Los Angeles Dreaming

A development now taking shape on Metro-owned property near the L.A. River could drop retail space in favor of more affordable housing.

Last month, the Metro Board's Planning and Programming Committee signed off on a request for McCormack Baron Salazar to amend its agreement for a joint development at the Taylor Yard, a former Southern Pacific Railroad maintenance and storage facility in Glassell Park.  In lieu of developing 16,690 square feet of retail space at the southernmost corner of the Taylor Yard site, McCormack Baron Salazar now plans to construct 56 units of affordable housing.

Though the site has been entitled for retail development since 2014, Metro staff cited a lack of interest from prospective tenants as a reason for the shift in strategy.  No exact cause was identified, though a staff report to the committee noted that this particular site lacks visibility from San Fernando Road.

In approving the change from retail to housing, the committee also voted in favor of extending McCormack Baron Salazar's ground lease from to April 1, 2022 - and potentially as late as April 1, 2024 if necessary.

To date, a total of 263 affordable housing units – including 108 senior apartments – have been built at the Taylor Yard site, as well as 95 for-sale condominiums and 8,290 square feet of retail space.  An additional 42 units of affordable housing are planned elsewhere on the property.

The Taylor Yard development abuts the Rio De Los Angeles State Park, as well as a vacant 42-acre site that also slated to become green space through the L.A. River restoration.  The park space and the neighboring housing development could eventually be served by a new station on Metrolink's Antelope Valley and Ventura County Lines - Metro is currently studying an infill station at Taylor Yard amongst several options for improving rail service between Burbank, Glendale, and Union Station.

Lucas Hugh is a London-based activewear brand that incorporates futuristic design with technical performance. Established in 2010 by co-CEO and Creative Director Anjhe Marcus, Lucas Hugh was the first to incorporate the fully-bonded seam –used in Olympic-quality swimwear –into activewear. The brand caught fire with the release of The Hunger Games in 2013 where Marcus designed and developed the training outfits featured in the film.

Anjhe Marcus tells FashionUnited how her experiences working in the fashion industry inspired her to start a business that promotes well-being and encouragement. Designing with a purpose, Lucas Hugh continues to deliver unparalleled products for the modern entrepreneurial woman with an active lifestyle. Here she shares her tips on how to succeed in the fashion business.

As the co-CEO and creative director of Lucas Hugh, what does a workday look like?

Currently, I'm the co-CEO (along with my husband-Jason Marcus) and the Creative Director. Depending on the day, I’ll be planning a photo shoot, managing product development, fittings, branding, marketing, web development and even overseeing customer service. I’m definitely on the go and in a lot of meetings, but I always try to include fitness into my day. As a mother of two young children, the time I work-out now revolves around them. Since my youngest is only 1 year old, I’m running on lack of sleep so I come into the office early and use my lunch break for a workout. If I need to focus on a project, I may pop outside and work from the Soho House to refresh my environment.

What challenges do you face in the fashion business? How do you stay motivated?

Running a business, you’re constantly challenged on a daily basis and 50 percent of your job is to find solutions for the problems. So many obstacles happen every day, how to manage it personally is by staying internally positive and not let the negativity get you down. Sticking to a routine with exercising has helped me stay motivated. At Lucas Hugh, our values are being smart, considered and first. Internally we try to practice a positive solution-focused approach, whereby team members are accountable to providing solutions alongside problems.

How was Lucas Hugh founded, what inspired you?

After studying fashion design in New Zealand, I was a swimwear designer for about 15 years. After launching my own swimwear brand, I went to New York to work for Marc Jacobs and then for Alexander McQueen in London. I always had the desire to start my own business, but I wanted to develop a product that was necessary in the market. In 2007 I noticed that there wasn’t a product for women which combined high fashion prints and cuts with technical sportswear.

Because of my love of swimwear, I understood how to use technical fabrics and saw opportunity to adapt techniques – such as the bonded seam - that had been traditionally used in swimwear into activewear. However, because the product was so specialized, I spent 2 years researching and working on different prototypes before we launched the business in 2010. The name was inspired by both my British and New Zealand grandfathers, Lucas and Hugh, who were really into fitness and well-being. Originally from New Zealand, having an active lifestyle has been an important part of my daily routine since I was little. I felt a versatile product that could be worn from the gym to the boardroom was missing for women.

You used to design for your own swimwear brand and also worked for influential fashion design houses. How did these past experiences working in fashion influence you?

Coming from the fashion industry is an interesting experience and working for prominent fashion designers showed me how hierarchal and competitive the environment is. Not to mention the long hours, low pay and the feeling that you “must swim or you’ll drown.” This impression really informed me on how I’d want to set up my own business as an open, collaborative and encouraging environment despite your level within the company. Especially as an activewear brand, health and wellness are extremely important for us. You’ll find Lucas Hugh employees working out together as a team and taking breaks outside is encourage to reset and focus. We believe in being “fit in the body, fit in the mind.”

We believe in being “fit in the body, fit in the mind.”

Why did you decide to specialise in premium activewear for women?

To place an emphasis on the term premium, this was a conscious decision we made since the beginning. When you look at swimwear, there are different tiers and people would invest in a beautifully designed piece from a premium label. Within activewear, there was a gap in this category where a product was well designed and functional.

Inclusive exclusivity is an approach that we’ve found resonates with our customers. For example, our limited collections often fly off the shelves. Through consumer feedback we have learned that although women want to be unique and stand out from each other, they also want to be in the know and be the expert that shares quality products with their inner circle. The Lucas Hugh customer is not of a specific age group, but a woman who is decisive, knows what she wants and being active is part of her daily routine.

How is technology integrated into the production of Lucas Hugh designs?

Since day one, Lucas Hugh has been a European manufactured product so we’ve selected the best quality Italian fabrics which are moisture wicking, quick to dry and tend to have a high compression content so are very supportive and even help with muscle recovery. Designs we’ve built into our products feature details such as integrated key pockets and high visibility triangles. We’re known for using the fully bonded seam which is a laser cut heat seal originally designed for racing swimsuits and makes the garment more aerodynamic.

Our product development cycle is about 2 years. With our prototypes we’ll do different types of testing such as abrasion, wash and colour fade. Then we’ll do physical testing with various sports from yoga to running on the treadmill. Trainers in London will wear and test our products before they’re ready to hit the market.

Photos: courtesy of Lucas Hugh

A fire tore through a strip mall in Rowland Heights on Sunday morning, destroying five businesses, including a veterinary clinic with animals inside.

The fire broke out at the Colima Center on the corner of Colima Road and Paso Real Ave. at 3:00 a.m. It consumed several storefronts before a force of 120 firefighters was able to knock it down.

Among the businesses burned to the ground was Colima Animal Hospital. Seven pets, including dogs and cats, were killed in the fire, according to the veterinarian. Some of the pets' owners arrived to the scene Sunday morning and were heartbroken by the news.

Steve Kang, owner of Masters Realty, told NBC4 his company lost valuable items including computers, keys to properties and important client information.

Other businesses destroyed include a medical insurance company and a sushi restaurant. The businesses in the center that did not burn down have been deemed too dangerous to enter due to smoke and water damage as well as potential gas or electrical hazards.

Residents of a nearby mobile home community were evacuated overnight, but the fire was contained before it spread to their homes.

Source: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Vet-Clinic-With-Pets-Inside-Burns-in-Strip-Mall-Fire-499564171.html

Next month, Living Statue Records will put out the Magnetic Fields covers compilation You Can Sing Me Anything: A Tribute to 69 Love Songs, and L.A’s Tomemitsu turns the unconventional “I Shatter” into a dreamy melancholy pop song, exchanging Merritt’s processed voice and cello for a bass/guitar/drums arrangement that’d fit nicely on the b-side of a Cure single. That “Shatter” transforms so elegantly offers further affirmation of Merritt’s songwriting prowess—proof that a good song is a good song, separate from genre or style—and showcases Tomemitsu’s imagination and capability, too. His “Shatter” respects the original but isn’t just a reproduction. It’s Merritt’s words, but Tomemitsu’s voice. And he’d never heard the song until he was invited to contribute to the comp, he says:

“When Steve [from Living Statue] asked me to join in on the Magnetic Fields benefit compilation I thought… ‘Here’s a band I’ve heard name dropped but never got into.’ When a band puts out an album spanning 69 tracks, it’s usually an indication I won’t be able to listen to it from start to finish. I value prolific song writing and am a believer in failure being a path to success, so I heartily took on the challenge and listened to the 40 or so songs that hadn’t yet been claimed.

‘I Shatter’ stood out to me because of the cello, my first instrument, and the similarities I heard to Arthur Russell, who also does an amazing blend of cello with experimental elements. When I record cover songs I typically try to make them pretty different by altering the instrumentation, tempo, or the vocal delivery. The original ‘I Shatter’ is kind of a skeletal song with just cello loops, 3 short verses, and a computer-y voice—so it seemed an ideal candidate for extreme reinterpretation.

I listened to the song for a couple weeks and one weekend this chilled-out version seeded itself in my head. It was fun taking elements of the original and recreating them with different instruments: like the cello being replaced by an echo-driven harmonic guitar line, or recording the background computer vocal lines through a tremolo pedal. I think that my interpretation reveals that The Magnetic Fields have a lot of underlying beauty made challenging through their production process, and that’s something that I really love about experimental music—the challenge and the discovery.”

You Can Sing Me Anything: A Tribute to 69 Love Songs is out Dec. 14 on Living Statue, with proceeds going to RAINN, The Sylvia Rivera Law Project and The United Way of Genesee County. Tomemitsu will finish a west coast tour this month with a show with Steady Holiday and Water Slice at the Bootleg on Sun., Nov. 18.

Wednesday 11/14 – Sunset Tavern, Seattle WA
Thursday 11/15 – Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR
Friday 11/16 – Experimental Show TBA, Arcata, CA
Saturday 11/17 – Cafe du Nord, San Francisco, CA
Sunday 11/18 – Bootleg Theater, Los Angeles, CA
Monday 11/19 – The Casbah, San Diego, CA

Presenting Take Sunset’s newest listing: This move-in ready three-bedroom, three-bath home in the Montecito Heights hills.

The residence has been tastefully remodeled in recent years and provides ample interior space, lovely views, and a huge yard.

Enter from street level to the home’s downstairs with a family room/den, bedroom, and bath.

Upstairs you will find an open living room with fireplace, dining room, kitchen area, and great deck access.

The property also provides a large garage with direct access, ample storage space and closet space throughout, and central HVAC.

There are two additional bedrooms and bathrooms on the top floor, which complete this floor plan–ideal for families or creatives needing a home office.

Located on a quiet stretch of Montecito Drive with easy access to Ernest E. Debs Regional Park.

The lush, landscaped yard is filled with native plants and fruit trees and offers multiple seating and play areas.

The provides peaceful yet urban living in the heart of Los Angeles. Located just minutes from Highland Park and Mt. Washington hotspots such as Civil Coffee, Kitchen Mouse, Block Party, Triple Beam Pizza, and many more.

This is the hilltop home you’ve been waiting for!

Open this Sunday 2 – 5 pm.

To schedule a showing please contact me at 323-775-6305 or email me.

The owners of nearly century-old building in Downtown Los Angeles intend to reactivate their property as affordable housing, according to an item to be considered at an upcoming meeting of the CRA/LA Governing Board.

The Drake Hotel, completed in the early 1920s, is a three-story structure located at 675 S. Kohler Street.  The building, which began its life as a 43-room hotel, was converted into apartments during the 1940s, and is vacant above the ground floor today.  But that may not be the case for long.

In a letter to the CRA/LA Governing Board, property owner David Duel has agreed to execute and record a 55-year affordability covenant in which the Drake's 33 housing units would be rented to tenants earning 40 percent or less than the area median income.  Duel has also signed an agreement with The People Concern to provide supportive housing to future residents.

Construction is expected to last approximately nine months following the issuance of building permits, according to the letter.

Interested in finding affordable housing? Visit housing.lacity.org.

Hublot celebrates ten years since the creation of Bitcoin with the launch of the Big Bang Meca-10 P2P watch, a limited edition watch that can only be purchased online with the cryptocurrency.

"We are pleased with the dynamism and sense of innovation of our Asian partners: it is part of a visionary process that corresponds, point by point, with Hublot's vision," said Ricardo Guadalupe, CEO of Hublot, in a statement. "Thanks to the partnership with OSL Limited, this first P2P watch allows us to continue our exploration of the roads of the future."

Ten years ago, in November 2008, Bitcoin was born. This famous cryptocurrency, a virtual asset stored in virtual format, was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, an enigmatic character whose true identity remains wrapped in mystery. However, its peer to peer (P2P) payment system has seduced a wide community of users and investors who accept it to carry out their transactions.

As a precursor to new technological and social trends, Hublot has decided to commemorate the first decade of Bitcoin by presenting the first watch that can only be purchased in exchange for Bitcoins. It will only be marketed electronically, and both the order and the payment must be made online. This innovation has been possible thanks to a collaboration with OS Limited (OSL), the main digital asset broker in Asia. Hublot thus becomes the first luxury watchmaker in the bitcoin market.

Baptized as Big Bang Meca-10 P2P, this watch will only be available in a limited edition of 210 copies, an allusion to the absolute limit of the number of Bitcoins available in the world, set at 21 million units.

True to the innovative design that nurtures the reputation of the Big Bang collection, the P2P watch features a 45 mm diameter case made of black sandblasted ceramic. When it comes to a Hublot watch, talking about ceramics has nothing to do with clay-based pottery, but with a high-tech material: zirconium oxide agglomerated at very high temperatures.

The watch is equipped with a caliber of internal development HUB1201, a skeletonized movement that offers a formidable power reserve of 10 days, a number that is not left to chance: ten, as the number of years of life of a Bitcoin. Each of the 210 copies is manufactured for its owner, since it incorporates the transaction number with Bitcoin used for its acquisition. Another allusion to the cryptocurrency is its blue calfskin strap with black rubber lining and trim, adorned with a motif that refers to Blockchain, the network of interconnection between computers that allow the existence of the virtual currency.

The Big Bang Meca-10 P2P was presented on November 6 in Hong Kong at the headquarters of the company OS Limited. Visitors were able to enter through an immersion tunnel with interactive visualizations that presented the universe of cryptocurrencies and the unique payment system that allows Hublot to accept transactions in Bitcoin.

Photo: via PR Newswire

Los Angeles is a difficult city to place into any neat categories.  To some extent, any place so big defies easy comprehension. But for LA this illegibility goes a bit deeper.  Today, there are by and large two main models for successful cities in America. The first is the coastal, urban, liberal city, exemplified by the likes of San Francisco, New York, or Boston.  The other is the inland, suburban, conservative city, typically referred to as a “Sun Belt” city, exemplified by the likes of Phoenix, Dallas, or Atlanta. Both have been experiencing strong growth over recent years, while older industrial cities and rural areas have fared less well.  The cultural divide behind these two divergent urban forms is often held to be a major contributor to the country’s political/cultural divide broadly.

Many analyses have been written considering the pros and cons of each of these models – but notably, Los Angeles is rarely discussed as an example in any of these pieces.  This is because LA does not easily fit either of those categories. It is, in fact, perhaps the only major city in America which is firmly rooted in both worlds.  This position makes LA particularly confusing to outside observers, and it causes its fair share of problems in terms of establishing local policies.

Yet, it is this unusual position which gives Los Angeles the unique opportunity to serve as a cultural bridge within America as it progresses into the 21st century.  This article evaluates how LA developed in such a distinctive fashion, assesses the problems inherent in this position, and explores how LA’s responses to these challenges can guide the country at large as it experiences similar frictions.

LA’s Hybrid Urban Form

Los Angeles began its life as a major American city in a manner different from almost every other coastal city in the country.  While east coast cities were settled mostly by seaborn migrants from Europe, and San Francisco was settled mostly by seaborn migrants from the east coast, most early Angelenos came overland from the middle of the North American continent (and of course from Mexico).  The earliest settlements in the region were not on the coast, but 15 miles inland in what is now Downtown LA, and even farther inland at Pasadena, San Gabriel, and San Fernando. Much of LA’s past growth came overland via Route 66. It was as if early Los Angeles were a far-flung inland midwestern city, one which was merely coincidentally located close the coast.  Over the course of the 20th century to the modern day, however, the nature of the city evolved dramatically to the point where its coastal inclination is at least as strong as its inland roots.

Boomtown growth in LA from the late 19th to late 20th century was of a pattern we might recognize as being similar to that of today’s “Sun Belt” cities.  Indeed, it was Los Angeles that effectively defined the genre. Without the tight constraints of an island or peninsula, Los Angeles had ample land onto which it could sprawl.  LA had enough space that it could build a seemingly endless supply of housing for new residents. The city’s biggest growth spurts occurred in the decades after WWII, an era when automobile enthusiasm was at its peak, and the city essentially perfected the freeway-and-subdivision method of development during that time.  Today, people move to places like Phoenix or Dallas for cheap housing, more space, less congestion, warmer weather, and jobs provided by a booming economy – precisely the reasons they moved to Los Angeles for most of the 20th century. LA boomed in that manner first, and other cities with ample space and warm weather followed suit over subsequent decades.

Clearly, people are not moving to LA for cheap housing and low congestion today.  This is because, over the late 20th and early 21st centuries, LA’s nature as a city changed fundamentally.  Affordable housing and open freeways were victims of their own success.  The draw of LA’s mid-century formula was so strong than enough people moved here to push up the cost of housing and to fill the city’s roads.  The form of the city has become decidedly more urban over recent decades, with the country’s highest population density, least affordable housing market, and booming city center neighborhoods.

LA’s culture has also made a major transition over recent decades.  In the early 20th century the city’s biggest industries were oil and manufacturing, and most of its population was white with Midwestern roots.  Through the latter 20th century to the modern day, LA’s industry and cultural mix have been evolving such that it resembles America’s coastal urban form to a much greater degree.  The creation of the LAX airport and the (man-made) Port of LA in the mid 20th century connected the city to the wider world to an extent unprecedented in local history. The growth of the entertainment industry has given LA a cultural link to just about everywhere around the globe.  Over recent decades, Sun Belt industries such as manufacturing, oil, and business services have declined in Los Angeles, while coastal urban industries such as research, engineering, design, and trade have grown. Most strikingly, the local population has been fundamentally transformed by international immigration, making Los Angeles easily one of the most diverse cities in the world.

Thus, today we have a Los Angeles which acts as a hybrid between two worlds.  The transformations the city has undergone over recent decades make LA resemble coastal urban cities of America in many respects, yet at the same time its Sun Belt suburban roots run very deep.  The region is home to neighborhoods such as Koreatown, which has one of the highest population densities of any place in the country, yet it is also home to vast suburban and exurban tracts which served as the very inspiration for sprawling Phoenix, Dallas, Las Vegas, etc.  It is home to Hollywood, a reflexively liberal cultural force, yet also home to the “sagebrush rebellion” against high taxes which has served as one of the primary energizing forces of America’s conservative movement from the 1970s to the modern day.

There is a constant friction between these competing visions of the city.  This is most regularly manifested when it comes to land use. People who came to LA because it offered Sun Belt-style amenities lament the weakening of that model every time an apartment complex gets built – it is fundamentally incompatible with the low density required by suburbia to be successful.  People who view LA in the mold of other coastal cities such as New York or San Francisco believe that it needs that greater density and transit development to maintain a healthy urban form. Friction between these competing visions is a large part of what makes land use and planning in LA so contentious as compared to other cities.

LA as a Lab for 21st Century America

LA’s identity crisis makes the city messy and inconsistent, but it also provides a clash through which the future of America may be defined.  In many respects, the challenges and opportunities Los Angeles faces today are those which America will be facing in the not-too-distant future.

America’s ethnic makeup has been becoming more diverse for at least the past half-century, and despite rhetoric from the current government administration, it will continue to do so over coming decades.  Most analyses expect that America will be less than 50% white by 2050. Anxiety surrounding this prospect has motivated a lot of political behavior over recent years.

Yet, this is not such an uncharted territory.  California has been ‘majority-minority’ for almost 20 years, and in the LA area only about ⅓ of residents are white.  There have certainly been tensions between ethnic groups in LA. In the ‘90s, debates over immigration in the state resembled those taking place nationally today.  California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 187 in 1994, for example, barring undocumented immigrants from most social services, including public schooling.  It would be difficult to imagine something of that sort gaining widespread support in California today. As the years progressed, immigrants assimilated into the local culture to a greater extent, and the local culture grew more accepting of them.

Ethnic relations in Los Angeles are less than perfect, but LA has led the country in creating the cultural framework through which recent migrants have been accepted.  Along the lines laid out by the late food writer Jonathan Gold, the local culture has become one where different migrant groups are celebrated for their distinctive contributions to the city’s cultural life.  This is similar to the means through which prior waves of immigrants were accepted into the country, where Italian pizza became an American staple and German apfelstrudel became ‘as American as apple pie’.

From an economic perspective, the challenges and opportunities Los Angeles is facing today are also similar to those America will face at large in the near future.  Broadly, economic opportunities for those with the skills to take advantage of them are expanding dramatically. Hollywood is putting out new content at a blistering pace, a product of the subscriber wars between the new streaming providers.  LA remains the top destination for aerospace research in the country. And the tech economy is coming into its own, with major firms opening large Silicon Beach offices.

But, the abundance of relatively low-skill jobs which used to characterize the region (particularly in aircraft, automotive, and fashion manufacturing) has collapsed over the past three decades.  Automation and outsourcing have had the same effect in this coastal city as they had in the Rust Belt – though of course globalization has been a boon for the Ports of LA and Long Beach, which together account for almost half of America’s international imports.  Defense budget cuts at the end of the Cold War were particularly tough on the local manufacturing sector. Moreover, many businesses, especially those which do not rely on the particularities of LA’s local workforce or economy, have relocated to lower cost places such as Texas.  The clerical and middle management jobs they once provided have left with them.

These are nationwide problems of course, but their proximity is unusually close in the Los Angeles area.  This dichotomy has led to a litany of problems locally. The most prominent is clearly cost of housing, which continues to rise across the region as the result of stagnant supply in the face of rising wages and population.  The problem is exacerbated by the fact that wages are mostly rising for higher skilled residents and migrants, which leads to more acute gentrification. Meanwhile, lower skilled residents have seen little wage growth, and are moving in great numbers to solidly Sun Belt places such as the Inland Empire, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Texas – places which were not coincidentally built as visions of LA’s past.

Therein lies the problem as we look to LA today as a predecessor to the country in the near future.  As ever more people move to modern Sun Belt cities, they will ultimately run up against the same suburban structural challenges LA has experienced – traffic and expensive housing.  Where will those who cannot afford these places move to next? Will some cities which are small today experience their own Sun Belt-style booms a few decades from now to accommodate the overflow?  It is possible.

But perhaps all of this growth can be handled more efficiently, both in terms of preserving economic clusters and existing communities and in terms of environmental impact.  This can be achieved by allowing today’s Sun Belt cities to urbanize and densify as they grow, providing housing more efficiently for an expanding population. It is a process LA has embraced to an extent over the past decade, even if some are less than thrilled.

Conclusion

If Los Angeles can successfully address the challenges it faces today, it can serve as a model for the rest of America as it faces very similar challenges tomorrow.  LA is one of the country’s first ‘majority-minority’ cities, and it has responded to this position to varying degrees of success over the past few decades. The cultural norms and methods of integration that LA is pioneering today may be adopted more widely across the country tomorrow as it grows ever more diverse.

LA was the country’s first Sun Belt boomtown.  In the latter half of the 20th Century, it boomed so much that its suburban form choked on its own success – with open freeways and cheap land giving way to legendary traffic and the least affordable housing market in the country.  In response, Los Angeles has concentrated its future growth inward, developing density in the more urban parts of the region.

Today’s low cost and low congestion Sun Belt cities won’t remain that way forever.  Ultimately, they’ll run up against the same growth constraints. It will be essential that Los Angeles can figure its way out of this trap, creating the blueprint for America’s next stage of growth.

The Journal weighs in with a helpful video on how to avoid getting sick at work. A doctor provides a number of tips, including washing your hands the moment you arrive at the office. That soon? Yes, because you don’t want to bring in nasty little germs that will infect you throughout the day. Keep your distance from colleagues. And never, ever touch your face. If you’re like me, good luck with that.