LAist: Neighborhood Project: Little Armenia

dryanleask

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:16:22 -0800

As a great novelist and an original thinker I have decided to write a book that takes place in Hollywood. How unique. If you knew the plot you'd understand why it has to be there, but anyway... I was wondering if I could get some history on a beautiful old yellow building on Vermont, 1175 vermont to be exact. I came across it the last time I escaped from my Canadian Igloo and visited your fine city. Any help would be appreciated. Please e-mail my publisher at raneast@gmail.com. Much appreciated,

ratpicnic

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:46:26 -0800

Oh, man, I miss that bowling alley! I believe parts of The Big Lebowski was filmed there, FYI. I always thought that it just shut down from lack of business, didn't know it was demolished for a school. Thanks for the info. Good article, by the by. Cannot wait for the rest of the wonderful city we call home.

guest

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 08:54:44 -0800

A poor set of observations. Watts has a lot going on that this article misses. A new farmers market started two weeks ago. The Seed Lady of Watts has been around for years. There are two big community gardens. There is abundant development of small lot subdivisions. Try a little harder.

Wad

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 23:53:23 -0800

Tony, while you were taking a picture of the Payless, you should have sauntered into the strip mall's parking lot. There is a very fascinating collection of old-time street lamps in front of the Staples. It was meant to be a temporary exhibition, but became permanent by default. The lamps were featured on "Visiting with Huell Howser" and "Life & Times Tonight." Also, Metro bus lines 180, 181 and now 780 have been jokingly called the "Yerevan Crosstown". The western half of these routes (middle half in the case of the 780) run through Little Armenia and Glendale, the largest concentration of Armenians outside of Armenia.

Militant Angeleno

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:20:18 -0800

One MAJOR thing overlooked from a cultural standpoint: Each year on April 24, all of the local Armenian businesses are closed for the day to observe the Armenian Genocide which started in 1915. Some 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire in Turkey, an act that to this day the Turkish government refuses to admit, which is the main catalyst of political activism in the Armenian community. There are also marches and peaceful demonstrations originating in Little Armenia to the Turkish consulate calling attention to recognizing the Genocide. The Armenian community is one of the most widespread diasporic ethnic groups in the world with enclaves in virtually every continent. The Genocide caused most Armenians to flee Armenia and seek refuge in places like Russia, France, Greece, Bulgaria and Lebanon. Prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the majority of Armenian immigrants here in Little Armenia as well as Glendale (a.k.a "Big Armenia") were actually born in those countries rather than in Armenia.

LA City Nerd

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 07:35:03 -0800

Check out this event in AND ABOUT Little Armenia.

jeffro

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 18:06:32 -0800

C'mon ya'll. You don't have to be an expert profiler to know that if Militant were to be caught be the lens it would almost certainly be as he/she was entering/exiting a transit station. And, being militant, might be wearing camo shorts? This is a great project, and really well done (the Burbank post is great too). You'll never include everything that everyone thinks is the definitive gem of the 'hood. But hell, I'd rather learn about a new place that someone else thinks is the greatest than get validation for a place that I already know and love. Militant, it would be super-cool if you contributed a post the project.

Tony Pierce

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 16:07:03 -0800

... which is why we're doing this series, Militant Angeleno, and if you'd like to contribute, we'd love you to show us what youre talking about.

Militant Angeleno

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:37:18 -0800

East LA gets too much hype? I can just hear all the vatos laughing from the other side of the river. And there's so much more to Hollywood than a boulevard and a sheet metal sign that the rest of the city, nay, rest of the world, doesn't even know about.

guest

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:11:11 -0800

Love it.. Can't wait for the other hoods!

guest

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 01:51:34 -0800

Great article. Look forward to other neighborhoods hopefully not from the Hollywood/East LA ilk cause they always get too much hype.

guest

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 23:11:15 -0800

This is awesome. I too look forward to all the neighborhoods being covered, hopefully in as much detail as this entry. Though I imagine some may be a little hard to cover. Good luck. And good luck Fred if you decide to do this on MetroRider LA as well. I love photo essays.

Militant Angeleno

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:29:47 -0800

A couple corrections from your Militant neighbor: - There is no Metro station on Sunset/Santa Monica and if there were it would be in Silver_Lake. But I'm sure you meant "Vermont/Santa Monica," home of the new pay toilet. - The Armenian history mural is located on Vermont and Lexington, not Vermont and Fountain. In addition: - The hub of the Armenian cultural community is on Alexandria Avenue, a few yards south of Hollywood. That's home to the Rose & Alex Pilibos Armenian School and St. Garabed's Armenian Apostolic Church. Three members of System of A Down met as students of Pilibos School. Their library was also designed in the form of an ark, which had nothing to do with Evan Almighty, but rather that Noah's Ark is believed to have landed on the slope of historic Armenia's Mt. Ararat. - I also can't believe you left our Sasoun Bakery, which has the BEST cheese borek in Little Armenia. - Yes, Michelle's Donuts used to be a Winchell's, and there used to be a Foster's Freeze across the street, but that was another era. For any of you who have family overseas and need to call them at 3:35 a.m., Michelle's is the best place to go get your long-distance phone cards. Oh yeah, check out some YouTube goodness right here that I stumbled upon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bw9l91i_Bc

Militant Angeleno

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:36:14 -0800

The East Hollywood community isn't just Armenian and Thai, it's also El Salvadoran, Mexican, Filipino, Korean, Cambodian, Ukrainian, Russian, Lebanese, Guatemalan, Japanese, Bulgarian, Peruvian, Chilean, Cuban and more. All of the above groups have residents, businesses, non-profits and houses of worship that represent their groups. Dare I'd say it's the most diverse community in Los Angeles.

motownpacific

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:34:09 -0800

This is fan-freakin-tastic...can't wait for the other installments. Especially enjoy the "People Who Front" designation.

guest

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:13:45 -0800

this is great! ill start reading laist again just for the neighborhood coverage! thanks.

guest

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 10:45:00 -0800

Great little photo essay. Captures the essence of the neighborhood. I live an work in Little Armenia -- moved there because it's a major center for Scientology on the West Coast. It was fun to see all the restaurants and shops I use, and what fun to see the shots of L. Ron Hubbard way and the Scientology churches I attend. By the way, Zankou Chicken is an art form unto itself, and the Armenian deli in the plaza with the 99 Cents store has killer pastries and imports the most delicious Middle Eastern delicacies. It's also true that there is a very comfortable melding of cultures, with Latino, Gringo, Armenian and Thai coexisting in this one little stretch of LA. Thanks for this slice of home on the Net!

Tony Pierce

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 10:39:32 -0800

sexist! i think she is the old lady in the main pic.

fredcamino

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 09:24:39 -0800

I bet Militant Angeleno is the dude on the bike. Or the scientologist walking down L. Ron Hubbard Way!

LA City Nerd

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 23:28:41 -0800

Well done, LAist. This is a great marriage of LA City Nerdiness and cultural content!

Militant Angeleno

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 22:32:05 -0800

Ahhhh! LAist may or may not have covered the Militant's own neighborhood, and I may or may not be in one of those pictures. And contrary to popular perception, there are *zero* tensions between Armenians and Thais in this community, apart from some *Glendale-based* Armenian business interests who balked at the notion of Thai Town following its designation in 1998.

fredcamino

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:55:12 -0800

Oh ya, by the way, good post! Little Armenia rules (and talk about being transit friendly).

Tony Pierce

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 18:33:55 -0800

i wish you luck!

fredcamino

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:52:20 -0800

Awh man, I was going to do a very similar thing over at MetroRiderLA, but you jerks beat me to it. Well, I'm still doing it anyway if I ever get off my lazy ass. $ue me.

guest

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:30:55 -0800

solid post

guest

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:18:45 -0800

Big ups.

brif

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:27:57 -0800

Great article! I can't wait for you guys to run through the rest of LA's 'hoods. As an East Coast transplant living in Hollywood, this info is BEYOND useful. Thanks LAist!