Featured image credit: Adam Dubrowa Los Angeles is undoubtedly a “car city”, but does it need to be? It’s a question that’s picked up considerable heat as traffic becomes more congested and traffic-related injuries continue to rise. The introduction of Measure HLA has left Angelenos wondering what can be done to knock the city’s traffic […]
Tag: los angeles
The Battle of Los Angeles: A Grim Reminder That “Simple Times” Weren’t Always So Simple
Featured image credit: Los Angeles Times Sure, parts of Hollywood Boulevard resemble a warzone. But it’s hard to imagine real war ever touching LA’s palm-peppered shores. So, it may surprise you to read that the Greater Los Angeles area was the setting for one of World War II’s smallest battles. Or sort-of-battles. It only lasted […]
Nature and History Cross Paths at Virginia Robinson Gardens
Featured image credit: Robinson Gardens When searching for the grandest gardens in the United States, Beverly Hills wouldn’t be a bad place to start. Of course, that’s assuming you could see beyond the looming gates and topiary walls. Yet, one of the city’s largest, most decadent, and oldest gardens is open to the public (as […]
Legendary Sunset Sound Recording Studio Fears Homeless Driving Off Business
Featured image credit: Sunset Sound Sunset Sound may as well be hallowed ground in Hollywood. After all, it’s where Eddie Van Halen first laid down the brown sound in the opening riffs of “Runnin’ With the Devil” introducing legions of rockers to Pasadena’s best-kept secret. In Prince’s pre-Paisley Park days, he trusted Sunset Sound when […]
Oceanwide Plaza is Art Imitating Life in LA, Like It or Not
It’s one thing to get facetime on The Grammys. But when you get a shoutout on Foos Gone Wild? That’s when you know you’ve made it in LA. Such is the riches-to-rags-to-tags tale of Oceanwide Plaza, a stagnant development that has been unofficially reclaimed by LA’s art community. Once a trio of towers on their […]
Absorption Rate Analysis: January 2024 Brings a Late Holiday Gift for Buyers
We’ve come to expect lower absorption rates in January, but January 2024 more than understood the assignment. All except one neighborhood dropped further into the buyer’s favor. One dropped further toward the buyer’s favor than we’ve ever seen in a single month. Another has officially camped out at the threshold of the universally accepted buyer’s […]
Waking Up to the Reality of the California Dream For All Program
Originally published on April 25, 2023 Several weeks ago, some of you received an email from your JohnHart agent about a promising new housing loans initiative. Dubbed the California Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan, it sought to level the playing field for disadvantaged Californians with aspirations of homeownership. Yet, less than two weeks later, […]
8 Things to Do on Catalina Island to Soak Up Its Unique Vibe
Featured image credit: Ken Lund On a clear Los Angeles Day, you can see the Pacific Ocean glittering in the distance from the Griffith Observatory. And on the very clearest of days, you might even see a considerable landmass punctuating those gleaming waves. For a lot of Angelenos, this is their introduction to Catalina Island […]
LA Home Spotlight: Tony Duquette Sculpted Exotic Dreams in Dawnridge
Featured image credit: Hollywood Unwrapped You don’t have to be a Hollywood insider to recognize the name Tony Duquette. Throughout the 1940s and ‘50s, he elevated set decoration to an art form with his “more is more” approach. It earned him a great deal of admirers, some well-positioned friends, and, it would seem, a small […]
The Downtown Chocolate Shop Los Angeles Historians Love is Short on Sweets… But Big on Vision
Featured image credit: Omgivning Perhaps as a deeply inadequate escape from the stresses of the first World War, hot chocolate was all the rage in Los Angeles in 1914. Through this fad, new life was etched into the very walls of a formerly non-descript four-story building that remains standing today at 217 West 6th Street. […]