LAFD Red Tagged Red Car Property

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 16, 2009. LAFD red tagged the Red Car Property on August 6. Brush on the slopes has still not been cleared. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Red Car Property: Elusive Hawks

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 28, 2009. Hawk on Red Car Property near Adelbert.

There have been many reports of hawks in the neighborhood this summer, and not just the usual Red Tail Hawk sightings. Neighbors have been frustrated in their efforts to get good photos of this year's hawks. (Thus, the poor quality photos we're posting here will have to suffice for now.)

On several occasions a young Red Shouldered Hawk has been seen circling above the Viaduct Footings and flying between the trees on the Adelbert end of the Red Car Property. If you have home on Lake View above Adelbert, there may be a nest in the trees up there.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 30, 2009. Small hawk on Red Car Property at Rose Scharlin Preschool.

Since the end of May, several neighbors reported seeing a hawk slowly flying as low as 6 feet above the ground between India and Red Car Canyon, just south of Rose Scharlin Preschool. Unfortunately, the above photo is the only one we've gotten so far.

It looks like a gigantic Kestrel. Yet it's still a smaller hawk with golden feathers on it's chest; blue gray feathers on its back; large vertical black stripes on its tail and very long legs. It may be a Cooper's Hawk or a Sharp Shinned Hawk. Both are bird-eating raptors who like wooded areas. According to a neighbor who is also a LA Zookeeper, Cooper's Hawks are known to hang out in the canyon area. There are lots of Mourning Doves (prey) in Red Car Canyon.

Two neighbors report seeing the hawk literally fly past their heads (in several different incidents) at the top of the Corralitas Public Staircase. It's also been seen flying between the trees in the canyon area between Silver Ridge and Corralitas. The mockingbirds often chase it between the trees.

On August 3rd, a Riverside Place neighbor wrote, "I keep seeing your bird (I think) it's a smaller sized bird of prey. Very pretty, it's very elusive though. I run in for the camera and it's gone. Saturday I saw it take a dove and was sitting on a power line with it only about 20' away in full view!"

UPDATE: Will Campbell has a fantastic photo of a Cooper's Hawk, with prey, on his blog from just a few weeks ago shot in his Silver Lake neighborhood south of Sunset.

If you have neighborhood hawk or wildlife photos, send them to us: redcarproperty@gmail.com. Do not attempt to feed or touch wildlife.

Northeast LAPD Senior Lead Officer Summit Tonight

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 23, 2009. Guard dog on the Red Car Property at India Street. Always spay or neuter your pets. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Meet your LAPD Senior Lead Officers (SLO), Commanding Officers, as well as reps from area City Council Districts, Dept. of Transportation, Rec. & Parks, Building & Safety and Animal Control.

Northeast LAPD Senior Lead Officer Summit
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
6:30 PM
Dodger Stadium, Stadium Club
Parking Lot L

http://www.lapdonline.org/

Littlefoot Prowls Red Car Property

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 30, 2009, 8:08 AM. Fresh 3 inch long footprints just north of India St. entrance to the Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The Pacific Northwest has Bigfoot. The Corralitas Red Car Property has Littlefoot. The prints are possibly skunk, raccoon or opossum. Or, perhaps it's a small mutant hominid covered in fur: Littlefoot.

Littlefoot lurks in the shadows of the Red Car Property, venturing out at night and the early morning hours, foraging in bushes and around trashcans. A few minutes later, all evidence of Littlefoot was obliterated by the next truck driving onto the property. Littlefoot prints should not be confused with domestic dog footprints, below.

UPDATE July 10, 2009: A Red Car Property neighbor who also is a LA Zoo keeper thinks Littlefoot is a raccoon.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 30, 2009. Dog footprint near India St. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 30, 2009. Bird footprints near India St. Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Crap The City Left Behind

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 25, 2009. The City did brush clearance on the Red Car Property and left big stuff behind near India St. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

1940: Riverside & Allesandro

Photo: Los Angeles City Planning, 1940, California Historical Society via USC Digital Library. Future site of the 2 & 5 Freeways in Silver Lake, Echo Park and Elysian Valley. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

How different the neighborhood looks without the freeways. The hillside in the foreground is the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract. The open area below the Landacre Cabin is the recently subdivided lots. The swath of trees between Allesandro and Corralitas Drive is now the 2 Freeway. It appears Rosebud was moved a few hundred feet closer to the Corralitas Public Staircase when the 2 Freeway was built.

Interestingly, there's a small street that forks to the left off Allesandro, before reaching Riverside Drive. I had never seen this street in earlier photos or maps. It was taken for the 2 Freeway.

Note in the upper left corner, the Red Car Trolley tracks are on a considerably higher grade above the adjacent homes on India, below. Today the grade change is more gradual from India to the Red Car Property. Significant amounts of earth were removed from the Red Car Property to grade for the adjacent freeways.

The 5 Freeway runs approximately where the street names were placed on the photo above, in Elysian Valley (the neighborhood between Riverside Drive and the LA River). In 1940, it appears there were more residential properties at the streets ends, at the LA River. Today, almost all the street ends in Elysian Valley have big industrial properties.

According to Jim Lawrence, who lived on Riverside Place for 80 years, many homes in the neighborhood around Allesandro Elementary School were moved from Elysian Valley prior to freeway construction.

Next week, CalTrans will reveal plans for the 2 Freeway Terminus Redesign at two community meetings and a public hearing.

Opuntia Blooming Near India St.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 13, 2009. Bees have been busy with the large Opuntia cactus near India St. on the Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Opuntia is a good fire resistant plant. It stores water in its large pads, so it does not burn easily. The blobs of white stuff are cochineal or scale insects. When crushed, they emit a redish-purple liquid. Indians used to make a dye from them.

City Planning Revising "Hillside Area" Definition: Community Meeting May 13

Photo: Diane Edwardson August 6, 2008. City Planning wants to remove Allesandro Elementary School from the "Hillside Area." (Click on photo to enlarge.)

City Planning is making code amendments affecting Hillside Neighborhoods with minimal public outreach and review. It is removing certain areas from the Hillside Area to enable parts of the Hillside Mansionization Ordinance. However, the lots removed from the Hillside Area appear to be carved with a scalpel at the behest of developers' and LAUSD lobbyists.

Why should you care about City Planning esoterica?
It might affect your views and increase density in your neighborhood.

In the Red Car Property Neighborhood, City Planning wants to remove Allesandro Elementary School from the Hillside Area. City Planning argues the school property is a big flat site, fronting on Riverside Drive. Ivanhoe Elementary is also on a flat lot, but Ivanhoe is not being removed from the Hillside Area.

Allesandro Elementary is bordered on 3 sides by substandard Hillside Streets. Glen Eden is the only access road to this very dense neighborhood (with lot sizes as small as 800 sq ft). Many of the neighborhood streets are subject to Red Flag No Parking Days. The entire neighborhood between the Red Car Property and Allesandro Elementary already feels the burden of parents commandeering the neighborhood streets, while dropping off and picking up their kids. If you live on India, Riverside Place, Riverside Terrace, and Silver Lake Ave., you should be concerned.

If you live on parts of Lake View Ave. overlooking Allesandro Elementary, you should be concerned too. Your views could be affected.

LAUSD recently submitted plans to build housing on site of a Glassell Park school. Removing Allesandro Elementary from Hillside would make it easier for LAUSD to gain extra units, build taller and reduce parking for any new residential construction.

Removing the Hillside designation would also raise the threshold for number of units triggering a site plan review by the public, further reducing pubic input on development proposals.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2004. Glendale Blvd., as seen from Waverly, is slated for removal from designated Hillside Area. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Residents of Lake View Ave. and Silver Ridge Ave. who have a view of Silver Lake Reservoir should be concerned. Parts of Glendale Blvd roughly between Silver Lake Blvd and Fletcher are slated for removal from Hillside designation. Again, increased density, increased building height, reduced parking and loss of views are potential impacts on the neighborhood.

In response to Eastside community activists outcry over the lack of public outreach by City Planning, City Councilmember Eric Garcetti's staff (CD13) requested City Planning hold an community meeting on this side of town, at a reasonable time for the public to attend.

Hillside Code Amendments Follow-up Meeting

Wednesday, May 13, 2009
6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Glassell Park Community/Senior Center/CD13 Field Office
(In the Public Storage Building)
3750 Verdugo Road.
Glassell Park

Directions from the Red Car Property Neighborhood: Take the 2 Freeway North to Verdugo Rd. exit - go straight off the exit, into the Public Storage Parking Lot - parking in rear. Do not attempt to drive around the block.

City Planning has been quietly revising all manner of codes with minimal public review. See "Jane Usher Slams Gail Goldberg," by Steven Leigh Morris, in the April 29, LA Weekly.

Silver Lake Neighborhood Council's Urban Design & Preservation Advisory Committee (SLNC UD&PAC) will be attending this meeting, rather than their regularly scheduled committee meeting.

It Always Rains in February

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 2005. Many trees fell in Red Car Canyon during the record rains of 2005. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

In February 2005, neighbors anxiously watched nearby slopes and eucalyptus trees as record rainfall soaked Los Angeles. Trees went down all over the Red Car Property. Saturated slopes slid at both the Corralitas and Adelbert ends of the property. The Adelbert slide undermined the street. Red Car Canyon between Lake View and Corralitas (photo above) was often impassable due to downed trees and standing water.

There was so much water on the Red Car Property that year, a stream ran from the canyon to Corralitas Drive as well as the opposite direction, to India St. It fooled the Great Blue Heron, whose daily morning flight path crossed the Red Car Property on route from the LA River to Silver Lake Reservoir. The heron changed his flight path to follow the Red Car Property stream, just in case there was something worth fishing out of the stream.

"Lot C" Resembles a Used Car Lot

Photo: Diane Edwardson, January 14, 2009. Red Car Property north of India St. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

"Lot C" of the Red Car Property has always been a problem. In photos as far back as 1904, it's been crumbling into the dirt road below. People who live on Riverside Drive don't want to park their cars on Riverside, so they park on the Red Car Property. Who knows how many vehicles are just abandoned. Like the drilling rig, some have not moved in many, many years.

Neighbor Continues Abusing Red Car Property

Photo: Diane Edwardson, January 14, 2009. Red Car Property north of India St.
(Click on photo to enlarge.)

For as long as most residents remember, the Red Car Property north of India has looked like a used truck lot for CalTrans. A neighboring property owner uses the Red Car Property to park his trucks, without the Red Car Property owner's permission. He even uses a backhoe to carve out eroding dirt from the hillside, so he can have more room to park his ever-expanding fleet. In August 2008, a neighbor sent photos of the excavation. Clearly, from the photo below, the excavation continues.


Photo: Diane Edwardson, January 14, 2009. Red Car Property north of India St.
(Click on photo to enlarge.)

Hunting Interrupted

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2009. "Puncher" on Red Car Property at India St.
(Click on photo to enlarge.)

Puncher is a semi-feral cat who calls the Red Car Property home. One neighbor named him Puncher because of the way he bats at hands when people try to pet him. Another neighbor writes, "He's very smart. When the coyote chased him, I opened the door and the coyote fled. Puncher went up on the hill, of course being white, he really stands out. I drove my car along the road to make sure the coyotes went far enough so Puncher could get to safety. When I drove back, Puncher walked along side my car for safety."

1922: Allesandro Elementary School from Corralitas Drive

Unknown photographer, 1922 Hunter Terrace real estate brochure.
(Click on photo to enlarge.)



Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2008. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Of course, the 1922 brochure does not mention the 800 sq ft lots that were closest to the Red Car tracks, which were typical of neighborhoods immediately surrounding the trolley lines throughout Los Angeles. The lots closest to the tracks were small and more affordable. As you moved away from the tracks, the lots and homes got larger.

Most of the neighborhoods closest to the Red Car tracks were destroyed for freeway construction. Stroll down Riverside Place for a walk through the past. Many of the original 500 sq. ft. homes on 800 sq. ft. lots still survive.

Silver Lake Ave. Public Staircase

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 8, 2008. Silver Lake Ave. staircase between the Red Car Property and Lake View Ave. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The Silver Lake Ave. public staircase is one of the most popular in the neighborhood. Originally built to serve the India St. Stop of the Pacific Electric Red Car Trolley, the staircase also links the community together. It provides pedestrian access between Silver Ridge Ave, Lake View Ave. and Allesandro Elementary School. The staircase also serves as a link in a vital recreational trail for the community.

As with the section of stairs just below the Red Car Property, neighbors planted the City owned right-of-way defensively and actively keep the staircase clean.

Fletcher Viaduct & 1938 LA River Flood

Photo: California Historical Society, LA City Planning, 1938. Aerial view of Fletcher Los Angeles River Bridge and the Pacific Electric Fletcher Red Car Viaduct. (Click on photo to enlarge with street annotations.)

In 1938, the Red Car Neighborhood in Silver Lake was largely undeveloped near the intersection of Fletcher and Riverside. In the photo above, a small tract of homes is under construction on India Street.

February 27 through March 3,1938 record rainfall caused flooding throughout Southern California that destroyed a railroad bridge at the confluence of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers near Elysian Park. Over 10 inches of rain fell in 5 days. The river had a natural bottom and had not yet been lined in concrete by the Army Core of Engineers. Studies to control flooding were under way since the catastrophic 1934 New Year's Day Flood, when it rained over 7 inches in 24 hours.

Learn more about Los Angeles River history on The River Project's website. See the City's vision for a revitalized Los Angeles River in their master plan.

Shifting Soils

Photo: 1904. Curve north of India St. Red Car trolley stop. (Click on photo to enlarge.)


Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 2003. Curve north of India St. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The slope north of India on the Red Car Property has always been a crumbly one. Enlarge the 1904 photo to see the pile of rocks to the right of the tracks. It is likely they were recently cleared from the tracks. Anyone who walks the property regularly can witness rocks tumbling down without warning.

It is the same slope a neighbor has been digging into with a backhoe, so he can park his large vehicles on the Red Car Property.

In 2003, the slope was included as an "open space lot" in a developer's proposal for 75 homes on the Red Car Property. The County assessor's maps identify the lot as "Lot C." Could it be "C" for crap?

Pine Tree Before the Fall

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 2002. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Considering the erosion beneath the pine tree that fell victim to last week's earthquake, it's remarkable the tree held on as long as it did.

Earthquake Victim?

Photo: August 5, 2008. Red Car Property north of India. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Monday, August 4, 2008, just south of of where a neighbor has been excavating the slope, a healthy 30-foot pine tree fell. It appears to be unrelated to the excavation. However, the loose soils may have liquefied in the July 29 earthquake, weakening the slope enough so that the roots could not support the weight of the tree a week later.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 6, 2008. Roots of the fallen pine tree from the above "paper street," Silver Lake Court. Below is the Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Neighbor Abuses The Red Car Property

Photo: August 3, 2008. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

At least one neighbor has abused the Red Car Property for years, parking large, formerly CalTrans equipment on the Red Car Property just north of India. Now he's undermining one of the most unstable, crumbly slopes on the property by using his mini-backhoe (photos below), just so he can have more room to park his large vehicles on the Red Car Property illegally.


Photo: August 3, 2008. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

While the cut into the slope does not seem like much in the photos, it is actually about eight feet tall. He's taken out at least three dump-truckloads of earth already. Several neighbors have reported the activity to Building & Safety as well as City Councilmember Eric Garcetti's (CD13) office. Building & Safety ordered him to stop digging into the slope over a month ago. As of last Sunday, he persists in earth removal. Today, CD13 confirmed a geo-technical engineer would investigate since, combined with the area's history and healthy tree falling down on Monday, slope stability is a genuine concern.


Photo: August 3, 2008. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Stolen Car Torched on the Red Car Property, Insurance Scam or July 3rd Ritual?

Photo: Diane Edwardson July 8, 2008. A car fire singed the Eucalyptus tree
with 20' high flames. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

July 3, 2008, around 2 A.M., a neighbor awoke to a loud explosion and fire on the Red Car Property between India and the Silver Lake Ave. staircase. A new white Mercedes was fully engulfed in flames. The neighbor immediately called 911 and the LAFD put out the fire before it could spread to other trees or homes. No homes or other private property were damaged. Thankfully, the brush clearance had been done a few months ago by Aztecs Fire Crew.

Perhaps it's just a 3rd of July ritual to torch a brand new car. The photo below from is last year.


Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 4, 2007. Brand new and stolen SUV torched on
July 3, 2007 under the 2 Freeway on Rosebud Ave.

In 18 years, I have never seen an such an incident the Red Car Property. Thieves usually torch stolen cars under the 2 Freeway on Rosebud Ave., where there are no homes nearby. Although, in the past few years, it does not happen too often. It comes in cycles. Our LAPD Senior Lead Officer, Al Polehonki suggests these are usually insurance scams. You can track reported crime in the neighborhood on crime maps on the LAPD website.

If you live adjacent to the Red Car Property and call 911 for fire or criminal activity, be aware that you may have to give directions to emergency services. While Fire Station 56 knows how to get there, they may not be the station responding to the call.