The high cost of fuel

I just read an article from the Los Angeles Times: "Envisioning a world of $200-a-barrel oil. As forecasters take that possibility more seriously, they describe fundamental shifts in the way we work, where we live and how we spend our free time."

Click here to read the LA Times article

Most foreclosures are located in low-income neighborhoods and with increases in transportation to food, low-income families are going to feel the effects sooner and harder than white-collar, middle- to upper-class neighborhoods. The Downtown Los Angeles housing market is becoming even more desirable and the vision of growth more viable as population habits become rapidly localised. Mass developed, cookie-cutter neighborhoods located outside of major cities may well become ghost towns if transportation isn't planned out intelligently and implemented swiftly. This will obviously increase prices within LA, even while the city re-adjusts from its car culture obsession and the nation faces a tough economic spell.

Many residents in Downtown LA already forego the high cost of highway commuting using a combination of bicycles, scooters, motorcycles and the Metro lines.

Casa Sonora

When I first moved into the Westlake neighborhood of West Downtown Los Angeles, I was always greeted by the glowing neon red sign "Casa." It was a pretty cool welcome sign. During the day, the entire sign read Casa Sonora, but only Casa survived at night. None of the sign has been lit up in the last few months and just today I notice that some workers were dismantling it.

The building was recently purchased, is under new management and is now being marketed as the The Charleston... The new owners should have gone with the original name of Casa Sonora. Anyways, I was worried they were removing the historic neon sign, but apparently it's getting a new paint job. Only time will tell.