[In the 1920's, the Mattoon Act helped to fund road improvements like the construction of Sepulveda Blvd, above. But it also had unintended consequences]
This Week's Top Stories: Home prices are going up without a bursting bubble in sight, and now people priced out of choice neighborhoods are spreading their cash into adjacent areas. Curbed looks into the history of the very beautiful self-storage building at Virgil and Beverly that once hosted a rooftop speak-easy. A quaint Cheviot Hills house whose exterior is featured on ABC's Modern Family has come on the market for $2.35 million. Jenji Kohan, creator of Orange is the New Black, is moving her writing staff into the Hayworth Theater near MacArthur Park. Is it the first salvo of gentrification? Do you like walking around and looking at stuff and wondering what the hell is going on around you and why you should care? There's an app for that, and it's from the good people at UCLA and California State Parks. A potentially twisty new design for the Santa Monica Pier bridge is in the works, with work set to begin in 2016. Actress Marie Dressler's well-kept 1926 hilltop home in Whitley Heights has come on the market for $1.2 million.