February 2012
1 post
December 2011
1 post
October 2011
1 post
September 2011
1 post
2 tags
Take Back Yosemite Drive, Too
While attention of local street campaigners will soon be focused on the worthy Take Back the Boulevard campaign (Colorado Boulevard, but shouldn’t it actually be Boulevards? what about the equally important Eagle Rock Boulevard?), it would be nice if the plight of Yosemite Drive was not entirely forgotten. With elementary schools at either end, and the high school and recreation center in...
March 2011
1 post
3 tags
Monument to the Case-Shiller Index, 2004-2010
While it’s obvious that the present state of the stalled DHM lofts on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock is unsatisfactory, it is not clear to me that the finished project would have been any better. Background info here.
It’s tempting to wish the whole thing away (i.e. demolish the sad mess), but the amount of concrete already there would make that a large and costly job. I was...
February 2011
1 post
Best way into Disney Concert Hall
Much as I like the auditorium and enjoy the concerts at the DCH, I have always found getting into the place extremely unsatisfying. Whether using the garage, or parking on the street and using the entrance on Grand, the foyer with its ticket check and escalators always reminds me of Terminal 2 at LAX. And when I get to the top of the escalator I still get confused about where to go and usually...
November 2010
4 posts
4 tags
Density in Eagle Rock, Part 2: Rock Row
Rock Row on Yosemite Drive is not an example of “stealth” density in the manner of Oxy Lofts, or of “in your face” density, in the manner of Colorado Terrace (“I’m here, whether you like it or not, I don’t mind being ugly: in fact, I am going to multiply!”). Rock Row seems to be nice, Eagle Rock style density. While it is certainly denser than the ad...
4 tags
Density in Eagle Rock, Part 1: Oxy Lofts
Densification continues to be a hot topic for architecture and planning in LA. Developers, planners and architects like it, neighborhood groups generally hate it. The green movement is probably split down the middle: where will backyard chickens fit in a denser Los Angeles? In NELA, as in many areas where the residential streets are zoned R1, densification is playing out along the main...
2 tags
Why Zone23 ?
Zone 23 is one of the 24 climate zones listed in Sunset’s Western Garden Book. Zone 23 is defined as “Thermal Belts of Southern California’s Coastal Climate.” The thermal belt part means that the zone is elevated above cold-air basins, but not too high, which would also be colder. This blog is primarily concerned with Northeast Los Angeles (NELA), which, according to the...