 Ed Garren is a former Wehoan writing about the city through his now-distant point of view. Photo by Ryan Gierach. |
I recently had a productive conversation with my editor. One of his comments was that the only complaints he receives about WeHoNews relate to my no longer being a resident of West Hollywood, but at the same time, remain a frequent contributor to West Hollywood’s newspaper.
This seemed like a good time to directly take on that issue, so here goes.
I left West Hollywood for many reasons, most of which were against my will. With global warming, and the increasingly hotter, dryer and dusty weather, my sinus allergies were off the scale. The same warm, dry winter weather which many folks find pleasurable, is hell on earth for me, causing my sinuses to run like Niagra Falls. Medical personnel who witnessed the events all told me the same thing, the worst they’d ever seen.
The affects of “Climate Change” (formerly called “Global Warming”) are official, which is why southern California no longer has a “fire season.” It is official, the “season” is gone, and the fire threat is now year round.
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I moved to West Hollywood because it was an Urban Village, with a strong community of gay men of diverse socio-economic backgrounds and interests. Most of my gay male peers have died in the last 22 years, the few left were also moving away.
Lastly, the demands of trying to run a business and provide care for my (then) 92 year old mother became too difficult. In order to provide for her care, I had to sell our house.
 Ed Garren cooking “National Night Out” hamburgers and hot dogs. |
I spent 21 years in or next to West Hollywood. I helped create the city, I served on the East Side (Redevelopment) PAC from it’s inception, I created a neighborhood watch, cooked hundreds of “National Night Out” hamburgers and hot dogs, and I ran for City Council. I spent more years in West Hollywood than anywhere I ever lived in my life, including where I grew up.
After a year of travels, a few things have become very apparent nationwide. The country is running out of desirable land in most “urban centers.” It’s simple population expansion. The world has almost four times as many people in it as when I graduated high school.
My crime in West Hollywood was my staunch belief that the city should not take responsibility for housing all of them. I moved to an Urban Village. The current leadership in City Hall appears determined to turn West Hollywood into an Urban Nightmare.
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Ignoring that the city already is more densely populated than anywhere in the west, including Chicago or San Francisco, the current City Council wants to increase that density. And they are allowing the eviction of the very people the city was created to protect, renters, many of whom are seniors and disabled.
This is also destroying the GLBT fabric of the city as well. West Hollywood once drew young gay men, who had moved to Los Angeles, and who could afford the rents in older buildings in the city. The very creative people that made the city fun and interesting cannot afford an $800,000 condo.
 Ed Garren’s Favorite place in WeHo – Irv’s Burgers. Photo by Ryan Gierach. |
Although I no longer live in West Hollywood, the issues that the city is dealing with are global in nature, how to manage urban land. The current solution seems to be condos. Like bee hives on the landscape, the whole country is over built in condos.
West Hollywood is an “Urban Village” because of the economic diversity of it’s residents and the rich fabric of smaller family owned businesses (so called “Mom and Pop”) that provide a level of intimacy not usually found in an urban area.
If you replace the affordable rental apartments with expensive condos and replace the affordable storefronts with corporate owned developments, how many of our current residents will remain after the transition? Will your favorite dry cleaner who knows how you like your clothes done be there?
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The middle class is being squeezed out of existence in every place on this planet, being replaced by big money, and all of the de-humanization that goes with it.
Who would want to live in such a place?
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