So we thought we better get this out pronto before you all leave at noon, right? In other news we'll be off on Monday. We know you'll miss us, but we'll miss you more. For today we have many answers. Please enjoy.
(image via MTA/metro.net)
1) Beverly Hills: What's happening at the corner of Gregory and S. Hamilton Dr? Sadly, commenter Laura says, "a 26 unit condo building, boring!"
2) Santa Monica: What's the deal with the plywood job in S.M. A tipster emails in, "To clarify, the boarded up building in Santa Monica is at the southeast corner of Broadway and Stanford. Yeah its an eyesore, but if they finish it and people move in, that just means there will be less street parking... I don't know anything about why its not done or razed yet though."
3) Los Angeles: Okay, we actually knew the answer to this, but a lot of you provided good info about the construction as the 101 enters Downtown from the east (pictured above). Joel C in the comments sums it up, "There are two related activities happening there, both involving the 101 Freeway just west of the 101/10 interchange, and both related to construction of the Eastside Gold Line. In case the questioner doesn't know, the Eastside Gold Line is a new light rail line is currently under construction, and will travel from Union Station to 3rd/Atlantic.
The first activity is construction of the Gold Line overpass over the 101 Freeway. This bridge will allow trains at Union Station to travel south to Little Tokyo, before turning east to the Eastside stations. (Imagine, the sight of a train passing over the 101 at Downtown's equivalent of Dead Man's Curve!)
The second activity is the realignment of the off-ramps south of the freeway, east of Alameda. The Hewitt on/off ramps are being combined with the Vignes on ramp, into one single on/off ramp at Garey Street.
Both construction activities are proceeding simultaneously."
A reader also provides this helpful link to the MTA web site.
4) Marina del Rey: Not a lot of info about relocated shops on Washington Blvd., sorry to say. Christina in the comments says, "I think the name of the (former) shopping area was Marina Beach Shopping Center, if that helps. This is the one that had the Noah's Bagels and a laundromat."
5) Los Angeles: Good question from a reader about where to get a decent beater bike in LA. You the readers say:
"The Bicycle Kitchen (link to daily candy article) sounds like just the ticket. Haven't yet gone myself but I've been meaning to for awhile and now that the sun is finally out for reals... Doesn't sound like you can go wrong."
More Bicycle Kitchen love: "...don't know if they sell bikes, but a great place to point out is the mutual-aid Bicycle Kitchen at Heliotrope and Melrose, behind LACC. Once you get your beater they can teach you how to get it into shape. There's great ice cream there too, though I forget the name of the place. "
Really, we're not a shill for the Bicycle Kitchen (link), but another reader says, "The best place in LA to buy and maintain a used bike is the Bicycle Kitchen on the corner of Heliotrope and Melrose. They are a non-profit cooperative who do all things on bikes inlcuding selling parts, teaching you how to fix them, and even building them from scratch. They are a big part of the ever growing underground bicycling scene in LA."
Finally, Daniel in the comments makes another recommendation, "For a good beater bike, try Atomic Cycles, 17322 Saticoy, Van Nuys CA, 91406--call them at (818) 609-0113. They have used bikes that have been gone over by a mechanic for soundness, and they also have used bike frames and parts if you want to build your own."
6) Venice: The scary corporate hobgoblins are invading Venice with their corporate coffee. Commenter GM (grande mochaccino, hmmm??) has no sympathy: "Bah- all this blather about corporate coffee. First, Coffee Bean is a local company that happened to have delivered a product that people like and therefore bought. Welcome to the market system people. If you don't like it, don't buy. What you're really saying is you don't like the decisions that your neighbors are making and that you want to deprive them of their options. If there are enough people to support your dismal little coffee shop, then it will stay open. If not, it withers and dies. Brutal but the truth - it's called the survival of the fittest and it's been going on for billions and billions of years."
7) Silver Lake Adj.:So what's going down at the corner of Virgil and De Longpre? Maybe first we should clarify which corner, as that intersection seems rife with corners. We'll take a gander this weekend and see if we can find any signs or whatnots that might give us a tip off.
8) North Hollywood: Good info from readers on the building in North Hollywood on Lankershim. The LA City Nerd knows all, and he says, "The structure is privately owned and has no parking associated with it, which has made development difficult. The folks from Fred 62 were going to open a restaurant and club in the building, but I don't know what the latest is on that. I do know, though, that the arena idea would have negatively impacted the area (across the street from an elementary school). It wasn't the right location now that all the housing and other uses have been approved in that immediate area. Also, the City doesn't own that large vacant lot that surrounds the corner building on the other two sides - Metro owns the lot."
9) Hollywood: Okay, the Hollywood H&M according to tipsters will go into the Hamburger Hamlet store frontage. Via Sherman in the comments, ""CIM Group plans a complete remodel of the location at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard, transforming the former restaurant space into a bright, contemporary storefront." (link to press release).
So that does it for this week. good stuff. We have a few questions in the pipes for next week - but we want more. Please email us at la@curbed.com if you have a question.