2241 and 1/2 W. 24th ST.

I'm hosting a broker's open (though come one, come all) today, Tuesday, January 15th; and, next Tuesday (January 22nd) from 11 - 2:30.

Please see my most recent Upcoming West Adams Listing (1/9/08) entry for additional photos.
Dig the Roman bath.

Elsewhere, I am attempting to update the site, add topics and property specific links. Currently some of the links are not installed, but I hope to continue the re-engineering next week. As part of the mass labeling effort I've republished my second-ever entry (which had fallen out of the archive) and original Palm tree rant below, The World's Most Overrated Tree


There are some--midwesterners to a fault--from verdant, leafy suburbs--troubled by the treeless, sensory-deprivation grey-wash that is much of the Los Angeles metro landscape. I ain't from the Midwest, but count me among 'em.

Should the crooked finger point at our city fathers? Rampaging developers? The climate?

Ok, let's all share the blame and consider for a sec the fascination/obsession with the Palm tree. What if overnight, the city's palms were replaced by strident oak trees? Or powerful Sycamores? Or,....?

Sure, the palms look good at a distance, like towering sentinels; and, there's some kooky glamour association thing. Forget about it, they're a terrible street tree. Like having a telephone pole in your parkway: messy date and seed droppings that are staggeringly tenacious, razor sharp fronds dropping at a high wind's calling. Another thing: zero shade, little green mass, and as my son determined--you can't climb 'em!

Who Needs to Shovel Snow?

The L.A. equivalent, frequently bemoaned--at least here. The sweeping of the palm berries, the none too easy disposal of the palm fronds, following a high wind, rain.

Many rush to defend the gawky palm, miscast glamour icon and non-native. Palm defenders don't actually live on palm-lined streets, and they don't have to deal with the berries, tending to every nook and cranny, down chimneys and thru mail slots. A dirtier tree there isn't.

Still I don't call the tree removal service because they're part of the historical landscape, evident in most early photos of the neighborhood.

Under my yet to fructify category, Lifeways, some neighbors spray the apt to germinate palm berries from their lawns following heavy rains, an unfortunate water consuming practice or "give back", negating the conservation benefit of the odd rain. Weeding is not an activity in which they're willing.

Come to mention it, I'm not sure anyone weeds anymore. Gardeners sure don't seem to.

Is RecenteringElPueblo becoming RecenteringElPetco?

Finally, I nabbed one. For months I've wanted to write about the stray bunnies I encounter (with irrepressible astonishment) on neighborhood walks, and mostly at night. But never had I a camera, and the proof is really in the picture, no?

There's a front yard rabbit on 30th. One night I saw two hares on 11th Avenue--two!. I spotted a jack rabbit near St. James Park, another in the empty lots on Scarff. A cottontail was bagged on 27th St. This fellow was grazing in an alley near 4th Avenue and Jefferson.

With all the semi-feral dogs cruising about, their survival seems impossible, yet I keep seeing them. Or is this my version of Jimmy Carter's rowboat?

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Today's Open: 2361 W. 20th St. (near Arlington & Washington) from 2 - 5.

The Parrots of South Central

The parrots are back, in large number. Mostly Mitred Conures or Mitred Parakeets (Aratinga mitrada), natives of Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina, they congregate in South Central every fall to forage on ripening palm dates.

Endangered in many parts of the world, the wild parrot population is booming in Southern California. According to ornithologists, the birds are sustained by a prevalence of exotic plantings, magnolia flowers, figs, kumquats, and dates.

While it's illegal to set loose non-native birds, a few observers credit the emancipation of pet store birds in San Gabriel, the release of a private aviary in Malibu (during the 1997 fires), and botched smuggling (some imports are banned), with the basis for much of the population.

Southern California has thousands on parrots (estimates run as high as 40,000), divided amongst ten species. The Mitred Conures that invade Jefferson and Arlington Parks measure 15 inches in length, and are green, with red spots on their wings, and small patches of red on their heads.

Impossibly loud, the squawking parrots drown street noise, air conditioner hum, even the low rumble of passing jets. It's hard to mind though, their appearance seems so unlikely, almost magical.

Dogs deserve better

When you're on the real estate "junket", going to a different micro neighborhood each day, looking from yard to yard, block to block, you sometimes spy the uncaring treatment of dogs.

Look, I'm probably the first guy to admit I don't walk my dog often enough. But at least mine isn't chained by day, left to sleep in the cold and wet by night, in constant proximity to fecal matter, and without fresh water.

Yeah it's a big city and there are crooks, lugs, and loons; but a dog has to function as more than just theft deterence. If a dog helps you feel more secure--great; but, dog ownership shouldn't only be about utility.