So that is where I went. I figured what better place to do my "walking" portion of the blog than a place reputed by real-life L.A.-ites for it's walking (Also I had never been there before until this past weekend so it was all the more exiting.)
One of the first things I noticed was how unlike west L.A. Los Feliz's sidewalks looked. The boutiques on the street weren't overly posh like they are in Brentwood, and the streets were packed with pedestrians! It may seem like an odd observation, but there are very few pedestrians on the street at large in L.A.-here I could barely get by them. It wasn't suffocating either, the general atmosphere was welcoming and non-judgemental with businesses beckoning you in rather than displaying how exclusive their clientele is.
This is a bookstore in Los Feliz. The entire shopfront is a window, and it clearly displays what it is to the passers-by on the sidewalk. There is no attempt to screen anyone by their economic status (maybe aside from the word "fine" in the sign, but I think that just attaches to "harmony" in a sort of rustic way) and I don't think a man wearing a fine suit would be turned away necessarily. Unlike silver lake, I saw a great mix of both expensive and inexpensive establishments in Los Feliz, all advertising to the pedestrian. Most people I passed were not on their phones, but talking to someone else or just enjoying the day. In Silver Lake, I feel that the transition from seedy to ironically hip and young is causing a certain put-togetherness to be discouraged in most businesses-that is to say that, if I were in a pizza place wearing a suit in silver lake, I might feel uncomfortable.
Perhaps the coolest happening in Los Feliz for me was my inexplicable holing-up in a cafe for around two hours. I was kind of appalled that I spent so much time there, but then again, they did have a menu with twenty kinds of milkshakes and some great coffee. It was called the Bourgeois Pig and I imagine some people have heard of it but this was of interest to me... I don't feel like I can spend much time inside of businesses comfortably in L.A. but I felt very at home here.
There was a lounge in the back modelled to look like a forest and it was here my friend Lanelle and I sat and drank coffee for almost two hours. I felt an immense solidarity here and all the while knew that outside people were walking around and looking for the best place to do exactly what we were doing. I didn't feel pressured to buy seventy things or that my choice would eventually come to be something I regretted buying. Most of the time I spent there was talking and hanging out in the awesome covel that was covered in the writing of a thousand cafe patrons. Here are some pictures of the inside.
My friend Lanelle (actually a candid picture, but it looks like she's posing for her presidential campaign poster).
David Bowie Dust
Praise Him! NO-Fuck You. (on a bed of peace sign)
Words of Wisdom from Mike.
Cool Cork Thingey
Self Explanatory
Someone drew this on a napkin before we got there and Lanelle took it.
The rest of the cafe I took as a representation of the entire area. I felt the same way even after I walked a couple miles to another street where we went to a great Italian-French fusion restaurant (with less pretense than it sounds like it has) and a great bar called-
-Dresden cafe that has live blues every Sunday.
Basically what I found in Los Feliz was a prime example of what Jane Jacobs talks about in a chapter of her book "Death and Life of Great American Cities" entitled "Uses of Sidewalks: Safety".
She holds that when there are people on the streets, on the sidewalks the general provide a sense of community policing, where rates of crime in areas where people are essentially hanging out on their stoops is remarkably lower than places where there are no residential pockets. She calls this "eyes on the street." With this in mind, Los Feliz feels safer, more welcoming, more enterprising and un-manipulative compared to places like the shopping district of Rodeo Drive where in the dead of night homeless people gather and very few people walk around. If there is a place where no one walks, that place is more dangerous (according to Jacobs) and less welcoming than places where people walk all the time and from what it seemed like, Los Feliz had a wonderful night life.
Small streets and sidewalks for walking.
Some more photos of The Bourgeois Pig's interior (not inside the forest) in case any of you guys are interested.
Ooh!
Wow!
Like that mirror!
Sweet floor!
I love their color schemes. The blue with red lights makes me happy.
Hi Tommy! Your post about Los Feliz made me so happy! I'm glad you visited and enjoyed my neighborhood. I've been hanging out in Franklin Village and Vermont since I was old enough to be... well, hanging out. It's what I have set my neighborhood standards to (which is why I find Westwood so underwhelming and found it difficult to enjoy while living there).
ReplyDeleteThe Bourgeois Pig (wait, where's the red line? did I actually spell that correctly? haha) is my favorite cafe OF ALL TIME. I always sit in the forest room because... IT'S AMAZING and have shared many pots of tea and slices of chocolate cake on those wobbly tree stump coffee tables (as well as a considerable amount of time in that little tree nook with all the tagging/writing).
I found what you had to say about the sidewalk safety issue interesting because it's something I think about a lot, especially after visiting classic walking cities such as San Francisco and New York. Upon my return to Los Angeles I always feel that emptiness on the streets and the lack of safety. It's true that Franklin Village and Vermont and many other places around Los Angeles are the exceptions - but they are isolated. Walking to these places at night, even from my house which is a few blocks away, can be scary because of the lack of pedestrian presence and little to no street lighting. While I feel lucky to be living so close to these awesome places it still does not compare to the connectivity that these other older cities possess. LA lacks the connectivity that I feel is necessary to make walking in a city safe. What's the point if you can walk safely for a block or two and then suddenly feel as though you're in a post-apocalyptic world? Interestingly, the center of Hollywood (Hollywood and Highland) has the same issue. It's all lights and glitter for a few blocks but as soon as you venture a little to the left or the right you get into some seedy territory.
I really liked your perspective about Los Feliz and found your post to be not only readable but quite enjoyable. Your anecdotes, funny observations and great pictures really made it a treat and I'm glad I stumbled upon your blog! Your post could have been strengthened by discussing some issues that have been raised over the past few weeks such as social/physical access. The area does differ greatly from many places in LA in that there are more people walking around, making it a pedestrian-friendly locale. However, there are a couple of areas that are not easily accessible. There is a celebrity Scientology center right across the street from the Bourgeois Pig and there are security guards on bikes circling the perimeter, making it creepy and uncomfortable to walk near/around. There is also a some-what exclusive neighborhood square (shops and all) in the hills if you go up Beachwood street that, unless you live up there or just wanted to go on an incredibly long uphill walk, wouldn't know existed.
Thanks for the awesome post and if you're ever in Los Feliz again hit me up! (:
Here's the link to my blog: http://adventuretimewithellen.blogspot.com
Tommy:
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed your post about Los Feliz. I thought that it was very entertaining that you had such a story behind picking to visit this place. However, I am glad that the couple suggested that you visit this area because it was cool to hear about. I really liked how you compared the salon in Beverly Hills and the bookstore in Los Feliz. This comparison not only made me realize how different these two areas are, but it further showed me how businesses and people in Beverly Hills are quite affluent and entitled in some cases like you said.
When you were talking about Juan Juan, the Beverly Hills salon, it made me think a lot about David Sibley’s “Mapping the Pure and the Defiled.” There is very much a sense of some sort of “other” that is not present in Beverley Hills. There is a separation and lack of diversity in many different categories present in this area. This relates to David Sibley because as the editor was explaining, there is the need “to separate ‘us’ from ‘them’ in a psychological sense” and this is “translated into spatial terms” (Sibley 380). Beverley Hills is an example where this psychological sense is put into spatial terms since the area and shops set up social and physical boundaries, which exclude others.
This sense of separation also reminded me of Engels’ description of Manchester. Beverley Hills is an area that is similar to Manchester’s boulevards. While shopping or dining in Beverley Hills you aren’t as likely to see widespread poverty or filth. This is similar to the boulevards in Manchester, which use shops as physical boundaries to shelter the rich from the poor.
As seen in the photo and description of the bookstore in Los Feliz, these boundaries are not present. The entire front of the store is a window, which doesn’t exclude anyone. Also, as you noted there wasn’t any sort of screening process for who could come into the store and who couldn’t come into the store.
I also enjoyed how you shared such candid observations about the people walking around in Los Feliz. The fact that you mentioned how people were talking to others that were with them and weren’t glued to their phones made me feel like there really is a sense of community present in this neighborhood. Again, this is the exact opposite of Beverley Hills. I rarely see people walking around in Beverley Hills, but when I do they tend to be alone or on their phones if they aren’t tourists.
Los Feliz seems to be an area that is very welcoming and accessible. Since there are so few of these types of areas present in LA, it seems as though Los Feliz is a hidden gem. I now hope to visit this area. Thanks for such great observations, Tommy!
I found it interesting that you compared Los Feliz--and affluent neighborhood near Hollywood--to other, showier neighborhoods while also considering how it related to poorer areas. Your thoughts on the exclusivity of places like Rodeo Drive were valuable because the correlation you draw between that exclusivity and the lack of sidewalk-walkers is very accurate. Your analysis of the hair salon "juan juan" and it's nature as an "escape" related well to this point and provided a nice, flushed-out example. I also can't help but be partial to this post, as you were in pursuit of a friendly, walkable neighborhood and there's nothing I like better! (And nothing, it seems, that's rather down here in Los Angeles and Orange County.)
ReplyDeleteI'd like to add to your post, however, with the knowledge we now have about the environmental justice movement. You address Jane Jacobs' book and her theory that bustling sidewalks are equate to lower crime rates, and you argue that the theory seems correct--the busy sidewalks in Los Feliz feel safe, as opposed to the empty late-night streets in an area like Rodeo, where shader characters know there won't be as many eyes on them. I agree, and I'd like to apply you thoughts to poorer areas rather than wealthier ones.
What if people avoided the sidewalks because they avoided the outdoors in general? What if the air quality near your home was polluted by an oil refinery or incinerator? What if the city blocks that could be filled with small businesses and restaurants were instead occupied by a power plant and its fumes? The environmental justice issues at hand in these neighborhoods go beyond just environmental quality--they can also affect the residents' quality of life. If ambiance is one of the key factors in attracting business to a neighborhood, then these areas are at a serious economic disadvantage, too. And who knows what else their environmental problems could stop them from getting the opportunity to do or experience!