 at night, seeing all the massive skyscrapers suddenly loom over you, feeling the ocean air on your skin as you lie on the beach in Santa Monica (again, not L.A.-L.A. but whatever), smelling the roses in Expo Park, people watching at the farmers market ( and admittedly "boy-scouting") just being alive and feeling the pulse of the city even though we don't have a defined center.

Yes, it takes you a while to find your footing, figure out the major streets, discover new favorites, but that's true of moving anywhere.

But hang in there, tough it out, or find someone who loves it as much as I do, and you won't be disappointed!

The title is a paraphrase from an old song Bertie Wooster sings in the opening sequence of episode 3 "The Purity of the Turf" of my one of all-time favorite shows, Jeeves and Wooster (lyrics below) I've also enclosed a link to the posting on YouTube- it's right after the initial credits. Enjoy!

Link to "Good night Vienna"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXQ3qLr6eQI

Goodnight Vienna, You city of a million melodies Our hearts are thrilling to the strains that you play >From dawn till the daylight dies. Goodnight Vienna, Where moonlight fills the air with mystery And eyes are shining to the gypsy guitars That sing to the starry sky. Enchanted city of Columbine and Pierrot, We know the magic of your spell, Of our romances, you’re the hero, Now is the time to say farewell. Goodnight Vienna, Now lovers kiss beneath your linden tree The world is waiting on the edge of the day Just waiting to say goodnight.

from- http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/g/goodnightvienna.shtml

Been a Long Time Since We Rock and Rolled

So I realized that it's been more than 6 months since I last posted. Oops. My goal was to repost at least within 6 months, but that old quote about "the best laid plans" springs to mind.

Nevertheless, I have been hard at work, dear reader. The gears in the ol brain machine have been grinding away and I have been learning some very interesting concepts that I can't wait to share with you. But I'm going to have to space them out so that it doesn't look like I went on an OCD jag.

Also, the motivation to differentiate myself, to find a job in a year weighs heavily on my mind. My personal motto is that worry doesn't solve anything, action does. However, as I enter into my second year (!) of grad school I realize that there is a definite, immovable, defined deadline that looms overhead. But having a blog that I haven't posted to in a year isn't exactly a selling point.

And currently the economy is still pretty sucky. Here's a super big spot o'sunshine from a member of the dismal science, economics-

http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/10/jobs-federal-reserve-personal-finance-consumer-debt.html?feed=rss_popstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+forbes/EZKq+(Forbes.com:+Most+popular+stories)

But physics maintain that what goes down must come up. Hope springs eternal. Read on!

Where's Your Head At?

Basement Jaxx repeatedly ask, "Where's Your Head At?" in their song of the same title.

This post is what I have been thinking about what I have been wanting to do with my planning degree after I graduate.

Initially, I had started school thinking that I wanted to revitalize downtowns, such as Detroit. Then I realized that such a prospect could become rather depressing. A classmate of mine is from Hartford, CT and is absolutely head-over-heels crazy in love with that city. He can't wait to move back and apply his knowledge and help return it to its former glory. I'm not sure I share his enthusiasm, but I know that it won't be long before I'm reading about him in the Journal of American Planning.

After my enthusiasm for revitalization/ economic redevelopment waned I thought that I could tackle gentrification. It is a two-headed monster. On one hand, it provides a much needed economic boost to a so-called "blighted" area. But on the other hand, it should be asked, at whose expense?! I love to shop as much as the next girl, but I don't want my desire for a good bargain at Nordstrom Rack to literally displace a low-income resident, who finds themself living literally at the "wrong" place at the wrong time.

Therefore, I thought, I've done a lot of research on gentrification, why not stop bad business and be more accountable? I'm still for transparency in business, but I also have accepted that sometimes lobbyists and politicians, the latter whom make the final decisions, are so intertwined that I can only practice incrementalism, and push a lot of paperwork through the necessary channels.

At the same time I have not given up. I subscribe to the sentiment expressed in the poem, "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903)-

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole.

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

As the immortal Bard reminded us, "If it be now, it is not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all." Hamlet 5.2

Bring it.

Lately my attention has turned to suburbia, its inevitably, and how can I make it better? I would like to believe that in newer suburban developments/metropolitan regions, cities are more open to pursuing new, more sustainable ideas. This may be pie-in-the-sky wishing, but it is my wish. My plans may change in the future. But for the present that is where my head is at.

And That's When I Realized, I Was Home, a valentine to the City of Angels

I just got home from a trip to Sin City, Las Vegas, with a bunch of my classmates at USC. As much as Las Vegas reminds me of a zoo, they really shouldn't exist, but they're here, so we may as well enjoy them, I had a great time.

The problem with Las Vegas is that if you're there for only a short time there is a desire to squeeze out as much fun and debauchery as possible. This leads to dehydration, exhaustion, and other unpleasant sensations.

We were only there for a day and a half, so we rushed around to the Bellagio, the MGM Grand, Caesar's Palace, etc., having a grand old time. But after a while I grew tired and was relieved that we were going home so I could collapse on my own bed.

But what I wasn't counting on was the reassuring sensation that came over me as we pulled into the city. I saw the skyline and familiar road signs and I thought to myself, I am home.

Home is an abstract concept for me as my family and I have lived in a ton of places, I have lived on my own in a variety of settings, and I have friends all over the U.S. I have written about this before, but it is still something with which I am wrestling.

I never expected to fall in love with L.A. other than enjoying wearing t-shirts in January while my parents are still shoveling snow in Minnesota. But I really have fallen in love with L.A. There is such a diversity here that is unmatched by any place on earth, even New York, or my beloved Chicago.

I went back to Chicago for New Year's and there was so much that was familiar and felt like I'd never left. But at the same time I yearned for things that were in L.A. that didn't exist in Chicago, and not just warmer weather. They don't have taco trucks, or especially Korean BBQ trucks (horrors! though they do have the vendor pushcarts i.e. roach coaches) nor is their Asian population as large as L.A. There is a Chinatown in Chicago, but no Thai Town, Little Tokyo, or Koreatown. Though in their defense they have Greektown and a much more predominant Polish and Irish population than the City of Angels.

It was also a little eerie seeing American Apparel stores popping up in Chicago. American Apparel is based out of Los Angeles, including their manufacturing plant. But to see it in the Windy City with negative wind chills was surreal, though inevitable as American Apparel's population increases without abatement.

Chicago still outpaces L.A. any day in terms of public transit and the way it so seamlessly woven into the urban landscape is inspiring. But the cold and ice is miserable.

Quite a few of the architectural hallmarks in Los Angeles are grounded in pop culture, not architectural history, such as Capitol Records and the Hollywood sign versus the Sears Tower and the Hancock Building. But there is also an abundance of Art Deco to be found in L.A., for which I am a HUGE sucker.

I still love Chicago, but I don't think that I will be planning there any time soon. Chicago politics being what they are is a huge obstacle and I don't think I want to move back to the Chicago "area" to plan one of its suburbs, though I may change my mind on that in the future.

The future remains unwritten, but for now I have found my place, and it is under the sun.

Food for Thought

I've been thinking a lot about food and food networks over the last semester. One of the doctoral students in communications was very big into food networks, urban gardening, and not being reliant on faraway sources for food.

Also, my bff is involved in a start-up non-profit called Institute for Bionomic Urbanism (headed up by a Ms. Laura Burkhalter), which seeks to develop urban gardens, even temporarily.

http://www.ibu-la.org/index.php/programs/urban_farms/

See their page on the Whitley Gardens as an example of their work-

http://www.ibu-la.org/index.php/projects/whitley_gardens/

An article by the founder of IBU called Beyond the Crisis: Towards a new Urban Paradigm

http://www.archinect.com/features/article_print.php?id=90159_0_23_0_M

I am a fan on Facebook of Edible Landscapes and Roots of Change. And the lady who runs the Edible Landscapes page posted an article from the Atlantic that left me more than a little gobsmacked-

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/201001/school-yard-garden

I don't want to summarize the article, as it'll be shaded by my bias

But here's my take on it-

I don't think the intent of school gardens is to stilt or shortchange kids so much as an opportunity to teach them to be mindful stewards of the earth and to know where their food comes from. (hint: it's not grown in Styrofoam packages in the supermarket) Is the author implying that migrant farm worker parents have some kind of "edge" over non-agricultural parents?

(scene: in the grocery store): Hey kids, daddy used to harvest this, don't you feel all warm and fuzzy?

And besides, Euclid isn't in high demand these days :( I'd rather kids know where their food comes from than who Descartes was. I am an amateur philosophy enthusiast, but it's ridiculous to think that a little school garden is going to hamper kids' learning. If there is one thing I really have no patience for (besides post-post modern art), it's displaced liberal guilt. Kids need to know where their food comes from just as much as they need to know their three R's. Boo Atlantic boo.

Also, one of my favorite memories from childhood was growing alfalfa sprouts in washed out milk cartons in second grade. I took great pride in being able to grow something myself. And yeah, now I'm a masters of urban planning candidate. A little ag learning didn't hurt anyone.

And here is the reply to the article from the administrator of the Edible Landscapes page-

Ok, now I’m really mad. I’ve been a Master Gardener since 2004 and have designed and run public school gardens for the last 10 years. Granted, I’ve seen some garden programs that started off being not what I’d call “rigorously designed”. But as with all rapidly institutionally adopted programs, roll-out and resources for school gardens were erratic and scare at first, so many teachers and parents were left “to find their own way”. My standards-based garden curriculum, covering more than the nutrition education aspect, NEVER replaced book learning in the classroom. In fact, it proved to be another invaluable teaching tool in the educator’s toolbox. As any of our education reformers will tell you, book learning alone is not effective in teaching students who do not learn that way (Multiple Intelligence Learning styles: visual, auditory, tactile/kinesthetic learning). Garden, if well designed and supported by the school staff and parents, can be a VERY powerful teaching tool. EVERY talented teacher I know uses a variety of many different modalities of teaching a single concept; not just books and not just inside a classroom.
Many of my fellow Master Gardeners can share dozens if not hundreds of stories of witnessing a child, struggling to overcome the obstacles of language, economic and, yes, even health issues, become engaged and even inspired by a lesson augmented by a garden activity. Why? Because the abstract concept introduced in the classroom from a book came alive to that child when they experienced that same concept in a hands-on, project-based learning activity in the garden.
Ms. Flanagan comes very close to equating the School Garden Movement to …racism and directly (and nastily) bashes the parent volunteers who push for gardens as being “a certain kind of educated, professional-class, middle-aged woman (the same kind of woman who tends to light, midway through life’s journey, on school voluntarism as a locus of her fathomless energies)”. WOW! MG’s are mandated to work with the under-served. We can tell you that this does not accurately describe the parents OR typical volunteer we see.
Oh yes…I could go on venting but suffice it to say that Ms. Flanagan REALLY needs to walk a mile in my garden boots!
Geri Miller - LAUSD

What is this skool of which you speak!?

Back in the saddle again. Back where a friend is a friend. Where the long-horn cattle, um, OK never fed on the lowly gypsum weed, at least not to the best of my knowledge here in California. But tomorrow I start my classes, hence, the Back in the Saddle medley!

A renewed sense of purpose! A new zeal for learning! Um, maybe. Not gonna lie. I really enjoyed my break. After several years in retail and the healthcare industry, where apparently time does not stop for festivus, it was nice to have a long stretch of "me time."

Christmas was awesome, but bizarre. It was weird getting urban planning books from my grandparents. Especially as I hadn't requested them. But the titles were on my amazon.com wishlist. Am looking into digging into them, especially Boomburbs: the Rise of America's Accidental Cities by Robert E. Lang and Jennifer Lefurgy.

This will coincide nicely with my urban demography class and my Smart Growth and Sprawl class, which is being taught by Bill Fulton.

I am unabashedly excited that I am going to be studying under Professor Fulton, who is the mayor of Ventura, author of the (definitive) Guide to CA Planning, and wrote several other (!) books including the Regional City with Peter Calthorpe and also wrote the Reluctant Metropolis. Yes, it sounds like brown-nosing, and probably is, but he is one of the heavy-hitters in the field and it's exciting to be able to say that he was one of my professors. Hey, our department head studied under Kevin Lynch- this could be a pattern!

More to come. Have to head over to the bookstore, see if our books every got stocked. The irony kills me. Here's to an exciting new year!

It's All in How You Look at It

I'm not even going to comment on the incredible lapse of time between this and my last post. Suffice to say I have been learning a lot and have been very busy in grad school. Future posts will expound on some of the concepts I have been learning.

But one of the most interesting things I have learned in college is how other people see L.A. This is especially interesting being in an urban planning concentration, so I am surrounded by people who take note of the world around us.

I live near downtown LA, right next to USC, but I am highly partial to the West Side- mainly Santa Monica, Culver City, and Mar Vista. I attribute this mainly to the fact that my ride and bff lives on the West Side and that's where she hangs out, so that's where I hang out.

It was interesting talking about the West Side with a friend who lives in West Adams, which is north of campus and about a 30 minute walk from me (I am west of campus). She doesn't have a car and as West Siders get prickly when the subject of mass trans infringing on their private paradise it's hard to get over there from where we are without the assistance of a car, or multiple bus transfers. Therefore, when I mentioned my favorite hair salon, which straddles the line between Culver City and Mar Vista she looked at me without comprehension.

I also enjoy Glendale, which, when I mention it, I often receive blank stares from my classmates as their errands don't take them up there often. And I admit, it is rather suburban. But in spite of, and at at the same time, because of that fact, I love it! There is a Whole Foods, a Trader Joe's, a Target, and a mall (the Target is actually inside the mall) all within easy driving distance. This is, unfortunately, why people love suburbia so.

My friend who is a born and raised Oakland guy lives in downtown/ the Arts District in a very chic converted loft, etc., He loves it there even though he has to bike to campus, which takes about 5 miles as he has no car. Being from the San Francisco Bay Area he is no stranger to weird happenings. However, when he went to West Hollywood for the first time, or WeHo, he described his first impression as Disneyland on heroin and Xanax. Apparently, there are all different kinds of "strange."

Personally, WeHo isn't my favorite place, but it'll do. LA INK is filmed there and that is also where all the "cool clubs" are. It's the new "cool" place to be in LA. But I'm not one for paying to get into a club and dressing up like disco Barbie, as I prefer a dark bar or a great restaurant.

For more on great eats in LA based on personal recommendations, check out http://gastrojan.blogspot.com My latest blog, written with other USC grad students on our favorite food finds LA!

Another friend lives in a condo that I am horribly jealous of, as it is clean and sophisticated, unlike my bedlam asylum of a house. She lives in Little Tokyo, or LT, which is really close to where my Oakland transplant friend lives and also Skid Row. She has an internship and a husband both of which require a lot of time. (My Oakland friend and I are both currently single, my West Adams friend has a boyfriend, but he is currently in Chicago). So, she has no frame of reference when I mention my favorite West Side spots, even though she does have a car. But she loves LT and knows her way around very well, including a great spot where one can get peach basil white sangria served by Zachary Quinto, the new Spock,'s doppelganger.

In the end, having or not having a car, tends to make a huge difference how one sees the world, especially, our microcosm that is LA. But it is always interesting learning about other people's perceptions and frames of reference.