Oi! Welcome back to R&B. Every week we post real life questions from concerned readers. You, the know-it-all neighbor, answer in the comments or by email. We post answers on Thursday. Please feel free to email us at la@curbed.com.
1) Fairfax: Someone's messing with the parking says a questioner. "...yesterday I saw a stretch of Fairfax south of Third Street (at Colgate) where the two hour parking signs had been changed from "except Sunday" to "daily." There were at least three cars with tickets. Is this a sad new trend or just something specific to this area?"
2) Hollywood: This isn't a pointed question at all. Nope. "I'm perplexed about the soviet-era concrete barracks that are currently being built on the corner of La Jolla and Melrose (just west of Fairfax). I heard that the contractors violated code and stole water and electricity from the "gently retarded" neighbors, who have since been swept away to a "home." Since the contractors built it to the very last inch of their property--despite ordinances that require a certain green space--the building is currently on hold. Any news?"
3) Woodland Hills: The saga of the West Valley supermarkets continues. "Does anybody know when Vons plans to close? What is going to take their place? Could it be Howes, Tesco or some other mystery tenant? Is a Bristol Farms possible?"
4) Melrose Hill: And lastly a two-fer. "This self-serve car wash/gas station just north of Melrose on Western (pictured) closed down a few months ago. It seems to be under construction as a nicer self-service car wash, with fresh cement and glossy granite tiles. The weird part, though, are the big Buddha murals on the adjacent wall, which weren't there in the car wash's previous, er, incarnation. Sure, cleanliness is next to godliness an all that, but you've got to admit it's kind of strange. Anyone know what the story is with this place? Here's another mysterious element: the abandoned store in an adjacent tiny strip mall -- the one that the mural is painted on the back of -- has a signs that say "Coming Soon Family Mart." It doesn't look like the same Family Mart that they have in Japan, the one that was reinterpreted as Famima here in SoCal."
So those are this weeks questions. The ones we didn't get to will be sprinkled throughout our regular programming as thinkages or just random queries. See you Thursday.