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The Arts District

Los Angeles Neighborhoods, movies and music... and other art
ArtsDistrictSign

This edition of the neighborhood blog is about The Arts District... or The Artist District... or is it The Artist-In-Residence District... or perhaps The Artists' District? This, and other issues, will be sorted out by blog's end to everyone's satisfaction. To vote for another Los Angeles neighborhood to be the subject of a neighborhood blog, go here. To vote for one of the communities in Los Angeles County other than in Los Angeles, go here.

William Wolfskill La Grande Station
            William Wolfskill                                                                      La Grande Station

The area along the western bank of Los Angeles River currently designated The Arts District in Los Angeles has gone through many changes in identity and name over the years. It passed from the hands of the Tongva to the Spaniards to the Mexicans and, most recently, to the Yankees. One of the latter, a Kentuckian named William Wolfskill, planted the land (or had it planted) with citrus trees to sell to scurvy-prone miners who swarmed the area following the California Gold Rush of 1849.

Posted by Eric Brightwell on October 22, 2009 at 09:22pm | Post a Comment

Wilshire Park

Los Angeles Neighborhoods, movies and music
This installment of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Blog concerns Wilshire Park. Vote here to vote in the Neighborhoods of Los Angeles Blog Poll (NLABP) and/or here for the Los Angeles County Community Blog Poll (LACCBP).

WilshireParkSign

Wilshire Park is a small, Mid-Wilshire neighborhood whose borders are Olympic Blvd on the south, Crenshaw Blvd on the west, Wilshire Blvd on the north and Wilton Place on the east. Its desirable, central location and quaint charm has lead to various parties attempting to claim it for their benefit. Some residential realtors have extended the traditional use of the term “Westside” to the neighborhood, hoping to attach that area’s mostly white and affluent connotations to the neighborhood. Commercial interests have occasionally led to it being described as part of neighboring Koreatown, presumably with an eye on extending the bustling commercial center into the quiet neighborhood.
Wilshire Blvd - Wilshire Park 
Wilshire Blvd suddenly gets quiet in Wilshire Park
Wilshire Park is almost completely residential. When entering the neighborhood from Koreatown to the east, one notices an almost complete halt in the Hangul signs, BBQ aroma and crowded shopping centers which immediately give way to several nondescript apartments and only a couple of equally nondescript businesses.
Wilshire Park Homes
An attractive row of typical Wilshire Park homes
The bulk of the neighborhood is made up of a variety of architectural styles including American Craftsman, California Bungalow, Colonial Revival, Dutch Colonial, Mediterranean, Spanish Colonial and Victorian-Craftsman Transitional styles. The first home built in the neighborhood was in 1908 and most of the rest were built between the ‘10s and ‘30s. A number are listed as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Landmarks.

Posted by Eric Brightwell on October 8, 2009 at 08:32pm | Comments (1)

Cypress Park

Los Angeles neighborhood blog
In this installment of the Los Angeles neighborhood blog, we visit Cypress Park. To vote for the neighborhood you think I should visit next, go here or to vote for a Los Angeles county community you'd like to see covered, go here.

Cypress Park
The western entry into the neighborhood with Lincoln Heights in the background.

Cypress Park is a neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles hemmed in by Mt. Washington to the northeast, the LA River on the southwest and Lincoln Heights to the south. At Division and San  Fernando, it shares a short border with Glassell Park. At Marmion and Figueroa, it shares an even shorter border with Highland Park.

A view of Cypress Park from Frogtown with Mt. Washington in the background.

Cypress Park is sometimes refered to as Cypress Parque -- and as Chavala Park by silly haters. However, most Angelenos erroneously refer to it (when they do at all) as Highland Park. Nonetheless, Cypress Park has a unique history and is the location of several places of historical note.

Posted by Eric Brightwell on July 7, 2009 at 05:00pm | Post a Comment

Yucca Corridor

In this installment of the neigborhood blog, we visit Yucca Corridor. To vote for a different Los Angeles neighborhood, go here. To vote for a non-Los Angeles community in Los Angeles County, go here.

The Yucca Corridor is a small, crowded neighborhood in central Hollywood, just northwest of downtown. Its borders are Franklin Ave on the north, Hollywood Blvd on the south, Highland on the west, and Vine on the east. Below is the southeast corner of what's now Yucca Corridor as it was in 1907.



The Yucca Corridor
Yucca Corridor is a fairly dilapidated section of Hollywood, despite 100s of millions of dollars having been dumped into it since the death of Hollywood in the 1950s. Today, although much improved from its nadir, it’s still one of the most run-down areas of Los Angeles. Now, after decades of heralding its complete rejuvenation, the hype finally seems to be approaching reality -- though tellingly, the predominant smell in the air is of sun-dried urine.


Hollywood was originally a dry, Methodist community founded of a few hundred residents located roughly ten miles northwest of Los Angeles. In those days, the film industry was then centered in Edendale. In 1910, D.W. Griffith's In Old California -- shot at 1713 N Vine in what’s now the southeast corner of the Yucca Corridor in downtown Hollywood -- was the first film made in Hollywood. Within five years, most American films were made in Los Angeles and several studios and stars called Hollywood home. By the '20s, it was hopping, as a shot of the same intersection below shows.

Posted by Eric Brightwell on June 25, 2009 at 01:25pm | Comments (3)

Elysian Valley - the Frogtown

DVDs

In this entry of the neighborhood blog, we will cover Elysian Valley. To vote for a neighborhood, go here. To vote for a non-L.A., Los Angeles County Community go here.

Elysian Valley Neighborhood sign


Elysian Valley is a small working class neighborhood on the east side, bordered by the 5 freeway on one side, and the LA river on the other. It's surrounded by Elysian Park, Silver Lake, Atwater Village and Cypress Park.

Elysian Valley


Elysium, in the Greek religion, was the part of the Underworld reserved for heroes. It includes the Elysian Plains and the Elysian Fields. Elysian Valley, however, is mostly populated by Latinos and Asians, both heroic and not.

LA River in Elysian Valley


The neighborhood is fairly green and lush. Although many homes sit on dirt yards, the streets are lined with trees and the LA River that borders it is almost like a jungle. At any time of the day, there are people fishing its waters, although orange foam makes me wonder if that's such a good idea. There are abundant carp, ducks, cormorants and the occasional crawdaddy.

Lovely Service Market


The neighborhood is a mix of residential and industrial. There are no commercial spaces aside from one market, the Lovely Service Market. When the 5 was constructed in the 1950s, many residents of Elysian Valley were displaced and the commercial corridor that helped the neighborhood thrive in the 1930s withered and died.

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Posted by Eric Brightwell on June 20, 2009 at 10:47pm | Comments (4)
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