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Old 04-19-2008, 03:13 AM
 
1,297 posts, read 5,492,160 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CESpeed View Post
The real shame is how developers have systematically destroyed the history of almost all of Wilshire, not just MacArthur. The original Bullock's Wilshire is now a law school, the Brown Derby is now a shopping center, The Coconut Grove and the Ambassador hotel are about to become a high school, Perino's is becoming an apartment building. MayCo is now the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and Orbach's is now the Peterson Auto Museum. Thanks to the historical society, they can never destroy the Bullock's, MayCo or Orbach's buildings, but what they were is sorely missed.
It's an even bigger shame how the residents of this city and state are too indifferent to speak up to those that govern, and those who craft the codes & laws.

We just sit right back and watch quality of life go down the drain right before our very eyes.
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Old 04-19-2008, 09:19 AM
 
Location: Hot Springs, AR
5,612 posts, read 15,065,191 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greggd View Post
It's an even bigger shame how the residents of this city and state are too indifferent to speak up to those that govern, and those who craft the codes & laws.

We just sit right back and watch quality of life go down the drain right before our very eyes.
I agree completely. It would be nice if the people who care about these things got together and went en mass to the political machine, but people a) don't think it matters, so don't bother or b) are so busy trying to eek out a living they don't have the time or the biggest shame, both.
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Old 04-19-2008, 10:55 AM
 
Location: Sherman Oaks, CA
6,588 posts, read 17,488,922 times
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With a city council that wastes their time on things like deciding to "officially" condemn the war in Iraq, is it any wonder that so many of us Angelenos are jaded and cynical? Our city government is useless, in my opinion.

By the way, I wouldn't ever decide to live in Westlake. I used to work near there a long time ago, back in the mid-80s, but it sounds like things haven't changed much. Gentrification could help, but a lot of developers are in dire financial straits right now because of the drop in housing prices. I wouldn't count on a lot of building going on anywhere for a while.
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Old 04-19-2008, 04:50 PM
 
1,542 posts, read 6,015,407 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BreaOC View Post
I ended up driving through the westlake area one day because I love the history surrounding Wilshire and wanted to check it out in it's entirety. MacArthur Park (formerly Westlake Park) is PACKED full of history, and for many years was a beautiful park with upscale shopping and housing surrounding it. My grandmother used to sit in the park and have lunch there in the 40's. The park is still surrounded by beautiful architecture (some of it kept up and some of it in need of desperate repair) and the artwork around the park is fascinating to look at. Now, Mac Arther park has cleaned up drastically over the last decade, but is still not a place that I feel safe getting out of my car. It would be such a beautiful area if it would become gentrified, and who knows what the future holds for it. But even with all the culture the area holds, there is no way I would live there. The park is home to homeless, cholo controlled illegal immigrants selling good everywhere, and the drug use in the area is still too high to make one feel comfortable (a perfectly laid back person can become a violent lunatic under the influence of drugs). It really is disappointing.
Westlake, Los Angeles, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
that's really a shame. i also noticed a lot of that nice architecture in parts of westlake and downtown - older areas of the city.

it's funny; westlake, esp. the area around the park, reminds me of the alphabet city section of the east village in manhattan, nyc from the mid-90s. that area has improved dramatically since then and is now filled with bars and restaurants, not to mention hordes of 20-something bar hoppers who just moved to the city from the midwest. i'm not suggesting that westlake is going to go through a similar revival, but it's always interesting when you see a few minor improvements - you can never tell for sure which way these marginal neighborhoods will go. you'd think it would be ripe for gentrification with its location, but la is so different from nyc and other cities that it's impossible to predict what'll happen.
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Old 04-19-2008, 04:58 PM
 
1,542 posts, read 6,015,407 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nickdahammer View Post
Westlake was remarkably quiet- then again it was midnight by the time I left. The park was quiet. 7th Street is pretty ugly down that way, but there were no shady characters that we could see. I was actually surprised we DIDN'T see some stuff go down, to be honest.

411 on Highland Park on an upcoming post...
yeah i've heard plenty of bad stuff about westlake, yet i've never really seen anything bad when i've passed through, day or night. now, i'm not discounting anyone's negative statements about the neighborhood - i believe you guys 100% - so i guess i've just happened to pass through at dead times. if anything, the area seems desolate more than anything.

after starting this thread, i spoke with someone who attended loyola law school about 3-4 years ago. he said no one from school ever walked outside of the campus for any reason, although he also said he'd heard about a handful of nice new (or newly renovated) buildings here and there that have been built since then...overall, though, he agreed with the posters here who said they wouldn't live in the nabe under any circumstances.
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Old 04-19-2008, 05:12 PM
 
Location: CITY OF ANGELS AND CONSTANT DANGER
5,408 posts, read 12,620,395 times
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this area is light years away from really gentrifying. it has started...at a really slow pace, but the lower you go towards 8th the worse it is. and dont live off of alvarado its awful and always crowded. tho some buildings are being rehabbed you would be one of the very brave pioneers. the area has changed, but for most people it is not the nicest place to live.
i do have a friend that lives north east of the lake and they love it. they are "watching" the place for another friend who splits time between LA and NYC as a make up tech(?). they dont have anything to complain about, this is a gal originally from OC, tatooed, betty paige style and she loves it. walks to the train. to the store. they even have a nice view. but they did end up in a nicer older rehabbed building. a lot of the places are really old and not well kept. some of them are.
but honestly its just an area full of too many apts. and too many people. at night it does feel a lil deserted. the park used to be packed with homeless at night. now they number far below than before. its not as violent as some people think. thats also changing as they cops crack down on those pesky maras and 18 streeters. the area is changing, but i dont think the average person would want to pioneer this part of town.
if you find a nice place on a nice street with all the local ammenities and it feels right, then do it. you just might end up loving it to death... yes to the death
check it out. it just might be perfect for you.
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Old 04-19-2008, 06:39 PM
 
Location: Hot Springs, AR
5,612 posts, read 15,065,191 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pbergen View Post
you'd think it would be ripe for gentrification with its location, but la is so different from nyc and other cities that it's impossible to predict what'll happen.
People are trying so hard to turn L.A. into NYC that L.A. is almost unrecognizable. Transplants are destroying what makes L.A. great turning it into something it's not: NYC. I'd rather not watch the completion of the transformation. If I wanted to live in NYC, I'd live there. I wish the people who wanted to live in NYC would move there and leave L.A. alone.
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Old 04-19-2008, 07:24 PM
 
Location: Southern California
49 posts, read 199,801 times
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Default Westlake/MacArthurPark

[SIZE=2]New to the Forum:

I am pretty familiar with MacArthur Park. I used to skate with a couple of friends who lived in the surrounding area. It has a definite Salvadorian and Guatemalan vibe. Alot of the surrounding buildings are actually very fascinating. It's an old part of the city, but is still reasonably well kempt in appearance. Some of the apartment buildings surrounding MacArthur Park are actually very nice for quite a good bargain. But the area is still quite sketchy to this day.

Westlake may actually be one of the closest feelings to living like you would in NYC, due to it's density factor. But obviously, be aware that spanish is the first language of this area.

During the day it is fairly safe. There is defenitely trouble lurking around the park, but as long as your aware you shouldn't be a target. I'm a firm believer in that if your naive to not pay attention to your valuables. You probably deserve to get pickpocketed. During the night it can drastically change. Like anywhere in any city, the bad seeds tend to come out at night. Alot of notorious gangs that gained reps for a reason were born from the pico-union/westlake area. They may not exist in the park now, but they still are in the area. For the most part, nothing intentionally will be targeted towards you. But I would seriously advise you to be careful at night.

Stay away from the area south of the park. Pico-Union and anything adjacent to it is no joke. Me and my friends used to yap it with the owner of this delicious greaseshack called Dinos located slightly west of pico-union. The owner told us he couldn't even count how many of the youngsters he's seen dissapear to the gang life. I rememeber one time as he was telling us a story, this chola from 18th street(whom had a shaved head mind you) wanted to say hi to him. I glanced at her..only to have her stare back with that blank glare you only see with people whom are paranoid to the street. And As she left....the owner turned to us and said "I love that girl..but sadly I probably won't see her in a year".
In all honesty, you would probably find it better living in Koreatown. More options when it comes to eating out and shopping. Probably a little bit better with the parking situation. More of a night life going on. Alot more mixture of cultures and arts. Unless your of salvadorean/guatemalan descent, Westlake may not have much to offer you.
If you do choose that area...I would stay in the areas north of MacArthur Park. Also, The area considered Historic Filipino Town(between the 101 and temple st.) is a pretty safe area. Maybe slightly gritter than echo park.

I will agree that Westlake in the near future will start to gentrify. I would not go as far as to say that it's an up and coming area at the moment. Its still one of the roughest parts of los angeles. Anyone whom is a born and bread angeleno..would tell you this is area that needs alot of work.

So If you choose to move there...just keep that street conscious in survival mode. Hope I was able to help you out a little bit.







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Old 04-19-2008, 07:35 PM
 
2,589 posts, read 8,607,558 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CESpeed View Post
People are trying so hard to turn L.A. into NYC that L.A. is almost unrecognizable. Transplants are destroying what makes L.A. great turning it into something it's not: NYC. I'd rather not watch the completion of the transformation. If I wanted to live in NYC, I'd live there. I wish the people who wanted to live in NYC would move there and leave L.A. alone.
so do i! so do i!
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Old 04-19-2008, 08:46 PM
 
1,542 posts, read 6,015,407 times
Reputation: 1705
Quote:
Originally Posted by CESpeed View Post
People are trying so hard to turn L.A. into NYC that L.A. is almost unrecognizable. Transplants are destroying what makes L.A. great turning it into something it's not: NYC. I'd rather not watch the completion of the transformation. If I wanted to live in NYC, I'd live there. I wish the people who wanted to live in NYC would move there and leave L.A. alone.
yeah, it's really unfortunate. one thing i've always liked about la is that it's NOT nyc. if i wanted to live the nyc lifestyle, i'd just stay in nyc.

interestingly, many natives of nyc (including myself) have similar gripes as you - that transplants from elsewhere are transforming large swaths of the city for the worse. in the case of nyc, many of us feel that the transplants are changing the city, esp. manhattan, into a boring, vanilla, overly commercialized place with the same chain stores and chain restaurants you'd see in middle america - except with about 1000% more pretentiousness (because newcomers to nyc always feel they have to cop the "ny attitude"). which is probably analogous to how all the transplant fakers in the hollywood scene have more attitude than my friends who grew up in la.

the last thing i want to see is for la to become nyc with great weather. but the reality is that there's a really large group of younger people out there who only want to live in a handful of cities - la, nyc, sf, etc - and who are moving to these cities in such droves that the character, real estate, and amenities in these cities have changed a lot over the past decade. it's understandable that a city that draws as many transplants as la would undergo change but i agree that it's distressing when some of the core characteristics of the city you grew up in change overnight.
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