Neighborhood Web Sites

According to planning experts, Southern California’s population will increase by about 6 million by 2030. Just think of all the new neighborhoods! That’s why in L.A., there’s no place like home pages. Forget the interstate--with the Internet, you can speed from ‘hood to ‘hood without being jeered over your SUV.

www.altadena.com. This is not a dairy site. A link via the town council site (www.altadenatowncouncil.org) leads to a history page and a photo of “the famous poppy fields of Altadena,” circa 1875.

Echopark.net (“Serving Echo Park Since March 1998”) advertises the “Historic Echo Park 2003 Calendar,” featuring views of the neighborhood “and, of course, the residents themselves.”

Hermosa.com and ElSegundo.com list tai chi meetings and shows and sales by local Epiphyllum societies, entities which involve plants and seem to be taking the South Bay by storm.

Silverlake.org links to photos of snow in Silver Lake, circa 1949, and the Pacific Electric Red Car trolley line between the ‘20s and the ‘50s.

Larchmontchronicle.com has everything you ever wanted to know about Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, Windsor Square, Fremont Place, Park La Brea and the Miracle Mile. Today, for instance, is “Big Sunday,” when “thousands of people from synagogues, churches, schools and other groups will gather” to perform good deeds for the needy.

Venicebeach.com is translated into five languages and displays historic postcards of the beachfront. Look closely and you can see turban-wearing boardwalk character Harry Perry with his guitar. Save parking fees by accessing a live stream from the beach at www.westland.net/beachcam/.

For other Westside news, try SurfSantaMonica.com. This is the online LookOut newspaper published by veterans of the defunct daily Santa Monica Outlook. The city’s official home page is www.santa-monica.org, with the convention bureau’s colorfully laid out visitor’s guide. https://www.westland.net/piercam/ is a 24/7 view at the entrance to the Santa Monica Pier. OPCO.org is the Ocean Park Community Organization’s site, where poll results tell you how neighbors feel about fluoridation, the homeless and the latest development plans.

Montecitohts.org displays the motto “Wilderness in the City,” and the residents do love their arroyos. There’s even an item on a “trap-door” spider similar to a tarantula that lives in the Montecito Heights hills. (Rent free?)

Mtwashington.org rewards the persistent with historic postcards of the Mt. Washington Hotel and the incline railway that once scaled the neighborhood’s 940-foot mountain. One link jumps to a local bent on proving that chocolate is “the vegetable of choice,” since it is made from a bean (www.mtwashington.org/sections/fun-stuff/choc.htm). Personally, we recommend five “vegetable” bars per day. Add almonds for protein.