Two weeks ago, this editor told people that every time she went up to the Palisades, it took a tiny part of her soul.
No more.
The excitement of coming back to the town is almost overwhelming and it is joyous. There’s action and trucks everywhere, it seems this must have been how boom towns felt. It is a funny kind of gold rush feeling, but the optimism of “striking it rich” better known as “coming home” is overwhelming.
Lots are being leveled, and more and more people are coming back into the homes that are still standing.
And the town is starting to open up again.
Starbucks. Yes, this editor had her first grande flat white at Starbucks at Vons. The dog I was watching received a pup cup and we were “normal” again. This editor has been to Vons three times, and this last time, there was produce on the shelves, the staples were stocked and freezer items including ice cream were available.
There was a small line of people waiting to check out. I ran into the Army Corp of Engineers Public Information Officer who was purchasing fried chicken at the deli counter. He told me if anyone had any questions just to let him know and he’d try to get an answer.
The deli counter at Vons was busy.
Stopping at the American Legion, it was packed with people, who were either receiving a free lunch or waiting to speak to SBA officers (and FEMA) is coming back to that site next week.
Next was a breakfast burrito from James at the Garden Café. The workers were happy to see regulars they hadn’t seen in two months. And the burrito? It was sooo good!
Anawalt is open, the car wash and gas station are open – and cheapest gas on the Westside, so worth a stop. The 76 Gast station on Via has also reopened.
There were people cleaning up Chipotle, which looks like it will open soon. The Cantina on the other side of Sunset is planning to open in April.
There are food trucks lined up on some of the streets.
There’s an excitement in the air right now; there’s industry; people are working and there seems to be a kind of inner driving force as the town comes alive.
The Garden Cafe was busy at lunchtime.
It’s just the start, but it is so positive. Now we just have to watch the people who want to fleece us, the “new miners.”
You know the ones – the contractors that quote one price and then give a higher one because it’s the Palisades, those who want to scare you that it is unsafe to go back, and all those people who want to tell residents what to do because they feel they know best because they’re richer and wiser.
Then there are those who are just spreading false information, such as a person on Nextdoor, who wanted to do debris hauling so he made up something about how the Army Corps of Engineers just wants your insurance money. (The Corps takes no money from people or from insurance. If there is insurance money left over after the Corps clean your lot, you then use it to take out the swimming pool, driveway and tree stumps that the Corps does not remove. And if there’s till money left over after that, it goes to the County, not the Corp.)
If you get a chance, go up around lunch time. Fats Waller said it best when he sang The Joint is Jumpin.’
And this town is Jumpin.
Sue thank you for such an energetic, stimulating and hopeful article.
Thanks Sue for your updates. We are still at a hotel in Culver City and hoping to make to it to your Marina Meet up. The Marina Freeway seems to be the only road in LA I find tolerable!
Happy tears reading this, thank you for your dedication to this community.