Gentrification

So, Angie has been blogging and has done a fabulous job!! It's my turn to contribute!! I have chosen to write about a subject that I'm on the fence about! "GENTRIFICATION" is it good or is it bad?????? Well, here are my thoughts...... I love neighborhoods that have massive amounts of potential and are riddled with low income families. I see opportunity!!! Now I know so do many others (like developers) but the difference is I see an opportunity for great entrepreneurs to thrive and prosper. Cheap rent means more money on marketing,inventory, and labor (also maybe security) RENT IS A BITCH!!! RENT ALONE WILL BANKRUPT YOUR BUSINESS!!! In this economy it's common. In my opinion it's not about location it's about creativity and passion if you have a great store or product people will go to you no matter where you are located (remember Field of Dreams "build it and they will come")

Now as you all know I live in a north east Los Angeles town named El Sereno home to the famous Charlies Trio and Troys Burgers. On Huntington Drive a developer built a brand new shopping mall that currently houses a Subway and nothing else. Come on, we can be creative...a coffee/tea shop would do fabulous in this center, a wine bar etc.. Why aren't people taking that entrepreneurial leap and just going for it? Now is the time to wheel and deal make ugly fashionably depressed neighborhood's better, not trendy, "better"!!!
One city I love that is going thru some gentrifying is Highland Park. My family has lived there for years. My mom and aunts went to elementary, junior high as well as high school. They witnessed the remains of "The White Flight". Highland Park has beautiful Victorian and Craftsman designed homes rich in architectural history. On York boulevard a few businesses have opened up that are not 99cent stores or liquor stores. These are actually real entrepreneurs trying to accomplish their dream and saw potential in this economically depressed neighborhood. Cudos to them. They are the pioneers that will restore this town to it's original glory. I am so in love with towns that have small busineses when you actually are able to go into the store get one on one service with the owner and really get on a personal level. Don't get me wrong, I love the Big Chains but there is nothing like personal service and having a personal connection to a store you love.

The Cross of LaCroix

The couture shows for Fall 2009/2010 have come and gone. And, unfortunately, daily life and it's current struggles have kept me from commenting. But, there is one blog that cannot be ignored, and that is on what is probably the final haute couture collection for Christian Lacroix. His company's own financial woes had forced his investors to file bankruptcy protection back in May. He, lucky for us, persevered in presenting his Fall collection. Despite being more restrained than usual, it displayed his talent of finding beauty in the form and detailing. The collection embodied the sophistication and elegance that is Christian Lacroix. Hopefully it won't be the last we see of his designs, because the fashion world will surely be at a loss.

El Sereno Community Garden

Our little neighborhood is making it's mark on the Green Map! Thanks to Marie Salas, the garden's manager, and her gardening friends, that have made our community garden a place of growth, both in the creative and the green sense. El Sereno benefits highly from this meeting place. Not only do they plant all kinds of healthy eats, but they share knowledge and earth wisdom which is easily forgotten in the concrete jungles most of us inhabit today. The garden makes a clear difference in our neighborhood, but it is now being recognized by the American Community Gardening Association. They have been invited to participate in the 30th Annual Conference in Columbus Ohio on August 6th-9th, 2009. An El Sereno Community Garden member will fly over, accompanied by the LA Conservation Corp and the Los Angeles Community Garden Council, to represent our small oasis. We can't help but be so proud of the local gardeners and this accomplishment!

There's No Place like Home...

Grey Gardens is definitely an "acquired taste," but once you get past the first shocking sip you are left with something which is purely vintage. It took me two doses, the documentary and then the HBO movie to confirm, to myself, that I am a true fan of the two Edies. Both films show the complex relationship of a mother and daughter in their co-dependency, but more so, how social class and traditions can thwart dreams. Despite their eccentricity, or perhaps because of it, the two women easily captivate the audience. They confidently tell their story, while their home decays behind them. Perhaps the house is a reflection of their dying dreams; regardless, they have a joie de vivre that is infectious. My favorite line is when Little Edie states how "the relatives didn't know that they were dealing with a staunch character," while her accent cements the point. A true fashion original; she continually reinterprets her wardrobe. She even dresses up the plain towel on her head with a magnificent broach! No doubt both the mother and daughter are performers. It is only natural that they finally have their moment to shine, even if they are considered the "black sheep" on the Bouvier family tree.