Southern California chronicles


Throughout 2008, the Los Angeles Times will produce a series of weekly dispatches, each one a postcard from a different community in Southern California.


The hotel that once was the pride of the black community and resting spot for jazz greats is now in decay as it houses low-income tenants. Its future is riddled with uncertainty.
Neighborhoods




Recent coverage

Abandoned project doesn't fit in with Eagle Rock's progress
By Scott Gold
An unfinished loft project at the end of the main drag stands in marked contrast to the vibrant, artsy community that has emerged in the last decade.
October 3, 2008

Gang injunction splits a San Fernando Valley community
By Scott Gold
Some residents in Sylmar and San Fernando support the move, but others believe it criminalizes an entire area.
September 26, 2008

Bringing L.A.'s alleys out of the shadows
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
Urban planners re-imagine the city's concrete connectors as community oases, replacing trash and crime with trees, grass and swing sets -- and civic leaders are paying attention.
September 12, 2008

For L.A. man, 93, life is a walk in the park
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
Sol Shankman is a fixture at Griffith Park, where he has been taking a daily hike for more than three decades. Although his pace has slowed, it sustains him.
September 5, 2008

Hermosa Beach, The Strand
STREET SCENES
Dogs and their people stroll the Strand of Hermosa Beach, taking in the panorama of land and sea, cyclists and sunbathers. Welcome to the Hermosa life.

Quest for a small park in Hawthorne turns tortuous
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
An activist who grew up near a vacant lot that symbolized blight runs into an array of obstacles in her bid to bring a bit of green to the neighborhood near the 105 Freeway.
August 29, 2008

Orange, Orange Plaza
STREET SCENES
The square-mile Old Towne is California's largest historic district. The barbershop is "circa 1955." The Coba Academy beauty school sign boasts "Creating a World of Beauty Since 1965."

Temple City, Las Tunas Drive
STREET SCENES
A pearly gazebo next to City Hall sits atop a pristine lawn along a stretch of Las Tunas Drive dotted with quaint mom-and-pop businesses, noodle houses and Asian bridal stores.

Flybys hit too close to home in Hermosa Beach
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
In the South Bay community, the debate over aerial advertisements has reached a new high. But compromise is in the air.
August 1, 2008

Newport Harbor, The Canal
STREET SCENES
If you're cruising Coast Highway in search of the Fun Zone Ferris wheel, remember to turn seaward at the bridge. Otherwise, you'll end up at Fashion Island in a universe where "Newport Coast" means mustard-and-terra-cotta-tinted mega-mansions and "Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County" is a show on MTV.

Chefs at Village Kitchen start from scratch
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
The women -- some just out of prison, others recently homeless -- have been given a chance to succeed, learning the techniques of fine cuisine at a Los Angeles cafe operated by a homeless center.
July 25, 2008

North Hollywood, Lankershim Blvd.
STREET SCENES
In the hot sun, Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood spreads out wide and flat, the granite fronts of office buildings glistening in the light. Austere sentinels of palm trees tower over the street.

Development threatens the funky life of Marina del Rey
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
The locals -- old-timers who live on their little boats -- have a lot to lose as development encroaches.
July 18, 2008

Fairfax Village, Fairfax Avenue
STREET SCENES
Along Fairfax Avenue, storefronts stand crunched together, the traditional adjacent to the trendy. At Solomon's Bookstore, golden menorahs glisten on display and yarmulkes, a sign advertises, can be imprinted. Just steps away, the store called "A Life" displays T-shirts and sneakers in knife-straight rows behind glass, hip-hop music blasting.

Gay online soap opera has a serious message
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
Funded largely by West Hollywood, the racy Web show promotes safe sex at a time when diagnoses of AIDS and HIV are rising. The target is men too young to recall the disease's early devastation.
July 11, 2008

Downtown Los Angeles, Broadway
STREET SCENES
Broadway's fortunes have fallen and risen, but landmarks remain. The Grand Central Market is awash with the scent of fish, tortillas, barbecue and ripe vegetables. Outside the International House of Music, an old RCA Victor dog statue stands with its head cocked to hear the music.

Gentrification divides Echo Park community in Los Angeles
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
In the battle for the historic area's future, the neighborhood council is ground zero.
June 27, 2008

Riverside, Mission Inn Ave.
STREET SCENES
Those who have never seen Riverside may picture it in the language of L.A. drive-time radio: Triple digit heat. Foreclosures. Traffic. But unlike some cities on the coast, its 312,000 residents started long ago to transform their downtown rather than dismantle it.

Encountering the Integratron in the Mojave Desert
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
Three sisters take over the dome in Landers, where therapeutic 'sound baths,' time travel and who knows what else are said to be possible.
June 20, 2008

East Los Angeles, Cesar E. Chavez Ave.
STREET SCENES
Today, the urban avenue, with its colonial red-tile architecture, has the settled feel of a Mexican Mayberry. It passes the Centro Maravilla county offices, auto parts shops, and East L.A.'s only heated indoor pool, where aging women perform aqua aerobics.

Housing downturn is a jolt to upscale Temecula
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
In the inland city, sold as a sort of Napa of Southern California, as many as 15% of the 22,500 single-family homes may be bank-owned or in some stage of foreclosure.
June 6, 2008

Koreatown, Western Ave
STREET SCENES
Koreatown can feel like a visual din of symbols. Signs outside tea houses, restaurants and beauty shops are mostly in Korean, mystifying English- and Spanish-speaking commuters idling on car-clogged Western Avenue.

Chino Hills artist Abel Izaguirre creates tiny tributes to his old home: South L.A.
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
The man who watched his brothers fall victim to the streets found refuge in art. Many of his Locsters -- such as 'Tattoo Tony' -- are real people depicted as toys.
May 30, 2008

Venice Beach, The Boardwalk
STREET SCENES
Stand still in the crush of sticky, sun-screened bodies on the Venice Beach Boardwalk and you'll experience a feast for the senses.

Stabbing death shakes up L.A.-West Hollywood neighborhood
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
No one called police for over an hour as the victim cried for help near Poinsettia Park. Residents say the area has been growing more dangerous, and they are organizing to fight crime.
May 9, 2008

Finding beauty and healing among the saints
OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
For nearly a quarter of a century, Sister Nuala Ryan has taught music and been the Catholic chaplain at Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona.
April 18, 2008

OUT THERE
By Scott Gold
In the conservative Orange County town, where 'hippie' is a weight problem, homegrown activists are springing up to fight what they see as unchecked development.