Day 42: From Tree Section to Treeless Section

When we moved to Manhattan Beach in 1972, it was very different than it is today. There was a hamburger stand at the end of our street called Jill's (it was torn down and now there's a fancy lighting store on the site) and at the next intersection was Bill's Liquor. That's long gone; now there is a dance studio there.

Our house in 2013. The pine tree on the right has since been killed by pine beetles and the drought.

In downtown Manhattan Beach there was an independent movie theater (the La Mar) and Jo's Candy Cottage. Now we have overpriced chocolaterias and creameries. In the Tree Section there were few sidewalks and lots of trees. Dogs would run about unleashed. When people moved, they usually moved to another house in Manhattan Beach. I doubt that ever happens any more; just about any house that goes on the market is purchased by developers, who build the kind of monstrosity that only rich people seem to love. Fake Italian villas and multi-storeyed Tudor McMansions, using every inch of property space available. A few trees are protected by law but the rest of the foliage comes down.

Another shot from 2013

The house today - post drought

 You would think that out there you could find an eccentric billionaire who would appreciate an iconic mid century modern redwood home, but even if that's so, they surely would be outbid by the developers. The house next door was built by the same builders in the 50s as ours, but it has been so extensively remodeled and added to that you cannot tell. I guess that's not really a solution either.

 So sometime later this year, a green fence will go up and the trucks will come in...

This is our neighbors' house across the street, or it was. If you went to Mira Coasta High School you might remember Mr. Fred Eckert, the Ornamental Horticulture teacher. This was his house. As you might expect, he had a great garden. All that is left now is that solitary eucalyptus tree in front. Everything else was pulled or torn out, to the back of the lot.




And here's the view directly across the street from that site. Two original houses went down at once. On some blocks around here it's three or four!