Meet the neighbors, Harry and David

A man of my acquaintance, in the state of what was once considered midlife, recently discovered that he had a few things to figure out. And it was decided by him and his wife of many years that it would be best for all concerned if he did this figuring out at an address other than the one they shared.

Which is how he found himself living in a studio apartment above Macy’s.

It is a very nice Macy’s and a very nice studio apartment, being part of Paseo Colorado, the self-described “shopping village” that opened on Pasadena’s most famous street in the fall of 2001. Much was made at the time of the property being part of a growing trend of developments that were an alloy of homes, offices and stores. Such places, it was surmised, would act as a residential magnet for young couples, retired couples and, of course, single folks, all swooning at the prospect of having a Tommy Bahama, a P.F. Chang’s, a dozen cinemas and a Coach store in their basement.

These people did come, albeit more slowly than some of the mall’s retailers anticipated. More than a year and a half after opening, almost 75% of the studios and one- and two-bedrooms of Post Paseo Colorado -- as the residential portion is called -- are occupied. And with the couples and singles came my friend and his shadow demographic -- the sort-of-suddenly single.

“It’s like the Oakwood over here,” he said over the phone one evening. “Every time I get on the elevator, there’s another guy looking like me, which is sometimes not too good.”

For years now, an address at one of the Oakwood apartment complexes has been a shorthand for strife, or at the very least traumatic change. People go into the Oakwood’s furnished apartments when their marriage is in trouble or their house has burned down or if they’ve been transferred from the Cleveland office and are looking for a 3bdr/2ba under $300,000. In the Hollywood Hills. Most everyone goes in with the optimistic belief it is a temporary situation, sort of like staying at a hotel, and sometimes this is true. If you tell a woman you live at the Oakwood, another friend of mine says, you can just forget about ever having sex with her. “She just knows.”

So it’s not surprising that Christi Clark, the property manager and area vice president of Post Paseo Colorado, was not thrilled when told of the comparison. She smiled and laughed before drawling, “Well, I don’t think that’s quite true.” Clark is from Atlanta, which is where Post Properties, owner and operator of about 70 similar communities around the country, is based. She arrived in L.A. just six months ago and has reported to her family back home that the city is just like people say it is -- “the Santa Anas are really weird and there are freeway car chases like every day.”

Post Paseo Colorado, she points out, is an upscale establishment with yearlong leases, and if there are some folks who don’t live here full time -- executives or doctors who work locally but have homes elsewhere -- it is by no means a temporary housing situation.

And she doesn’t think there is any sort of resident profile, really. “We do have a few divorced gentlemen,” she says, “but at least two are in big two-bedroom apartments. The studios are popular among students and people who are more budget-conscious, which I guess you would be if you were paying for two households.”

The majority of the apartments in the complex are studios and one-bedrooms, and none of the rents bring the term “budget-conscious” immediately to mind. The studios start at about $1,400; a two-bedroom with hardwood floors goes as high as $3,600. My friend is staying -- see, lives really is too strong a word -- in a studio with an exposed brick wall and a small balcony. It might be, if one squinted, one of those garret-type places you find on the Lower East Side of New York, were it not for the fact that the window looks out on one of eight communal terraces. With its faux wicker furniture, gas barbecues and free-standing fireplace, these terraces are way too nice for the Meat District, even post-Giuliani.

“It’s like a big, cement cruise ship heading nowhere,” says my friend, surveying his new backyard. “But it’s great. It really is. Isn’t it great?”

Visiting him is a bit odd. Although residents have their own entrance and parking structure, those without the requisite key cards park with the rest of the mall-goers and head up the escalator to be instantly engulfed in the warm breath of Macy’s -- a miasma of a thousand perfumes and lipsticks and the cleansing funk of brand-new clothes.

Hi, honey, I’m home.

Clerks say they can spot a Post Paseo resident long before he or she flashes the card that gets them discounts at many of the stores. “It could be the pajamas,” says one young woman who works for the Harry and David shop. “I’m joking,” she adds quickly.

It could also be the sight of a grown man shopping Harry and David as if it were a supermarket. Talk about shorthand for “recently separated.”

“What?” says my friend, stacking up various jellies, crackers, pates and spreads on the counter. He helps himself to a sample of artichoke dip.

Post Paseo Colorado is the ideal place for a person of recently separated status. Besides Harry and David, there is a full coterie of restaurants, including a new wine bar, and a Gelson’s. But more important, there is that Coach store, and there are several nice jewelers. If the complaint has been lack of paternal attention, a K-B Toys and a Jacadi kids’ clothing store. So the possibilities for marital therapy by credit card are endless.

If reconciliation is not the goal, there is refuge, and possibility, in the new wine bar and the Border Grill. Post organizes at least one event every month to bring its residents together -- a pumpkin-carving contest marked Halloween, a holiday party ended the year and a wine-tasting will begin it. Which is also in keeping with the Oakwood tradition -- if the Oakwood in Woodland Hills was where one went to brood, the one in Marina del Rey was where new singles headed to reenter the dating scene.

As any high school student knows, if you want maximum cruising exposure, just head to the mall.