Armstrong Hill
January 15, 2013 § Leave a comment
If you live on the east side of town, you probably know what this is: the Silverlake Reservoir walking path where it parallels Armstrong Avenue. The path has become a superhighway of sorts, a constant flow of runners and walkers in the mornings and evenings. In fact, there’s rarely a time of day when there aren’t people circling the reservoir. I don’t know how early they start, but I do know that I’ve driven by late in the evening–say 9 or 9:30–and there were people out there in the dark.
I’m happy to see so many getting exercise, although I’ve also been known to complain about extra traffic and drivers who park with their rear bumpers across our driveway.
It sure beats what was–or rather, wasn’t–there before. We’d walk on the roadway, even along Silverlake Boulevard, except where there were sidewalks around the dog park and rec center. The worst was Armstrong Avenue. A dirt path ran alongside the DWP property north of the hill, but stopped at the crest. Heading south from there, walkers either crept over a rock outcropping and around a few trees, then negotiated a steep slope down to Silverlake or walked on the street, which is a narrow, two-lanes.
Somehow, no one ever got mowed down, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. I came up over the hill one evening, blind to what was on the other side, and found my lane taken up by a couple pushing a stroller, their dog beside them. I avoid running them over, but wondered if I should call in a report of child endangerment.
What I really wanted to do was post a sign asking walkers to PLEASE cross the street and use the sidewalk on the other side. Knowing that simple request wouldn’t be enough, I planned to add the following: “If you absolutely must walk in the roadway, please leave identifying information with one of the neighbors so that we’ll know where to ship the remains.”
Crash!
January 12, 2013 § 1 Comment
Somehow I missed seeing the car that careened onto a neighbor’s sidewalk, scoured off a patch of stucco retaining wall, bounced off tree, then came to rest—judging by the skid marks—somewhere down the block.
Cars usually go out of control at the curve around the reservoir meadow. We’ll be awakened by the crash, wander out in our pajamas to see if anyone is hurt–mostly not due to the relaxing effect of an alcoholic stupor–and help the driver call a tow truck or their unlucky parents.
But this crash happened on a straightaway further down Silverlake Boulevard, though I can’t imagine how. I came upon the evidence a day or two later, marveling at how a driver who could not negotiate a straight path managed to steer a car between the Charybdis and Scylla of wall and verdure.
Someone recently added a graffiti side note to the damaged wall. Whether commentary or decoration I can’t tell, but it adds a certain je ne sais quoi.
Castles
January 10, 2013 § Leave a comment
Every neighborhood should have one: an architectural horror about which neighbors can “tsk-tsk” and onto which they can project their anxiety about their own domain not measuring up.
In our corner of 90039, this house qualifies. It began life as a Spanish revival stucco of modest proportions much like others nearby. More than a decade ago, the building was striped down to the floorboards in preparation for one of those make-overs that Prop 13 has engendered: leave one wall standing and you pay a higher tax rate only on the “added” square footage.
A large sign proclaimed that the work was being done by Higher Power Construction. They got about as far as framing the new structure when the Higher Power plug got pulled. Bankruptcy? A divorce? Quien sabe. But there it sat for a very long time until work resumed in fits and starts by new owners.
At long last, a finished house emerged in gleaming, Greek-island white, lording it over all else by virtue of its position on the highest point in the neighborhood. Throw in a few palm trees, a 3-foot version of Michelangelo’s David, a fountain, a few other gewgaws and –voila! A family’s castle.
I’ve been thinking about why I find this house so annoying that I grind my teeth when I walk by–which I do quite often.
Is it the SoCal sun glaring off its white walls? That silly statue? The hodgepodge of decorative elements? Lack of landscaping? The thick-walled castle effect?
All of it, I suppose. The property lacks harmony and that grates on me. Does this make me an architectural snob? Why, yes, I suppose it does.
Real in L.A. 