Since the 1968 enactment of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, an estimated 800,000 to 900,000 Africans have immigrated to the US, accounting for just 3.3% of total immigration. Although Black History Month observances typically focus on native Black Americans whose ancestors came to the US by means of the Atlantic slave trade — … Continue reading No Enclave — Exploring Ghanaian Los Angeles
No Enclave — Exploring Nigerian Los Angeles
As you're probably aware, February is Black History Month. Most of the month's observances will naturally focus on the long history of black African-Americans, most of whose ancestors were brought to the US during the centuries-long slave trade. While I certainly don't want to take anything away from that, I thought that given the current … Continue reading No Enclave — Exploring Nigerian Los Angeles
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California Fool’s Gold — The 10th Anniversary
2017 marks the tenth anniversary of my explorations of the neighborhoods and communities of Los Angeles and Southern California. In the past decade, I managed, although not planned, to explore and write about exactly 100 communities for my California Fool’s Gold series. When I began writing about Los Angeles neighborhoods, there were a few others … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — The 10th Anniversary
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Mapping the Geography and History of South Los Angeles
Attempting map of South Los Angeles is bound to be contentious, but I've gone ahead and had a go at it anyway. No matter what anyone tells you there are no official borders of South Los Angeles and it would be hard to find two Angelenos in absolute agreement. The Los Angeles Times regards it as a 51.08 … Continue reading Mapping the Geography and History of South Los Angeles
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Office Park Life — Visiting Park DTLA
Although the earliest office parks first appeared in the 1950s, their golden age was the 1980s, when they sprang up like boxy, shiny, fairy rings in the liminal spaces between cities and suburbs; drawn beyond the edges of cities by baby boomers who'd discovered in fleeing to the suburbs, they'd created for themselves a fresh hell in … Continue reading Office Park Life — Visiting Park DTLA
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Los Angeles Linguistics Part 1 — A Tale of Two Neighborhoods
There is a casualness and imprecision practically intrinsic to Los Angeles. It's only in this city that I've encountered people who aren't sure what neighborhood they live in. What's more, they seem undisturbed, it's all "Los Angeles," after all, an abstract city where many residents are seemingly less concerned with where they actually live than where they park their cars. Business … Continue reading Los Angeles Linguistics Part 1 — A Tale of Two Neighborhoods
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Southland Parks — Visiting Granada Park
A week ago I visited O’Melveny Park, often said to be Los Angeles’s second largest park — but actually its fifth. A few days later I visited the actual second largest park, albeit of Alhambra, not Los Angeles. That community’s Granada Park is a pleasant community park second in size only to Almansor Park. ***** … Continue reading Southland Parks — Visiting Granada Park
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Swinging Doors — A Guide to Winter Warmers
Though technically still autumn, it’s now felt like winter for over a week here in Los Angeles. The days are very short and on the long cold nights it’s been dipping into the single digits. We’ve been blessed with a little bit of rain here and there and the Santa Ana Winds have been whipping up leaves and … Continue reading Swinging Doors — A Guide to Winter Warmers
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Southland Parks — Visiting O’Melveny Park
I’d wanted to visit O’Melveny Park since first getting wind of its existence several years ago and seeing repeated references to its being the second largest park in Los Angeles (after much better known Griffith Park). However, whereas I can easily walk or ride my bicycle to Griffith Park, O’Melveny is about fifty kilometers from Pendersleigh and public … Continue reading Southland Parks — Visiting O’Melveny Park
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California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Palms
Palms is a neighborhood that founded as an agricultural and vacation community in 1886. Today it’s mostly comprised of apartment buildings, crisscrossed with commercial corridors, and the most densely populated community on the Westside. It’s also home to many of my favorite Westside establishments so the reality that I found exploring the actual neighborhood somewhat unpleasant … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Palms
Eric Brightwell 