Yes, that just happened. Eagle…Rock…Brewery. I don’t think I’d be this excited if the Farmer’s Market, inside an Amoeba Records, inside a new Getty villa was opening on the salted-dirt lot where Marty’s once stood. Inconspicuously tucked into a Times article on the growing craftsman beer trend in Los Angeles was mention of Eagle Rock father and son duo Jeremy and Steve Raub who plan on commercializing their award-winning homebrew operation in a warehouse off San Fernando Rd. I’m so excited I’ll even forgive them for not naming their business Glassell Park Brewery. They’re planning to focus on a pretty broad spectrum of beers from the English, Belgian, and German traditions, and visitors will be able to enjoy samples in their tasting room along with light snacks. The opening is set for December, but they still need an alcohol license, which can be a long process. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more, but for now, consider us cemented in the corner of Eagle Rock Brewery.
Eagle Rock Brewery
3056 Roswell St.
Los Angeles, CA 90065
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After bottling our first attempt at homebrew, the YorkBlvd duo had a bit of time to kill so we fell on our civic swords and attended Thursday’s Townhall meeting hoping for word on the proposed Highland Park Transit Village. I wouldn’t dream of dragging any of you through the tedium that is essentially a political tapdance but here were the highlights:
1. Las Cazuelas catered the event with free tortas and pupusas. This unfortunately was the peak of the action.
2. There will be a community garden in the vacant lot behind the Highland Theater.
3. Hayes and Avenue 59 will be receiving a new roundabout. Councilman Reyes thinks this will achieve a slowdown in traffic (probably accurate) and an increase in spending in our neighborhood (dubious).
4. The empty building at 5601 N. Figueroa will become a community building within approximately 18 months. Councilman Reyes plans to open a field office there as well as other space for community activities.
5. Finally, in the biggest news of the night, a lot of concerns were assuaged regarding the proposed Highland Park Transit Village. First, all parking places will be replaced including enough to accommodate residents and the proposed extension of East Los Angeles City College. The aesthetics issue wasn’t really addressed but Reyes promised the current drawings are far from final. As for the low income housing, the cheapest units will rent out a $450/month (to those who qualify for low income housing). The funniest bit of pandering during the evening came with promises from the councilman that the units were intended to help lower density in Highland Park by giving preference to local residents instead of promoting an influx of renters/owners from other neighborhoods. This sounds nice but is about as plausible and legal as saying “don’t worry, we’re not renting to [insert ethnic group here]. There are plenty of reasons to support this development but lowering density isn’t one of them.
Crime was also a preeminent topic of the evening and Reyes and the LAPD talked up their recent successes in Glassell Park as well as a trend down in violent crime. Still, care to guess how many patrol cars are on duty at any given time for the 30 square miles and over 300,000 residents of the Northeast Division? 12. For those of you not good at math, that’s about one car per 25,000 residents. We may receive a few more once the LAPD completes it’s current hiring spree of 1,000 new officers but those are scary statistics. The reason we’re so under-policed? Money.
Quick note to Councilman Reyes: This is not the fault of other members of the council, the economy, or the LAPD. It’s your job to secure funding for your neighborhood. I don’t care who you’re caught in bed with or how many babies you kiss as long as you bring home the cash. Why do you think Duke Cunningham was and Ted Stevens is so popular in San Diego and Alaska? They are crooked slimeballs, but they’re their constituents’ crooked slimeballs.
Councilman Reyes will be on hand to do a Q&A with residents on “Highland Park Projects”, among which the proposed Highland Park Transit Village will have to feature prominently. The Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council recently responded to MB&S’s proposal rather cooly with this open letter. For better or worse, this project appears to be on the political fast track. MB&S seems to have a history of working with communities in their design of these types of projects but our opinions won’t count if they’re not expressed. See you all there.
6PM
Ebell Club
131 S. Ave 57
HP Townhall Flier
