A city in a state of crumble

Abandoned lots and buildings leave us down in the dumps

Watching our dog Clyde scarf the second of his two meals Monday, I pondered how weird it is that he spends a total of two minutes each day for his greatest pleasure, which is eating. Imagine that.

OK, that paragraphwas going to be my entire introduction to what was a two-topic post. But the second topic went on for so long, I decided to cut it and save it for another day. Basically, I’m insecure that I’m providing too much daily content and insecure I’m not providing enough. So it’s very much by feel — which is how I do a lot of things in my life — but I just wanted you to know.

Now, on to today’s Slayed …

The historical vision of Southern California can be found above in the marginalized view of the palm trees set against the sunset over the Pacific. Unfortunately, that’s not where our focus lies today.

This building remnant sits at the corner of Tennessee Avenue and Westwood Boulevard, about six blocks from my house. When we moved to our neighborhood in 2004, this was a children’s furniture store. It closed a couple years later. I can’t remember exactly when, but to be generous, let’s call it 2007.

This property has been vacant ever since — that’s 15 years — and it has been in this dilapidated (to be kind) condition for at least a decade.

What I’m describing is on the extreme end of a phenomenon that is all too familiar. Our world today is filled not only with teardowns leaving behind vacant lots, but also teardowns waiting to be torn down.

Presumably, in many cases, this is born of economics. In my mind, here’s a typical scenario: