Bad Developments: 20 - Just Like the Actress
by Nathan Walpow
Number three was my piss-mate in the alley. Sanchez, they called him. He still had the hat on, like El Pachuco’s in Zoot Suit, and it sat at a jaunty angle atop his smallish head. He grinned and said, “Sorry about back there,” but he only halfway meant it. {start at the beginning} {more from Nathan}
Masterplanning! Perris When It Sizzles
by Tony Chavira
“But you both work around the border between Los Angeles and Orange County,” I said. “Why would you choose to live in Perris, of all places? Don’t you drive a million miles to work every day?” Their answer was gratuitously predictable: buying property in Perris is cheap. {more from Tony}
Down on the District: Showing Metro’s True Colors
by Mike Plunkett
Timing the chimes between the pleasant androgynous voice stating “Doors closing” and the really pissed-off operator screaming “Customers, please use the 24 other doors and don’t crowd into just one!” is an art, and one that I am still trying to perfect. {more from Mike}
Oklahoma Dreaming: Freedom
by Donna Schoenkopf
It was time, according to Bob the Guinea Guy, to let the guineas out of their coop. And it certainly WAS time. The little darlings had begun to peck each other. Not a lot, but I saw one or two of them make moves on their coop-mates that were definitely not friendly. {more from Donna}
Lost in OC: Death and (Fire) Axes
by Jim Washburn
Caltrans is doing construction on the I-5, so every so often there’s a “bump” sign. And because the freeway’s pulsing with twin-trailer, open-topped trucks packed with tomatoes, immediately past each “bump” sign, there are hundreds of tomatoes lining the lanes in varying degrees of squishedness. {more from Jim}
I Am Pigeon Man (part 3)
by Pat Devine
I had a bad feeling that taking this problem from my apartment management to the city would be like getting to a new screen of Donkey Kong; the same game, just more barrels coming at me from more places. First thing Monday morning, though, I received an e-mail response, followed by a phone call.
Up From the Co-op: The Attack of the Flip Tax
by Robin Starr
My mother was a child of the Depression; I had heard stories from her about how her father, my grandfather, who passed on very young and who I never knew, would disappear for days leaving Brooklyn for such places as Pennsylvania in search of work.
Trip the Light Rail: The Green Line
by Tony Chavira
It doesn’t take a planning genius to see what the Green Line adds to the community around it. Technically the most expensive land bridge ever built in Los Angeles, the Century Freeway (105) was completed in 1993 and filled the desperate need for a transit corridor from Norwalk through South L.A. and past LAX. {more from Tony}
Dutch Tulips, The Boston Massacre, and Housing L.A.’s Poor
by David Deutsch
Economic bubbles (and their associated mass hysteria) are fascinating phenomena. They have manifested themselves in myriad ways throughout Western history, mostly leading to pretty bad consequences. But by looking at them from a different perspective, we might find clues to solving L.A.’s housing problems for the poor.
Video Interview: Tent City Redux
conducted by Jim Washburn
Homeless Go Home! That's pretty much the message in Ontario these days, where March 24 was the city-imposed moving day for hundreds of homeless persons living in ramshackle Tent City near Ontario Airport. Residents who couldn't provide proof of having lived in Ontario were asked to move on. {more video interviews}
Video Interview: Irvine Mayor Beth Krom
conducted by Jim Washburn
Irvine has more affordable housing units than most cities, so it came as a shock last year when the SoCal Association of Governments ordained that it must build 21,000 affordable units by 2014. Mayor Beth Krom is none too pleased about this, as you'll discover in this second of two parts of her FourStory interview. {more video interviews}
The Underbelly: The Final Installment
by Gary Phillips
The first chunk of The Underbelly was one of three stories we posted in FourStory's initial week. New pieces appeared like clockwork, every two weeks. Now Magrady's journey comes to an end—at least for the time being. Check out the exciting conclusion. (Came in late? You can find Installment 01 here and an index to all episodes here.)
At least an order of magnitude more news coverage.