Hollywood is shrinking. Long live Hollywood.
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
A couple weeks ago Lynn and I went to see the Hollywood in Miniature exhibit on Hollywood Blvd. The main attraction was a model of Hollywood from the 1930's, created by a woodworker named Joe Pellkofer. Like the neighborhood itself, the model is looking a little worse for the wear.
One of the Hollywood Heritage members introduced the model by giving historical context about the neighborhood at the time the model was built. It's hard to imagine now, but in the 30's and 40's, Hollywood Boulevard was a thriving main street shopping district for a growing city.
The presentation we saw was from an architecture perspective, and she suggested there are many buildings on Hollywood Blvd with gorgeous facades that have been covered up by bad remodels over the years. She said if you look up, you'll see great architecture all the way from Vine street to La Brea. Unfortunately the view at street level is more likely to fill you with despair. No one who lives in LA wants to go see Hollywood Boulevard. I'm no urban planner, but as romantic as this Hollywood architectural history is from a century ago, I think they should build affordable residential units up and down the boulevard. The housing situation in this city is, uh, not great. I'm personally in favor of constructing more units everywhere to address the crisis. See the California YIMBY movement.
As the supply of housing contracts, so does the industry of which I am a part. I like to keep this blog more of a personal outlet than a forum for my takes on current events. Lord knows there are plenty of those out there. But the recent Paramount/Warner Bros consolidation has been a shock to the system, and feels relevant to me personally. I live two blocks south of the Bronson Gate of the Paramount lot, which in the past felt like a charming connection to the history of Hollywood (both the industry and the neighborhood). Now it feels like yet another extension of the corrupt authortarianism creeping across all facets of public life. Not only will this merger lead to thousands of entertainment jobs lost, it will lead to fewer movies that I want to see, and to a right wing takeover of CNN. You know it's bad if the defense secretary is looking forward to it. Sorry, this is turning into a real bummer, not the voice I want for this blog. Here's a funny picture of people taking engagement photos by the Observatory the other day to make up for it:
There are some positives I can see for the city on the horizon though. Nithya Raman has put her YIMBY approach to housing at the center of her campaign for mayor. We have two new subway stations opening in a few weeks. And two more scheduled to open next year. Ride the D! There are also a bunch of infrastructure improvements on tap for the '28 Olympics, including lots of electric buses. Sure, the city could've just kept the Red Cars in place, look how dreamy...
But an increasingly electric vehicle future, especially one with more buses and trains available, might make some progress towards a less car-dependent city. I'm encouraged that lots of younger people I've worked with over the last several years moved to L.A. without a car. That wasn't really a thing when I first moved here 20 years ago.
In actual good news happening now, the increased adoption of zero emissions vehicles has led to a noticeable improvement in the air we breathe. This study from USC Keck Medicine shows that 200 electric vehicles added to a neighborhood can reduce nitrogen dioxide levels by 1.1%, a measurable improvement in air quality. Cool!
Now back to the idea of Hollywood in miniature. I've been taking Miles on hikes to the Observatory before work during the week and we had some of the clearest days I've ever seen recently. Hollywood still looks pretty magical from far away.
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