Comments on The Real Estalker: Would You Want to Be JLo's Next Door Neighbor?

As long as we're praising heartland cities...anoth...

2008-03-14T13:33:45.665-07:00

As long as we're praising heartland cities...another city you may be surprised is quite beautiful and has quite a diversity of great architecture (particularly mid-century and current modern architecture) is Pittsburgh and its environs...a few years ago I almost had to transfer their for work, and I was shocked not only by how beautiful the city was (lots of hills and valleys), and not only the great value the home were, but also the incredible amount of architectural diversity their was, even in some mundane suburban subdivisions, there were tons of mid-century modern gems, elaborate tudors, etc...in a neighborhood that here in Philly would be nothing else but the same three designs over and over again...

Anon 11:40," . . . i got the drippy and neurotic s...

2008-03-14T11:27:11.945-07:00

Anon 11:40,

" . . . i got the drippy and neurotic sandpiper . . . ",

Hey, watch it; that's my sister your talking about there, and I don't mean sistah, I mean family.

;-)

Lucy,

How could anyone not love Chicago, home of the skyscraper after the Great Fire, not to mention Frank Lloyd Wright, the rest of the Prairie School of architects, and Hemmingway?

Lucy - Chicago is a great city. I love how the wa...

2008-03-14T06:08:33.884-07:00

Lucy - Chicago is a great city. I love how the waterfront has been incorporated so beautifully with the downtown core. Toronto and Chicago have very similar vibes, but some knob decided to build a raised, Jetson-esque freeway that severs TO's downtown from our waterfront. A shame, as the underbelly of the highway is a gnarly urban wasteland. Very short-sighted city planning.

Don't get down about the Midwest, I just think most folks here are coastal.

Ahh, Wacker Drive. There is a popular ski area about 2 hours north of Toronto, and en route we pass Belcher, Downer and Stalker St's. What were they thinking?

Parker, Pasadena is incredibly WASP-y. It's a mer...

2008-03-14T03:49:07.592-07:00

Parker, Pasadena is incredibly WASP-y. It's a mere twenty or so miles from West LA, but it feels distinctly different. Granted, it was settled by prosperous Midwesterners, hence Gamble House and Wrigley Mansion, but even a hundred years later, it holds itself apart. When I moved from Marina Del Rey to Pasadena, it felt like I'd moved back to OH in some ways.

San Marino has an excellent school system and plenty of gorgeous architecture/estate homes. I don't get the fuss over the Asian influx, aside from some of the wacky decorating choices that get made, like wall-to-wall jewel toned carpeting. Arcadia is becoming even more of an Asian enclave, as their school system is also excellent. My only complaint with that is buyers who tear down some lovely mid-century traditionals and moderns in the Upper Rancho area to build behemoth McMansions. Arcadia is much like Beverly Hills in its free-for-all approach to development.

lol, i got the drippy and neurotic sandpiper to s...

2008-03-13T23:40:47.539-07:00

lol, i got the drippy and neurotic sandpiper to say "penith!"

victory is mine, sayeth the lord!

And another area to rightly earn the moniker of "G...

2008-03-13T23:30:32.704-07:00

And another area to rightly earn the moniker of "Gold Coast".

Beautiful, beautiful spot.

The North Shore suburbs of Chicago...Love 'Em! Som...

2008-03-13T22:45:31.523-07:00

The North Shore suburbs of Chicago...Love 'Em! Some of the most beautiful communities anywhere in the country...

I have nothing against Long Island except the acce...

2008-03-13T21:44:18.611-07:00

I have nothing against Long Island except the accent...forgot how excruciating it could be until I caught the premiere of that New York Housewives show.

Lucy, I actually like Chicago a lot. But my inner 15-year-old (who lives alarming close to the surface) always has to chuckle when I ask the driver to take me to Wacker Drive.

Sigh. East AND West-coasters always make fun of th...

2008-03-13T21:31:36.993-07:00

Sigh. East AND West-coasters always make fun of the midwest, but I love Chicago and I refuse to apologize for it. It's a wonderful city, and I think it more than holds its own.

I've been to many great cities, and I'm never ashamed to come to my adopted home on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Hmmph.

anon 5:36, people are interested in much of what L...

2008-03-13T21:25:53.438-07:00

anon 5:36, people are interested in much of what LGB says. He adds insight, unlike the venom that you spew.

Additional comments about social structure of L.A.: many old-school Hancock Park families are fleeing for Pasadena because Pasadena will always be totally WASP-y, whereas HP is being invaded by the entertainment set. And yes, San Marino is becoming heavily Asian. That's sending even more people to Pasadena (and to South Pas for the schools).

West L.A. is now a league unto its own. Bring on the materialism and vanity. Our beach club has become overrun with what seems to be new money Westsiders and they actually 'dress' for a day at the beach, complete with full make-up, stilettos, huge jewelry, all the latest Tory Burch tunics, complete with fake boobs bursting through. It's sad that some of the beach communities are changing so much from being about the beach lifestyle.

Barren Karen,As well it should - after all, it pro...

2008-03-13T20:08:01.527-07:00

Barren Karen,

As well it should - after all, it produced a creature like Joey Buttafucco . . .

Who does? I don't. Sorry. But I don't.Long Island ...

2008-03-13T19:46:42.644-07:00

Who does?

I don't. Sorry. But I don't.

Long Island scares me. At least the parts between Brooklyn and Quogue.

Who does? We do.

2008-03-13T19:33:48.816-07:00

Who does? We do.

Sorry,Who gives a shit about Long Island? It's not...

2008-03-13T17:36:31.425-07:00

Sorry,
Who gives a shit about Long Island? It's not the only place in the country with a rich social history, yet LGB writes of it as such. Maybe LGB can start a LI blog for those who are interested?

His posts are boring and pretentious. Yes, the insights are sometimes interesting, but many times his posts read like a google search of TMI.

I think he writes of many places he's never been, only visited on google earth.

Dear friends!You're all so nice to say the things ...

2008-03-13T15:34:34.264-07:00

Dear friends!

You're all so nice to say the things you have - I don't deserve it.

Today was a busy day and I didn't think to check this link until just now; I'm glad I came to the party with such nice folks - I think I'll stay awhile.

Love, LGB

my penith is little but if you pet it....

2008-03-13T15:19:40.293-07:00

my penith is little but if you pet it....

Poor little penith,If your opinion only mattered, ...

2008-03-13T14:52:27.350-07:00

Poor little penith,

If your opinion only mattered, but read and weep. It doesn't.

this blog appears to be LGB's lifeline to the outs...

2008-03-13T11:21:43.955-07:00

this blog appears to be LGB's lifeline to the outside.

and if commenting 20-40 times a day is what it takes to prevent him from falling into a vat of lonliness and despair, well so be it.

perhaps he's a shut-in? we don't know.

so just leave the poor guy alone.

Just in case, I should clarify my parenthetical ab...

2008-03-13T10:47:05.204-07:00

Just in case, I should clarify my parenthetical about silly snobbery and good breeding was applied to the people who are overly concerned with their address -- not LGB, who also strikes me as a "nice, sweet, caring and frankly very knowledgeable guy."

OK, I lied, I forgot to address the topic at hand ...

2008-03-13T10:38:08.625-07:00

OK, I lied, I forgot to address the topic at hand (La 'hoods)...I was always under the impression that Holmby Hills and East-Gate lower Bel-Air were hands down THE most prestigious address in all of LA-LA-Land...and that San Marino and Pasadena (but moreso San Marino) was the bastion of old money WASP wealth in LA, but that it is slowly being taken over by the wealthy Asian set...times change, times change...

For the uninitiated, Ardrossan was the longtime ho...

2008-03-13T10:23:43.769-07:00

For the uninitiated, Ardrossan was the longtime home of Hope Montgomery Scott...both she and Ardrossan itself were the inspiration for "The Philadelphia Story"...I'm done now, promise ;-)

Case in point being the fate of the last two truly...

2008-03-13T10:21:43.736-07:00

Case in point being the fate of the last two truly large Suburban estates in the area, Hope Montgomery Scott's "Ardrossan" on the Main Line, and the Widener family estate in Whitemarsh township (just outside of Chestnut Hill)...the recent deaths of Robert Montgomery Scott (Ardrossan) and F. Eugene Dixon (Widener), the last two heirs wealthy enough to own and maintain these massive working farms as the country estates they are meant to be has left both estates in flux and likely to be subdivided or worse, though at least Mr. Dixon had the forethought to leave a plan for the preservations of the majority of the Widener farm, the only problem now is if the non-profits he gave first option to can raise the money needed to purchase and preserve the various tracts of the estate...

Coming from Philadelphia, perhaps historically the...

2008-03-13T10:16:46.361-07:00

Coming from Philadelphia, perhaps historically the most caste/class-structured metropolitan-area in the country, I must say the times they are a changing, and the best neighborhoods have definitely taken a turn towards meritocracy since about the late 1980's...there was a time when old money WASP's lived and guarded the main line, and even older-money WASP's looked down on the main line from ultra-exclusive Chestnut Hill, and wealthy Jews had to live in the Northern Suburbs, while wealthy Italians had to live in nicer parts of Delaware county south of the "real" Main Line, but now pretty much anyone with money lives anywhere they want to...in fact, the Main Line is now not only rife with Jewish families, but also black celebrities and atheletes, etc...same can be said for staid old-money Chestnut Hill...nowadays, you can live wherever your money will buy...
(and I don't mean to be demeaning to black or Jewish folks, just telling the way it used to be here in Philadelphia, where we believe in God...LOL)

I'm falling in line behind Bentley, Sanpiper, E.J....

2008-03-13T10:03:35.426-07:00

I'm falling in line behind Bentley, Sanpiper, E.J., et. al.

I've never been to LI but can appreciate LGB's contributions to discussion on this blog. That is what we are all here for - DISCUSSION. The insults say more about the person typing them than they do about the person being insulted.

e.j. - LOVE your Uncle Dave's line. Can I borrow it? :-)

Alessandra - I'm not from the midwest but have friends whose families are still there. Any trip to visit the family involves a mandatory stop between the airport and the homestead for cocktail supplies.

Quite Contrary - Agree with your assesment of LA.

We seem to be much more of a melting pot than the descriptions of our friends back east. Using Trousdale as an example, we have original owners on limited incomes still in their homes, middle easterners, celebrities, plain old non-celebrity rich people and everyday people who like midcentury architecture who managed to get a hold of a fixer when the original owner passed or moved into a retirement home. Oh..and that notorious RE broker facing those legal problems. All living side by side. A similar mixing pot exists in almost every upscale LA neighborhood.

The class lines are not as clearly drawn in Southern California as it appears they are in New York.

I've learned alot about the social structure of th...

2008-03-13T09:57:33.401-07:00

I've learned alot about the social structure of the North Shore of Long Island from him and it's always quite funny anyway.He also is really into architecture and history so that fits into the general theme of this blog anyway so all you negative bitchy anons can go and sit on a toilet for two years till you can't get off because your skin has grown around the seat,that's how I see all of you assholes!