Dangerous Avenues

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« Inexplicable Morning Meltdown Of The Week | Main | The Price Of Salt »

July 10, 2006

A correspondent asked me the other day to tell him something notable about my neighborhood. I pointed him toward this L.A. Times story. It brightens my heart to know that I share geographical space with 500 members of the notorious "Avenues" gang, the type of men who, according to the story, have visible dents in their skulls, "the shape and size of a pistol butt." It's also nice to know that the gang to which these men belong is being tried, under federal hate-crime laws, for a conspiracy to kill black people.

This, then, is the neighborhood to which I moved my family. Jackson Browne, who grew up in Highland Park, wrote a song about the Avenues. One of the choruses goes like this:

Down on a half darkened street
Fathers' and sons' lives repeat
And something there turns them
Down those lawless avenues

Admittedly, these lyrics don't really apply to me, a white F-list hipster celebrity, and my son, a three-year-old who talks to his boogers. But still. Why am I living here again?

The article only touches on the real story of Highland Park these days. It's gentrifying. The Realtor who rented me my house dropped by a couple of weeks ago to let me know that he has regular parties for "artists" who are moving into the neighborhood. It's only now become acceptable for entry-level members of the gentry to drive within ten miles of here. I've begun to hear things like, "I think I was in a party in your neighborhood a few weeks ago. Is that possible?"

Last week, a very nice young couple from New York, who always look like they just came from a Broken Social Scene show, moved into the house behind us. They're very artistic, so the Realtor must love them. They wanted to know a "good place to hang out around here." I was flattered that they'd ask me, a guy who mostly hangs out at places like Amy's Playground and the Los Angeles Zoo, about where to party. The only bars I've been to around here feature toothless waitresses and old men in cowboy hats, but I no longer have any social ambition. So I directed them toward their people.

"Silver Lake," I said.

So on the one hand, brutal gang violence. On the other, normal working people getting forced from their homes. I can't decide which is more annoying.

Actually, this neighborhood is way better than where we lived before. Regina was surprised the other day when she saw a big-rig Coors Light truck roar down our street. It was the first such sighting in six months. In our old place, in Austin, the beer trucks had a virtual all-night parade right in front of our bedroom window. I'm surprised one of them never hit a hooker.

"Someday we'll live in a neighborhood where beer trucks don't drive down the street," Regina said. "Right?"

"What a beautiful dream," I replied.

Posted by at 4:27 PM | Permalink

Comments

Ah, Silver Lake. Magical silvery Silver Lake. But not as magical as High Land Park, where the wild beasts roam. I mean to do a watercolor study.

Posted by: Mieke | July 11, 2006 12:10 AM

Ahh, yes. I lived in Albany for awhile where college kids peed on lawns, and the occasional downtown shooting made the news. Now i moved to a small town 20min west where there's no crime, but half the town does have mullets, and the pickup across the street has a bumper sticker that reads 'Cowboy Up'. I guess you take what you can get, right?

Posted by: Eric | July 11, 2006 6:00 AM

Go Sox!

Posted by: troy | July 11, 2006 7:08 AM

Does your neighborhood have a bunch of apartment buildings? If so, I don't think you ever have to worry about gentrification. It's that minority of jerks who live in apartments and houses owned by people who don't give a shit that make a neighborhood a difficult place to live. Sure, you'll get a few Utne readers buying places here and there, but the Avenue dudes-type are in it for the long-haul and they're not the ones praying for a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf to move in.

Posted by: Tim | July 11, 2006 9:43 AM

As your Mt. Washington neighbor, I think our area has so much more to offer, in nightlife and day-life, than most places. It's much better than Silver Lake, which is now packed with movie producers and other icky West-side types. The Avenues are good for that much: keeping the fancy fools away.

For nightlife in Highland Park, I'd recommend:
The Wild Hare on York,
Footsies on Figueroa,
The Little Cave on Figueroa.

And then there's all the cool little historical places along the Arroyo Seco to go during the day. Check out the Lummis House. Oh, and movie night at the Southwest Museum.

LA's Northeast side is a sweet place to live, in my eyes. Avenues be damned. Plus, they just said on the radio this morning that theft has gone way down in our neighborhood since Bratton arrested 4 guys who were running a major crime ring. Nice.

I love your blog, by the way. Funny stuff.

Posted by: Audrey | July 11, 2006 10:55 AM

I like all those bars, actually. Footsie's is my favorite of the three, though the Wild Hare is within walking distance.

And I DO like the neighborhood, for the most part, but sometimes I wish for a little less "reality" and a little more peace and quiet.

Didn't know about movie night at the Southwest Museum. Thanks for the tip.

Posted by: Neal Pollack | July 11, 2006 11:28 AM

I thought maybe you were just keeping the Wild Hare to yourself.

Posted by: Carolyn | July 11, 2006 8:06 PM

You have to pick your poison, homes. We live in Larchmont Village which is supposed to be "nice" and in the last three months we've had a broken car-window, two robberies and a car-jacking. I'm thinking Beer truck sounds glorious right about now.

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