Community Walk September 22

This week we walked through the neighborhood known for some as 'Eastwood' and for others 'Hollywood Square'. Hollywood Square is made up of the streets that run North and South from Wilton Ave. to Western Ave. between Hollywood Blvd and Franklin Ave. At the corner of Hollywood and Garfield sits a large vacant lot dark and fenced-in. Unfortunately competing interests in the community have never come to an agreement on what should be built here and so it sits empty and dark known only as an unsafe corner of the neighborhood. As neighbors along the walk described this conundrum it made me wonder, what process of listening do we have here? How have we let relationships reach a point of tension that we're willing to let a valuable piece of our community on so many levels sit as a dirt lot unused?

I won't claim to understand fully the complexities and history of this debate but I want to challenge us to think about how we can have a deeper level of understanding for the 'other' perspective.

Perhaps... take a walk together?

Community Walk August 26th

Here we are at our start point on Hollywood and Cherokee. We made a new friend also carrying a sign.

She was passionately cheerful and held a sign that read, "The Best Day Ever". Her philosophy is that every day can be the best day ever. She believes that we have the capacity to make every day the best for ourselves and help make it true for others. Her book similarly titled should be coming out soon and be available at stores along the Blvd.

Here we are turning west onto Selma.

Here we are at Boardners to end the night. What a GREAT little spot that has a surprising courtyard and tons of character. A big thanks to Tricia for inviting us and giving all the walkers a nice little discount. ;)

Last but not least we want to thank Blessed Sacrament Church for letting us use their parking lot. It saved us some change and worry about how much time was left on the meter.

July 8 Walk

Everyone at the corner of Hollywood and Vine with our new sign.
(Courtesy of Ms. Lisa Aikman)

A nice pic by Leslie who does an amazing job of capturing life in the city.

A view of the world famous Capital Records building. I found out not to long ago that this building was built to look like a record player. The rings are records stacked on top of each other.

Looking east on Hollywood is a shot of the Pantages Theater

My good friend Lou and I wearing the shirts he's designed. Lou is also a local musician and does amazing artwork. He is better recognized as Gum Drop Lou.

June 16th Walk

Nancy and I with our homemade Community Walk Start Point Signs.... And let's not forget Jesse

Nancy led the walk this week taking us from Franklin Ave. up through the hills and down into Griffith Park. We had plans to go to the Trails End Cafe, but upon learning they would be closed Nancy baked some cookies and had us all over for tea to end the walk. It was very nice. =)

Right off the bat it was an exciting walk as Nancy had us illegally sneak around this gate!

This is one of the long public set of stairs going into the hills


Beautiful houses here. This one designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Lot's of great views from the hills. This is a cathedral I had photographed for my last blog from a different view.

A castle-like house once owned by Nick Cage


Our lovely City of Angels

June 9th Community Walk

Our group walking for the day included the HERO team from PATH that does strategic outreach for those living on the streets of Hollywood

A view of the 101 walking on Western Ave.

I've never been able to figure out what faith group meets in this beautiful building. Definitely a nice landmark in East Hollywood.

I used to watch hours of Judge Judy on summer break from elementary school. This is the studio where they shoot as well as Judge Joe Brown.

This is a view of Helen Bernstein High School. To the right there was a nice little soccer game.


A shot of Sunset Blvd. looking east

The KTLA Channel 5 tower on Sunset Ave.

Lisa and Michelle with our fancy sign to let everyone know where the fun begins!

June 2nd Community Walk

Western Avenue Looking North

This nice shot of Carlton Way was taken by Leslie Foster who is quickly becoming the official photographer of the Hollywood Community Walks.


The 'Royal Carlton', a classic looking residential building on Carlton Way.




Grant Elementary on the corner of Wilton and Harold way.

Melvina, Nathan, and Nicole walking down Carlton Way.

One of the best things we've experienced in our walks are the places that easily go unnoticed driving by everyday. By slowing down enough to walk we discover so much of the charm and unique characteristics of the neighborhoods in Hollywood.

I hope you'll join us for our next one!

May 20 Community Walk

We went out last Tuesday starting from the corner of Hollywood and Normandie Ave. I'm over there with the sign. It's always interesting to travel from the little shops and busy feel of Hollywood Boulevard one block north to Franklin avenue.


Cecilia was nice enough to help us take pictures. She is a writer in town and has a degree in Archeology. Cecilia was able to spend a year in Egypt as a student missionary and knows many cool things about the country.
This was the look she gave me after I threw a camera at her that she had never used before. =)





From Franklin we went south past the Los Feliz Elementary School on N. Commonwealth back down to Hollywood Blvd. Los Feliz Elementary is a K-4 public school with about 500 students and 32 teachers. I've heard that the sense of community within the school and the quality people who teach here make it a great place to send your kids for their first years of education.



Nancy, who works as a yoga instructor at the Golden Bridge Yoga Center in Hollywood, told us about Barnsdall Art Park as we walked by it. The park was donated to the city by Aline Barnsdall who wanted to secure a place in Hollywood that would be an active arts center. In the park is the famous Hollyhock House designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. There are still music and arts classes happening if you're interested!


Aaron, a professional musician, pointed out these 'love locks' on a piece of fence at the corner of New Hampshire and Hollywood. An urban version of two sweet hearts carving their names in a tree?






It's awesome to discover the people and places in our little Hollywood community. Until taking the time to slow down and walk together through the streets of our town I never felt like I really knew our neighborhood.

Please join us for our next walk happening on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. as we get to know these little bits of Hollywood and each other.