Westdale Connection

Westdale Avenue is one of Eagle Rock’s shorter streets, only about a quarter of a mile long according to Google Maps. The street is bisected by Eagle Rock Boulevard, cut into two distinctive sections.

Westdale Avenue as seen from Google Maps. Image credit: Google Maps

Two blocks east of Eagle Rock Boulevard, Westdale Avenue terminates by Occidental College where the street meets with Campus Road. Many residents in the area have probably traversed at least part of this section of the street between Eagle Rock Boulevard and Campus Road– perhaps to reach Oxy or to get onto or off of Eagle Rock Boulevard.

Westdale Avenue, “Not A Through Street”

The western portion is an unassuming a cul-de-sac, as signified by a “Not A Through Street” sign placed where the street intersects with Eagle Rock Boulevard, one block before the street terminates. Oddly, Westdale holds the distinction of being the only street in Eagle Rock that ends in a cul-de-sac one block immediately west of Eagle Rock Boulevard. Most streets that intersect with Eagle Rock Boulevard connect to Ellenwood Drive, if heading west. But what does this part of Westdale really look like? What is this unique cul-de-sac like in person, beyond what a Google Map street view tour can provide?

Immediately off of Eagle Rock Boulevard the street seems fairly typical– narrow sidewalks, single family homes and a small apartment are visible. As one approaches the end of the street, the sidewalks terminate, which is a little unusual for streets in the flat, non-hillside parts of Eagle Rock. The sidewalk probably ends though because technically beyond that point land is private property, according to ZIMAS (Zone Information and Map Access System).

End of the sidewalk

Continuing, one is suddenly in a parking lot and there ends the street rather unceremoniously.

End of Westdale Avenue

However, looking at this “Not Through” street, visible is a navigable walkway in the corner of the parking lot.

Center left, the asphalt continues along a narrow path

A look down the paved path

And at the end of the path is Ellenwood Drive!

Looking east on Ellenwood Drive, behind the car and the bush is the narrow path that connects to Westdale Avenue

Upon closer inspection, one can see a cut in the curb adjacent to the narrow path as though perhaps at one point Westdale Avenue was a through street or there was an alley connecting it to Ellenwood Drive.

A slant in the curb as though there was at one point car access through to Westdale Avenue

However, according to ZIMAS the path is informal. Unlike similar paths found along Delevan Drive or the Delrosa Walk, this walkway is not recognized as navigable– not a real street, alley, or walkway. A 1930 sanborn map of the area – the earliest map of the area I could find – also shows no navigable path. In the 1930 map the configuration back then is almost identical to today: Westdale Avenue ends at the same spot and the location of the path is on land recognized solely as private property.

Without further investigation, this narrow path remains a bit of a mystery. If the path really is private, why is access to the public not restricted? Who benefits from this path being here and why is it paved? If anyone knows anything about the path or the history of area more generally, feel free to chime in.

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Alleys Rock! From Colorado to Yosemite!

I find myself increasingly fascinated with the alleys of Eagle Rock. They are not so numerous but there are definitely enough of them for me to notice. Lately I have thought that if slightly reconfigured, some of Eagle Rock’s alleys can resemble Dutch bicycle streets. Dutch bicycle streets are narrow roads where cars and bikes share but cars are not allowed to pass cyclists and must go slow, partially because the conditions cannot accommodate speed. Sometimes there are diverters but most importantly the streets are often too slow and too narrow for a car to use it to bypass traffic. Bicycle streets are also frequently residential streets and perhaps more relatable to the Bicycle Boulevard concept pioneered in cities like Portland and Berkeley. If some of Eagle Rock’s alleys/parking lots were converted to Bicycle Streets I think cycling would be even more attractive in this town.

This being Eagle Rock, I spotted two friends while filming so you will hear me say ‘hey’ twice. Once to the banana-man and then again to a dark clad guy in the Super A parking lot. Throughout this day I also saw my ERHS counselor, a former classmate in his car, and was treated very kindly by the staff at Corner Pizzeria upon my first visit (I didn’t order anything, the friend I was with did). It is this kind of interaction I have while cycling or walking that can never be rivaled by car travel and leaves me confident that Eagle Rock remains a small town despite its spike in popularity.

In this video I mostly go through parking lots, but the feel is still very much like an alley. I also find myself thinking at times if we don’t stop the additions of surface parking lots, or amend parking requirements, perhaps parking can be planned so that a bike path is fit in. And if a street is completely lined with parking, it would be nice if there were  a safe, direct path for cyclists to take like in this video.

Any thoughts?

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Room For One More Park in Eagle Rock?

Eagle Rock truly is a great neighborhood to live in, but we already know that. Thinking of parks specifically, we have Eagle Rock Park and the physical Eagle Rock Trail Park anchoring our Northeast end, a couple of the neighborhood’s most recognizable icons. Then on Yosemite Drive we have the popular Yosemite Park and its pool which is so loved during the summer months. There’s even the Lanark Shelby Park by the Eagle Rock/Pasadena border, just east of Figueroa, that is home to a community garden. Not bad for our little town.

I like to think we have room to accommodate more parks in our neighborhood though. Today I have a location picked out very close to Yosemite Park but would be a welcomed addition nonetheless I do believe. So where exactly is this potential park exactly? Let’s have a map answer first.

Hopefully we all know where this is. The land in question is represented by the blue line between Lida Rosa and Fair Park.

I personally have memories of going behind a friend’s home on Highland View and cutting through this alley to get to an other friend’s house on Fair Park. A really convenient connection to avoid going down to Yosemite, then up Rosemary Drive then left on Fair Park which seemed a lot longer by comparison during elementary years. Anyway…

This space which runs along the sides of homes is fenced off at two points, one at Linda Rosa, and the other where this little alley ends on Fair Park Ave. The result is a strip of dirt that goes unused 99% of the time. Seems like a terrible waste. According to my conservative math calculation guided by google maps measuring distance, there is over 3,000 square feet of wasted space.

Here are closer pictures from the Linda Rosa end

Thank you google maps streetview.

I can imagine this area may have been fenced off as it was rendered useless and possibly inviting danger with its remote location. Both are sound reasons, and fencing the area off may be logical thing to do. Now assuming we didn’t spend millions of dollars expanding freeways or waste money repaving streets that don’t need repaving in the first place (call me crazy, but I think Norwalk Ave between Eagle Rock Boulevard and Addison Ave was smoother before it was repaved recently) I think this would be a great location to invest in a mini park for the surroundings neighbors. Even if the park was gated off by 8, it could be a nice place for nearby kids to kick a ball around, letting out excess energy while dinner is being prepared. On lazy Sundays it could be a place to sit and enjoy the sun in this open space, or cool off under the trees that provide shade to parts of this alley. How about a neighborhood game of freeze tag or dodge ball? Weekly pot luck? While this is a relatively small space in a narrow linear shape, the potentials for this space to bring neighbors closer together, rather than divide, are huge!

Has anyone else had interaction with this alley? Am I alone in this fascination of what could be?

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Alleys Rock! Blast From the Past 80′s Style

There’s a bit of an 80′s invasion in today’s installment of ‘Alleys Rock!’ but perhaps I have already said too much, too early, let’s zoom out…

View of the alley from Glacier Drive. The left corner is where a more popular alley is.

Today’s alley is nestled between Glacier Drive, Oak Grove Drive, and Ruth Avenue. It’s one of the shorter alleys, only spanning about 145 feet. Obscuring it, and likely making it more neglected than most alleys is not only the short length, but also its location: adjacent to a ‘Not a Through Street’ (better known as NATS!) part of Ruth Avenue and a curved section of Glacier Drive, and parallel to Yosemite Drive. This alley is even eclipsed by a neighboring alley which is far more visible!

During my cross country days at Eagle Rock High School, I became aware of this alley when some of our long training runs would pass the area. I also noticed the alley when my friends and I turned practice into leisure walks, giving my eyes time to process the whole area with more detail. Outside of cross country and track practice there was no reason for me to notice this alley.  I only recently found the joys found in walking around our town, discovering and appreciating little details along the way.

I don’t know why I have such low expectations, but I didn’t think there would be anything interesting about this alley– I was wrong.

The first obvious observation of this alley is that there is a fair bit of vines growing, especially along the South side, but random vines are not exactly an unusual sight in Eagle Rock. On the North side, however, there’s a specific type of vine which we are less accustomed to seeing around The Rock– grape vines!

The grape vines taking over the metal barrier. Visible on the left is the former red of the barrier and an "AVES" tagging.

I saw a bunch of grapes hanging, wondered how long they had been growing there. For the sake of exploration and my readers’ interest, I tried one. Thankfully, but perhaps with little surprise, the grape was fine. It didn’t taste different from any other white grape I have had but I decided not to try anymore.

Low hanging fruit

The grapes are growing on a metal barrier which appears to be protecting the home below from any reckless driver who may accidental go head-on towards the house rather than any of the two neighboring alleys. The barrier was at some point painted red but now exists in white with a tag from The Avenues.

After eating the grape I walked along and discovered there is actually a garage here too.

The garage does not appear to be used frequently and is in poor condition, with another Avenues tag.

Beside the garage, underneath all the vines, I spotted arroyo stone wall. This discovery called to mind a thought I get frequently when exploring alleys: How did this alley come to be? Was this alley ever popular? Has the appearance changed much? And for this alley in particular, what did it look like before the vines took over?

After seeing all that is in my regular line of vision, I looked down at the ground. Some alleys are nothing but dangerous cracks though this one remains in good condition. Along the North side of the alley, I see some scribbles in the cement. Taking a closer look, it becomes clear that someone took the opportunity to become part of urban streetscape history. Somebody wrote a year in the cement. Perhaps this was done when the concrete block wall was put up to protect the privacy of the adjacent homes. Then I noticed there are actually quite a few signatures and years in the cement, all from the 80′s!

"1982"

"III 5-82"

"4-15-83 TONY JR"

 

"LUPI Y TONY 6-8-83"

"3-15-86"

Look at the alley from Ruth Avenue

I don’t think I have ever seen a car go through this alley but somehow I suspect it may still be used by people who park at the end of Ruth Avenue. Now I won’t advocate playing in this alley at night, but it seems like kids can have fun playing catch, soccer, hop scotch, and riding scooter, bikes, or roller skates  in this alley in conjunction with the cul-de-sac of Ruth Avenue in the mornings and throughout the day. Am I the only one who wants to see more kids playing on the streets rather than indoors? Eagle Rock is privileged with three parks, and there are plenty properties with nice yards, but the streets are available to all of us and as long as Eagle Rock is primarily residential, there’s no reason why most of the streets shouldn’t have slow traffic with kiddies playing about.

Reason #4 to walk Eagle Rock: Travel to the past, and have a grape contemplating the history of what goes on in some of Eagle Rock’s secret alleys.

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Alleys Rock!

Alleys are typically stereotyped as dangerous due to their lack of visibility and traffic. Until I started getting an itch to explore every single corner of Eagle Rock, I was unaware of how many alleys we actually have. There are a couple bloggers who sparked my interest in alleys with their fondness of these often lonesome paths so here is my take in a segment I have named “Alleys Rock!” In this segment I want to reverse the common perspective that alleys are either dangerous or useless. They are quite fun to explore and while an alley may be bare at first glance, it might have something to show upon closer inspection.

View Larger Map

This section of alley has the 200m mark/ shot put ring of the Eagle Rock High School track on one side. On the other is Vincent Ave/Yosemite Dr. Most days this dead end part of the alley is used to park cars. Sometimes I have seen skaters practicing tricks there and during track season it is free  up close viewing of the shot putting.

On a recent walk I was impressed by one family’s use of this free space. They set up a waterslide for the kids to enjoy. Few residents can boast being able to host a slide of this scale whether it be due to landscaping of property, living on a hill, lawn is slanted, or there just isn’t space. Having an alley for a backyard this gives the surrounding residents a blank canvas to use any way they want. This picture cuts out part of the slide, but from what I remember it ran on for about five more feet. The cars and the house on the left are good indicators of how massive this slide was. It’s great that kids get to play in that space, I almost always like seeing space be repurposed in this way.

weeeeeee!!!!

More posts to come so keep checking in and feedback is always welcomed.

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