Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NEWS
Autumn 2007 Volume 11 Number 3
www.HistoricEchoPark.org
‘School of Success’ found
good vibe in Echo Park
www.HistoricEchoPark.org
Where do you live?
Life on a stairway street
has its ups and downs
Echo Park’s more than 30 public stair- dogs up the
ways are concrete reminders of the days stairs as
before the automobile began to dominate part of their
the landscape and culture of Los Angeles, cardio rou-
when most Angelenos traveled by horse tine. On
and buggy, trolley car and, gasp, even on several eve-
foot. nings I have
Many are small and practical in scale, returned
helping link hillside residents with the home to find
streetcar lines and businesses below. But a dozen or
some, including the Laveta Terrace, Bax- so neighbors Heather and Michan Conner relax on the Sunset Stairway
ter and Clinton stairways, are impressive gossiping while Dave Ptach stands at the Fellowship Park Stairway
and stylish public landmarks that reward in my front yard, the kids playing in the we enjoy peace and quiet that few others
those who climb them with stunning hammock and the dogs rolling in the cool do. When the Gas Company technician
views. In fact, at more than 230 steps, grass. turned on our service four years ago, he
the Baxter Stairway is among the tallest I ended up living on a stair street said he’d “never known there was a house
in the city. completely by accident. I was looking for up here.”
For many Echo Park residents, the a house while living on the Westside but Our staircase, unlike many in Echo
stairways are far more than historic cu- was unable to afford anything on that Park, does not connect two streets, so it’s
riosities. The stairways provide the only side of town. So, I headed to the Eastside. more akin to a cul-de-sac than a through
physical link between their homes and With an Echo Park address in hand of street. We share a community with a
the rest of the world. It’s a unique en- one of the few homes in my price range, I few neighbors, but few others make the
vironment, and the EPHS asked a few drove up and down a street, but was un- trip to the top. As much as we’ve come
stairway dwellers to write about the ups able to find the house listed. to love our place, our experiences pale in
and downs about stairway life: I returned to search for the house comparison to our closest neighbor, who
two more times before I realized that the has lived across the staircase with her
Stairway Makes
street ended and turned into a staircase, husband for forty years. She recalls many
For Good Neighbors
barely visible beneath an overgrown changes to the neighborhood and the city,
The 30 steps of the Fellowship Park
thicket of bougainvillea. and landmarks of her youth in Bunker
Stairway leads to the hilltop that Dave
Intrigued, I climbed the staircase and Hill and Chavez Ravine that have been
Ptach calls home.
entered a magical, secret world. I couldn’t taken away by urban renewal. She’s seen
Living on a stair street is not for ev- believe that this oasis existed in the mid- the ups and downs of Echo Park, and is
eryone. You have to hunt for street park- dle of this huge metropolis. I felt like Alice surprised by its recent boom. She’s been
ing, schlep everything from groceries to going down the rabbit hole and emerging approached by developers offering mon-
refrigerators up countless flights of stairs, in Wonderland. ey for her property, but she’s quite un-
not to mention the logistics of getting a Needless to say, I bought the house derstandably proud to be able to say no.
pizza delivered. and have lived there happily ever since. She keeps an eye on things while we’re at
Most stair street homes are small To this day I meet lifelong Echo Park work, and often brings us baked goods
(current building codes make it very hard residents who still do not know my street and holiday treats, which we’ve tried to
to build without off-street parking) with exists, and that’s the way I like it: No one help pay back by hauling her empty gar-
narrow yards, a bit of an anomaly in Mc- can find me unless I want them to. bage bins back up the stairs, though she
Mansion-friendly Los Angeles and the often refuses to let us, saying the exercise
Steps Above A Busy Boulevard
country as a whole, where we tend to over- keeps her young. Neighbors at the Bud-
Heather & Michan Connor live at the
consume everything from cars to food to dhist temple below us on the stairs brings
top of 60-step Sunset Stairway.
housing. But to live on a stair street is to us egg rolls and fried rice almost weekly
embrace the small home aesthetic. Our house by itself is modest and after their celebrations. We try to recip-
Each stair street has its own person- simple. It’s distinguished mostly by its rocate by trimming our trees so they don’t
ality, its own ambience. Some are littered age (built in 1904) and its bright lav- hang down on their property!
with trash and scarred by graffiti; others ender hue. Yet, it is unique because it’s It wouldn’t be the same house if it
are a leafy bucolic paradise with pan- insulated from one of the busiest streets weren’t located at the top of a staircase.
oramic views. Stair streets tend to foster in Los Angeles by a flight of sixty steps. Its location provides us with community,
a sense of community, as I see my neigh- Though we have our minor struggles privacy, solitude, and (like it or not) plen-
bors walking past my house everyday. with the garbage bins and the groceries, ty of exercise!
People from the neighborhood walk their and budget for extra tips for deliveries,
www.HistoricEchoPark.org
The Stairways of Echo Park
To learn more about the stairways please visit the walking tours section of
www.historicechopark.org
Flights of Fancy:
The Stairway Homes of Echo Park
Sunday, November 11
11:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.
Please make check or money order payable to the “Echo Park Historical Society”
Mail to:
EPHS / Attn: Home Tour
P.O. Box 261022
Los Angeles, CA. 90026
* Pick up tickets at Will Call (Williams Hall, 2000 Stadium Way) on the day of tour.
* Directions/map will be mailed with confirmation of your order.
You can also purchase tickets online with a credit card on the
Home Tour section of www.HistoricEchoPark.org.
A Note on Access:
The nature of this year’s tour will make access extremely difficult for people with physical disabilities.
In addition to being located on public stairways, some of the homes also have multiple steps and
stairways. Also, because of restricted parking and our narrow streets, some of the homes will be
located about 1-/1/2 blocks or more from the nearest available parking space.
www.HistoricEchoPark.org
perspectives
Calendar
continued from page 2
DECEMBER
Echo Park Landmarks with your nomination. Include an ad-
dress or approximate location as well as
Holiday Pot Luck Party an information you might have on the
Saturday, Dec 8 at 7 PM
EPHS members and supporters are in- Think you might have a landmark site’s historic significance. Read more
vited to attend our annual Holiday Pot- on your block? The EPHS is planning about Echo Park landmarks and interest-
luck. EPHS members should look for an to compile a list of neighborhood land- ing places on our website, www.Historic-
invitation in the mail in late November
with location information and other de- marks and needs your help in identifying EchoPark.org.
tails. buildings and sites
EPHS Board Meeting that might be of his-
Monday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. toric interest. The list
See October events for details. will help the EPHS
Echo Park Lake Walking Tour identify the sites that
Saturday, Dec. 22 at 10 AM would be worthy of
This tour features many of the neighbor-
hood’s most prominent landmarks, in- being designated as
cluding Echo Park Lake, Angelus Temple official landmarks
and Jensen’s Recreation Center. Start- by the City of Los
ing Place: Echo Park Boathouse, 751
Echo Park Ave. Reservations are re- Angeles or other gov-
quired. Please Call (323) 860-8874 or ernment agencies.
visit the Walking Tour section of www. Contact us at ephs@
HistoricEchoPark.org for more details. historicechopark.org
JOVELLE NARCISE
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