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To Be a Militant Angeleno
Thanks to our buddy, the LA City Nerd, for pointing out the newest hot blog on the scene -- Militant Angeleno. The anonymous blogger first started posting a week ago Friday and we like this rule of thumb for living in Los Angeles:
Yes, I own and drive a car, but I'm not obsessed with it. In order to save money, gas, congestion and wear and tear on my car, I walk to places up to 2 miles away, bike to places up to 5 miles away and take the (M) Rail or Bus to destinations up to 10 miles away. Anything beyond that, I drive. Hmm, imagine if all of you fools did that.
More importantly to us, Militant Angeleno writes from "the perspective of someone who participates in the community" (emphasis added). The blogger participated in a stakeholder meeting for the Hollywood Freeway Central Park and offers their experience. If you live in the neighborhood, will you get engaged as well?
However, we do disagree with the blogger in the never ending and confusing, but anger-inducing geographical fight of colloquialisms. He/She states that they live in what is generally referred to as "The Eastside" [sic or not?], but that they "take offense to that mainly because that term purposely ignores and downplays The Real Eastside, which is located on the other side of the Los Angeles River." We don't think that "The Eastside" ignores East LA by any means, rather, it is just a casual reference to an area where that does not make literal sense, but more sense in the context historical and pop culture. Without going too much into it, we'll venture into this debate and just say for now that we believe there is 1) The East Side (current pop culture), there is 2) the East side (geography; as opposed to the West side [not The West Side, but also not West LA or even more confusing, the official neighborhood of West Los Angeles -- confused?]), and there is 3) East LA (the classic, the historical, the original).
But all that doesn't matter anyway, Militant Angeleno is a huge Dodger Fan and that brings us all together, no matter what we call our neighborhood.
Photo by badjonni via Flickr
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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