Posts Tagged ‘ westside ’

Westside COG Considers Biking Projects

December 13, 2011

In an effort to make traveling through the Westside easier, the transportation committee of the Westside Cities Council of Government (WSCCOG) met Monday to discuss ways to support bicycling in the area. The WSCCOG is a collaboration between the cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City, West Hollywood and Santa Monica as well as Westside portions of Los Angeles and unincorporated Los Angeles County. In attendance were the three elected officials on the committee: Councilmember Jeff Cooper of Culver City, Councilmember John Heilman of West Hollywood, and Beverly Hills Vice Mayor Dr. William Brien. The meeting also included WSCCOG Executive Director Maria Rychlicki, staff members from the member communities, a representative from the Federal Highway Administration and members of Angelenos Against Gridlock and Better Bike. Rychlicki said the WSCCOG unites the otherwise autonomous cities so they can take advantage of opportunities as a sub-region. Among the topics discussed Monday was closing the gaps in bike lanes created when they pass through multiple cities. An example given was a bike lane on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood that stops when it reaches Beverly Hills and resumes in Los Angeles. “The cyclist gets on the road and suddenly the bicycle lane drops off the planet,” Rychlicki said. The committee is working on identifying five bike routes to improve based on project feasibility, safety and connecting as many member communities as possible. In addition to closing the gaps between cities, the committee will recommend signage to help riders find the bike lanes. Possible areas to improve include the bike lane on Santa Monica Boulevard and a north-south route into Culver City, perhaps on Beverly Drive. The committee is also studying a bike-sharing program based on those used in Washington, D.C., and Paris, where participants check out bikes to use in different parts of the city in an effort to close the so-called “last mile” between public transportation and user destinations. The committee discussed the best ways to implement such a program in the Westside. “It’s essential that, in whatever program we develop, somebody can get a bike in West Hollywood, ride to Santa Monica, drop it off there and then, if they wanted, get a bike in Culver City and ride back to West Hollywood,” West Hollywood Councilmember Heilman said. The committee will discuss these plans further at its next meeting, which Rychlicki said may be scheduled before Christmas. The committee’s recommendations will be brought to the entire COG board in January for a vote on whether to adopt them as formal recommendations for the member communities. See the original post here: Westside COG Considers Biking Projects

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EaterWire : Beachwood Cafe Replaces Village Coffee Shop, Haven Gastropub Adds a Brewery and Opens Dec 15, MORE!

December 2, 2011
EaterWire : Beachwood Cafe Replaces Village Coffee Shop,  Haven Gastropub Adds a Brewery and Opens Dec 15, MORE!

HOLLYWOOD— Hollywood Patch reports that Patti Peck of Edendale Grill and Millie’s Cafe will open Beachwood Cafe in the former Village Coffee Shop space on March 1 . Expect the very specific “healthy food made from scratch.” [Hollywood Patch] PASADENA— The Orange County export , Haven Gastropub, brews bubbles in Old Town starting December 15 . While this is the second location for Haven, it’s the first to delve into on-site brewing, so the name here is actually Haven Gastropub + Brewery . Think gastropubby plates, 100 beers in bottle, 52 craft beer taps, four cask ales, and eight wines by keg. [EaterWire] HOLLYWOOD— As of today and through the month of December, Public in the Roosevelt hotel offers a Champagne and oyster menu . [EaterWire] ECHO PARK— Mohawk Bend has expanded its hours of operation. The restaurant and bar now starts serving at noon Mon-Fri and at 9:30AM on Sat and Sun for brunch. [EaterWire] AROUND TOWN— Happy holidays from Subway . Snag a Meatball Marinara or Cold Cut Combo sandwich for $2 through December. [ NRN ] Read this article: EaterWire : Beachwood Cafe Replaces Village Coffee Shop, Haven Gastropub Adds a Brewery and Opens Dec 15, MORE!

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Extra, Extra: Courtney Love Counsels LiLo, Photos from City Hall & Tar Pit Pollution

December 2, 2011
Extra, Extra: Courtney Love Counsels LiLo, Photos from City Hall & Tar Pit Pollution

In tonight’s Extra, Extra, Amy Winehouse’s dress brings in a lot of dough, the City Hall lawn is not ready for its close-up and Cedars-Sinai stops offering most psychiatric services. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook , and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports . more › Read the original post: Extra, Extra: Courtney Love Counsels LiLo, Photos from City Hall & Tar Pit Pollution

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Man Arrested After Threatening Suicide In Standoff At West LA Apartment Complex

December 2, 2011

A 60-year-old man who threatened to kill himself in an upscale Westside apartment complex was taken into custody following a hours-long standoff with police on Tuesday. Original post: Man Arrested After Threatening Suicide In Standoff At West LA Apartment Complex

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A step-by-step guide to the Westside of Los Angeles

November 16, 2011

You’re an outsider heading to the Westside of Los Angeles – not the beach cities, but Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Westwood and the nearby well-heeled neighborhoods south of the Santa Monica Mountains. See more here: A step-by-step guide to the Westside of Los Angeles

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Century City

October 31, 2011
Century City

Century City is a 176-acre (712,000-m 2 ) commercial and residential district on the Westside of the City of Los Angeles . It is bounded by Westwood on the west, Rancho Park on the southwest, Cheviot Hills and Beverlywood on the southeast, and the city of Beverly Hills on the northeast. Its major thoroughfares are Santa Monica , Olympic , and Pico Boulevards (its northern boundary, central artery, and southern boundary, respectively), as well as Avenue of the Stars and Century Park East and West. Century City is an important business center, and many law firms and executives — particularly those with ties to the film, television, and music industries — have offices there. —   Neighborhood of Los Angeles — Century City skyline from Santa Monica Boulevard Century City Location within Western Los Angeles Coordinates: 34°03′20″N 118°25′01″W / 34.05556°N 118.41694°W / 34.05556; -118.41694 Country United States State California County Los Angeles City Los Angeles Time zone PST ( UTC-8 ) PDT ( UTC-7 ) Skyscrapers and other important landmarks The high-rise buildings along Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood appear to blend in with those of Century City when seen at a distance, although they are separated by over three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km). Its gleaming high-rises stand in stark contrast to the small apartment buildings and single-family detached homes in the lower-density neighborhoods surrounding it, and were some of the first skyscrapers built in Los Angeles after the lifting of earthquake-related height restrictions in the early 1960s. For many years, it was home to the ABC Entertainment Center, which housed network operations for the ABC Television Network and the Shubert Theater, which hosted many famous Broadway musicals, such as Beauty and the Beast , Les Misérables , Cats , Annie , and Mamma Mia! . The Shubert was demolished in 2002 and became replaced by a modern glass building that houses the headquarters Creative Artists Agency affectionately known as the Death Star , which is part of the complex called Century Park . Some of the most recognized buildings in Century City include: The Century Towers Century Plaza Towers , commonly referred to as the “Twin Towers”. Fox Plaza , 20th Century Fox headquarters most well-known for being Nakatomi Plaza in the movie Die Hard . Constellation Place , (or the MGM Tower ) headquarters of the historic Hollywood studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . Watt Plaza SunAmerica Center Century Plaza Hotel Century City News Aerial view of the Century City neighborhood; Fox Studios still occupies the lower left quadrant Century City Skyline as seen from Runyon Canyon Park . Feb. 19th, 2006 View of the Century City skyline from the Getty Center . Downtown Los Angeles ( Bunker Hill district) can faintly be seen to the east of Century City. Taken December 22, 2004. The Century Plaza Towers The Fox Plaza At the southern end of Century City, Fox Plaza towers over the nearby neighborhoods. History Once a backlot of 20th Century Fox , which still has its headquarters just to the southwest, the Fox studio commissioned a master-plan development from Welton Becket Associates, which was unveiled at a major press event on the “western” backlot in 1957 . In 1961, after Fox suffered a string of expensive flops, culminating in the box-office disaster Cleopatra , the film studio sold about 180 acres (0.73 km 2 ) to developer William Zeckendorf and Aluminum Co. of America, also known as Alcoa . The new owners conceived Century City as “a city within a city.” [1] In 1963 , the first building, Century City Gateway West, was complete, followed the next year by Minoru Yamasaki ‘s Century Plaza Hotel . It originally was planned to be served by the Beverly Hills Freeway (Santa Monica Boulevard to the north) and a rapid transit corridor. However, neither of these transportation improvements came to pass, and so Century City is a source of traffic irritation for the residents of Cheviot Hills to the south, since there is no direct freeway access to the center. It is likely that any westward extension of the Los Angeles MTA ‘s Metro Purple Line subway will include a stop at Century City. Much of the shopping center’s architecture and style is shown off in numerous sequences in the 1967 Fox film, A Guide for the Married Man , and can also be seen in a sequence in another Fox film of the same year, Caprice . The way the plaza looked in 1972 can be viewed in several scenes of still another Fox film, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes . Demographics In 2009, the Los Angeles Times ‘ s “Mapping L.A.” project supplied these Century City statistics: population: 5,513; median household income: $95,135. [2] Economy Northrop Grumman is headquartered in Century City, [3] [4] [5] but on January 4, 2010 announced plans to move to the Washington Metropolitan Area by 2011. [6] Companies with headquarters in Century City include Univision [7] [8] , Crystal Cruises [9] [10] , Creative Artists Agency , Moelis & Co , Canyon Capital Advisors , Ares Management , Imperial Capital, LLC , International Lease Finance Corporation and Korn/Ferry and Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP . [ citation needed ] Government and infrastructure The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services SPA 5 West Area Health Office serves Century City. [11] Emergency services Fire service Los Angeles Fire Department Station 92 is the assigned fire station for the district. [12] Police service Los Angeles Police Department operates the West Los Angeles Community Police Station at 1663 Butler Avenue, 90025, serving the neighborhood. [13] Education The neighborhood is within the Los Angeles Unified School District . [14] Public schools serving it are Westwood Charter Elementary School , Ralph Waldo Emerson Middle School and Webster Middle School. Before fall 2007, students in grades 9 through 12 were assigned to Hamilton High School , but, in that term, LAUSD reassigned Century City’s 9th graders to University High School , and grades 10 through 12 were to be phased into the University High attendance area. [15]

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Dr. Glenn Vallecillos Now Offers Gynecomastia

October 24, 2011

Gynecomastia is a condition faced by young and old men where their breasts seem enlarged. See the original post here: Dr. Glenn Vallecillos Now Offers Gynecomastia

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Metro Experts Support Constellation Boulevard Station

October 20, 2011

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority released a report Wednesday on the Westside Subway Extension’s seismic and safety issues that favors a Constellation Boulevard location for the Century City stop. Metro states that scientists have recommended the Constellation Boulevard route in order to avoid two earthquake faults in the area. The experts, who include seismologists, geologists and engineers, said that tunneling can be done safely under Beverly Hills High School . Fieldwork and research also failed to detect any active or inactive oil wells on the high school campus that would be in the path of potential subway tunnels. However, no decision about the final placement of the subway route has been made.  The Westside Subway Extension would travel through Beverly Hills to proposed stops at Wilshire/La Cienega and Wilshire/Rodeo, then onward to one of two proposed stops in Century City: Constellation Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars, which would require tunneling under BHHS , or one at Santa Monica Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars, the location that scientists are advising Metro not to use due to the presence of the Santa Monica Fault.  Mayor Barry Brucker and Vice Mayor William Brien proposed a third option—for Metro to build a Century City stop at Santa Monica Boulevard and Century Park East—with the added incentive that Beverly Hills could be the location for two park-and-ride facilities to get commuters to and from the station. Experts hired by Metro, however, have reported that the Century Park East site is within the West Beverly Hills Lineament fault zone, an extension of the Newport-Inglewood Fault.  In an email released by Metro, experts reportedly told the Metro Board of Directors Planning Committee that tunneling under BHHS as part of the Constellation Boulevard route “would not compromise the structural integrity of existing structures, interfere with future building plans or create perceptible noise or vibrations on school grounds.”  To read the report in its entirety, click here . “Metro’s seismic findings are, of course, a disappointment to me, the City Council and the entire community,” Brucker said in a statement.  The city has hired two engineering firms, Exponent Inc. and Shannon & Wilson, to conduct separate, independent analyses of Metro’s seismic findings.    “The independent analysis by our consultants is an important step toward determining the appropriate response for Beverly Hills as we move forward,” Brucker said. “The citizens of Beverly Hills deserve a fair and impartial independent analysis.”  The council has formally requested a 90-day delay between when the final Environmental Impact Statement/Report is released and when Metro meets to consider the tunnel route between Beverly Hills and Century City. “We need at least 90 days to properly evaluate the scientific and seismic data before any final decision is made,” Brucker said.  The seismic and safety reports released Wednesday will be used by Metro staff to develop a recommendation on the Westside Subway Extension’s EIS/EIR, which is scheduled to be released this winter. The final decision on the subway’s route is made by the Metro Board of Directors and expected in early 2012. Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education President Lisa Korbatov released a statement in response to Metro’s report.  “Metro has opened a veritable Pandora’s box that potentially impacts many dozens of existing buildings and future projects in the region, including Beverly Hills High School, future station locations for the Westside Subway Extension as well as currently entitled development projects,” she wrote. “Our independent experts will immediately begin evaluating the findings and will weigh in as this process moves forward.”  Should the Constellation Boulevard route receive approval, two tunnels would be built 55-70 feet below the BHHS campus. The tunnels would pass under the  administration building  and then go beneath the high school’s tennis courts, the southern wing of Building B and the lacrosse fields. Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on  Twitter  and “Like” us on  Facebook . See the original post: Metro Experts Support Constellation Boulevard Station

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Robert Downey Jr. Honored With American Cinematheque Award

October 16, 2011

Jennifer Aniston, Mel Gibson, Jamie Foxx and Jodie Foster were on hand to fete “The Avengers” and ” Sherlock Holmes ” star Friday night in Beverly Hills. Read the original here: Robert Downey Jr. Honored With American Cinematheque Award

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A guide to the Westside of Los Angeles

October 11, 2011

You’re an outsider heading to the Westside of Los Angeles — not the beach cities, but Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Westwood and the nearby well-heeled neighborhoods south of the Santa Monica Mountains. Continue reading here: A guide to the Westside of Los Angeles

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Raw Police Video