News from Esotouric's Secret Los Angeles

Gentle reader, On this day in 1888, a baby was born in Chicago to an alcoholic railroad engineer and a highly-strung Irish immigrant. They named him Raymond Thornton Chandler, and through a series of astonishing twists of fate and pique, he grew up to find himself in the oil business in Downtown Los Angeles, just as public and private corruption set their claws into everything of value in the town.

Gentle reader, We write in haste because the City’s clock is ticking, with very little time left. In recent weeks, we’ve heard from multiple Los Feliz neighbors who are worried about the future of the dense, Colonial-style 1937 bungalow court at 2806–2820 North St. George Street, across the alley from the landmarked Snow White Cottages. Neighbors told us tenats still appeared to be living there, but alarming notices had begun appearing on the property.

Gentle reader, Since May 2024, when a concerned neighbor alerted us to a demolition notice posted on the oldest gay bar in Los Angeles, we’ve been speaking out for the Silver Platter and the lousy way the City has treated a Westlake treasure. If threats to the bar’s survival are new to you, we suggest reading our original newsletter here, then coming back for this timely update.

Gentle reader, Wherever you live, odds are your local municipality is sitting on a gold mine of fascinating, unpublished local history. And you’ll probably never get to see it! Such is the way of government: passionate people pour into public meetings to speak their minds, or labor late into the night on written testimony about stuff they care deeply about—officials meet and confer—they vote (usually to do the exact opposite of what the passionate citizens want)—the vote is documented.

It’s been disconcerting to see Westlake and MacArthur Park, places we visit often on our weekend walking tours and weekday preservation advocacy, used as political shorthand for all of California’s civic and cultural failings. It’s true that the Alvarado side of the park, across from the Metro station and Langer’s Deli, is a gathering place for people struggling with drug addiction, mental health and homelessness.

Gentle reader, If you spend a lot of time in the courthouse reporting on public corruption in City Hall, you’ll hear some interesting stuff—and not all of it under oath. When Los Angeles had newspapers based in Downtown Los Angeles, major stories could break after a clerk flagged an interesting filing and mentioned it to a reporter, who started digging to figure out of there was anything there.

Gentle reader, On a recent jaunt down to South Los Angeles to check in on some simmering preservation problems, we stopped for a picnic at Augustus Hawkins Nature Park, which we happen to think is the best park. Carved out from a former industrial site, tucked between a residential neighborhood and busy commuter line, it’s rich with native trees and towering cactus, butterflies, a duck and turtle pond, happy families and some surprises. This is a reader-supported publication.

Gentle reader, If you’ve been meaning to join us on a walking tour, and watching your pennies, we hope our Summer Sale called Three’s Company will be just the ticket to bring us together. From now until midnight on Friday, June 5, we’re offering a special gift certificate package of three walking tour tickets for the price of two. You can use these gift certificate codes for solo tour bookings, or to explore with friends. Stock up for future tours: our gift certificates don’t expire.

Playback speed × Share post Share post at current time Share from 0:00 0:00 / Transcript A warning for Angelenos with landmark nominations (or other planning matters) pending: scammers are sending fake invoices to ensure a positive hearing The Los Angeles City Planning Department says it is aware of the scam, yet has not proactively notified applicants whose contact information is visible on public documents Gentle reader, We write to alert our preservation pals—and anyone with a pending land...

Playback speed × Share post Share post at current time Share from 0:00 0:00 / Last Call! Tell the City: Don't Evict Jorge the Burro of Olvera Street Gentle reader, Two months ago, after Judge Lawrence Cho issued his bench trial ruling against Jorge the Burro and his human keeper, we shared the crushingly sad update on the City’s efforts to evict the Hernandez family’s generational Olvera Street photo op stall, La Carreta.