Double Duty

EoA back on the set.

So I've got a bunch of crazy projects to do over the coming week, so there won't be too much posting on Industrianism. I'll leave you with a project I had done earlier this semester for my History of City Planning class. It's the history of the 6th Street Viaduct in downtown LA (and just a block away from my apartment). Sorry for the smaller size. I still can't figure out how to make the video pop out into another window so you can actually read the text...

Enjoy!

More Bears

EoA here

I'm going to have a really kick-ass post up later on this week about the history of 6th Street Viaduct (Viaduct = bridge. I don't know why they called it that). But in the meantime, I found some more sweet, sweet bears hanging around my neighborhood. And really, what would you prefer: hear about a bridge or look at some cool bears? Amirite?

Oh, hey bear. I didn't see you standing there on that stump.
....yeah. I already said 'hi'. You're starting to creep me out, bear.
AAAAHHHH!!! Scary negative-imprint bear! Also, you're getting a little close. Why don't you back off a little, huh?.
Woah, costume change? I can tell you're a little confused too.
I don't know where the bear went, but I sure don't like the way that Elephant is eyeing me.

Weekend Whimsy

So I don't really feel like doing some in-depth urban analysis today. It's time for more weekend whimsy! Here's some cool stuff.



Have a great weekend, everyone!

Diversity, both in form and use

When reading Jane Jacobs, one of the things that struck me the most was her focus on diversity of building use and type in order to create a successful neighborhood. Her example was what she called the "monoculture of use" on Wall Street in the New York City of the 1960's. All the bankers would come rush in during the morning, go out for lunch, and rush back home after the markets closed. The tragedy of this situation, in her eyes, was that the area Wall Street occupied was left empty and without beneficial use in any other time of day than the ones listed above. Wall Street was so successful that any use other than "financial activities" had been priced out, and this pricing out was hurting the viability of Wall Street as a vibrant neighborhood. The same type of pattern has followed in many American downtowns during the 20th century, as they were designed to accommodate car commuters coming in from the suburbs and tended to shun the downtown residents that could make such an area be a thriving, 24-hour neighborhood. In short, these neighborhoods lacked diversity of use.

What's missing here? People! (well, other than officer Pepe, at least)

Another example Mrs. Jacobs sites is the dangerous playground in the solely residential neighborhood in urban Baltimore. This is a park that is surrounded by almost carbon-copy homes that are occupied by people who all fit into a very thin slice of the economic spectrum. Since most of these people lead similar lives, their schedules often mirror each other. These similar schedules then tended to leave the neighborhood park mostly empty for much of the day. This lack of attention and usage of the park led to it becoming the haunt of drug dealers and other dangerous elements. If there were a range of people with different living and working situations within this neighborhood, there would have been more usage of the park at different hours and a better chance that it would have been policed effectively. Again, these neighborhoods lacked diversity.

The diversity I'm describing is contained in the form of the buildings, in the types of people whom are found in the neighborhood, and the types of activities that go on there.

When I bike around the Industrial & Arts Districts, I find a wealth of people, buildings, and uses. It may not look the way you think a good neighborhood should, but it works pretty well as one.

This is a courtyard down an alleyway behind a converted industrial space. It really reminds me of Florence, but I think that's just from the yellow awnings and the vespas parked outside. Just so you know, the outside of the building looks like this:
So we've got non-traditional housing. We're talking about people who may or may not be "artists", but we can certainly say that, compared to the population at large, you have a large percentage of people that work on non-traditional schedules and often work where they live. Just a few blocks away, we find this:
Cool! But more importantly, it's a religious institution that might have a different schedule than working people. Then there's industrial workspace.
This brings a lot of people into the neighborhood in the middle of the day. You get sustained activity throughout the daytime hours. Another source of daytime activity is governmental work:
Do not mess with LA Water and Power: they will break you.
And of course, a vibrant neighborhood needs some good old fashioned upwardly mobile middle class folks.
But those are the tricky gentrifying folks that bear watching. Don't get over-eager, yuppie pioneers. We wouldn't want to create another monoculture. But for right now, you're just another slice of diversity.

Weekend Funzies!

EoA here.

Soooooo, I broke my camera a few days back, which will understandably stunt the posting I can do on Industrianism (it being a photo-blog and all...). But! I've got some photos left over from my first jaunt around the neighborhood and seeing its the weekend, I don't see why we can't insert some whimsy into this here blog. Maybe whimsy will be a weekend theme for Industrianism. We'll see - everything's pretty much in flux right now.

Anyhow! These are some cool things you could only find in side-alleys in my neighborhood. You've always gotta explore - and not with a car.

I'm pretty sure my spare parts are cooler than yours. This was waaaay down a side alley between a towed car lot and a manufacturing warehouse. There was also a sweet Jimi Hendrix mural on the wall. It's something you wouldn't be able to see from a car, much less from the roadway. Little gems everywhere.

I call this one "Bad Dog". Original, right? It was down another alley and was the back entrance to a small manufacturing outfit. I've seen plenty of "Guard Dog" or "Attack Dog" or "Police Dog" signs, but "Bad Dog"? That's so sad. It's like the owners are telling you "not only will this guard dog bite you, it will also steal your wallet and ruin your credit. He's just a bad dog. We'd rather have another, but he's all we've got. Anyways, you've been warned".

Have a great weekend, all!

Angles

One of the things that draws me to industrial areas is the wealth of diversity in the types and shapes of buildings. Finding new and interesting vantage points and thoughtful details in my neighborhood is a daily joy to me. I mean, what's to like in seeing this every day:

Little boxes, little boxes, and they're all made up of ticky-tack...

What really captivated me today was some of the amazing angles on buildings that I've found in industrial and work/live architecture. When I saw this-

it reminds me of this -
equally, all of the interesting angles here -

remind me of stuff like this -

whereas all the ticky-tack up above only makes me think of this -

Maiden Voyage

East of Alameda here.

We've got some heady ground to cover on this here blog, but let's start with something fun, shall we? At heart, this is all supposed to be a celebration of LA's amazing industrial areas and the creative impulses that they foster. With that being said, let's see some bears!

"Welcome to the neighborhood, EoA!"

Just to get all serious for a second, I love the fallen-apart sign clinging to the building above this bear. Something about the juxtaposition of a cartoon bear telling you to "hug life" with a somewhat broken-down building that's seen better days is pretty awesome.

We've got something in common, bear. I hope this little venture goes somewhere.