Dear Irene,
I’m feeling down. I don’t recognize the Westside anymore and it is really starting to affect me. Businesses I have loved are closed or closing. I used to go to LeMarmiton on Montana and it’s gone. Many shops I loved are out of business. How can I stay hopeful when it’s gloom and doom everywhere?
Sad in Santa Monica
Dear Sad,
I loved LeMarmiton too. I had a friend who practically lived on that patio. I think most of us on the Westside feel your pain.
In the past, when landscapes changed, it was generally due to new construction. The type of change we are seeing now is more like a death, than a birth. As this recession/depression grinds on, more and more of us are affected and more businesses, that were able to hold on for awhile, are having to close.
I think we need to look down the road more long term in order to stay hopeful. One way to do this is to look back. For example, my house was built in l927. When the previous owner was under it, fixing something once, he found a small section of the paper dated l927. He didn’t pick it up but read a listing from the real estate section. It was a 5,000 square foot, five bedroom, 4 bath house in Monterey Park (huge house for the time) listed for $5,000. When he tried to pick up the paper it disintegrated.
By looking back perhaps we can look into the future with hope. Things will change, eventually, and times will be good again. It’s cyclical, up and down. I also think we have all learned a lot from this downturn and will carry these lessons with us from here on out.
Hang in there!
