Widebrim
I'll Lock Up
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lagunie said:Binkie - one of the biggest changes in the last fifty years has been the loss of space. Up until the 60s - Wilshire Blvd still had many empty lots. And little traffic. A drive from Hollywood to the beach along Santa Monica Blvd. took about 30+ minutes and you could find parking once you got there. Just before I left LA almost five years ago it took me almost twenty minutes to go just a few blocks from Fairfax to La Cienega along Beverly Blvd. during lunch hour traffic. The loss of space, the great increase of people and development make movies from the 40s and 50s seem quaint. Hollywood has been developed with a 'theme park' atmosphere for the day tourists and (again when I left, may be different now) at night a red zone for prostitution and drug addicts. I can remember how shocked I was when I first realized Sunset Blvd. (in the area where the old Schwabs drugstore used to be) was becoming a zone for streetwalkers. Lana come back!! Remember taking the red cars to school when I was a kid. Only problem was you had to step off the sidewalk to get onto the trolly and watch out for cars not paying attention.
Yes, there was considerably less traffic even 25 years ago, but that's what happens when: 1.) people from other states and countries continue to move here; 2.) illegal immigrants continue to come here in larger numbers; 3.) families insist on having an auto for every member old enough to have a license; 4.) many of the above residents refuse to use public transportation, which is still not always close enough to one's home to be feasible; 5.) there seems to be street construction going on every few miles, even at night...
Regarding Hollywood, it has been cleaned up a bit. Drug dealers are not that common anymore (or at least they're not in your face as much) and you see fewer strawberries and Johns on Sunset Blvd. nowadays, even at night.