Mark your calendar: Echo Park TAP neighborhood cleanups

The next Echo Park Trash Abatement Program (TAP) cleanup is tomorrow morning, so make sure to get up bright and early and help out!

You can also show up after the start of the cleanup and contribute for an hour, or more!

Dates for the cleanups include:

Saturday, February 18, 2012
and Saturday, March 3, 2012

8:00 am – 12:00 noon

Meet at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Logan Street by Walgreen’s Parking lot. Dress for weather. Bring gloves if possible.

Also, save the date for:

Friends of the Los Angeles River Cleanup
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Check the Friends of the LA River website for details.

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Free workshop: How to include your pets in emergency preparedness plans

This Sunday, February 19, 2012 from 6-7:30 pm, join the P.U.P. (Prepare Ur Pet) at BlueCollar Working Dog in Echo Park for a FREE emergency preparedness class! They are, after all, our best friends, and we wouldn’t want to leave our babies behind in an emergency because we weren’t prepared.

Animal trainer and behavior specialists will be doing live demonstrations on how to handle your pet before and after a disaster, including calming your pet during stressful circumstances, what to pack in an emergency kit, as well as how to collar, harness, or leash your pets for an emergency evacuation.

RSVP is a must – simply email prepareurpet@gmail.com.

BlueCollar Working Dog is located at 1533 Echo Park Avenue

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Echo Park Lake rehab update meeting tonight

Screenshot from echoparklake.com

Tonight is a meeting of the oversight committee and odor monitoring group of the Echo Park Lake rehabilitation project. All are invited to attend to get updates about the project, and share information on how you think things are going.

Echo Park Lake Rehab Meeting
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 6:30 pm
St. Paul’s Cathedral, located at 840 Echo Park Avenue

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Sunday: Open house for Echo Park eco-home, complete with yurt

We don’t normally write a whole lot about real estate here in Echo Park, but it’s on our minds all the time since we got married and have started to think we could buy a place in Echo Park. This particular piece of property caught our eye because, well, it’s just so COOL! There aren’t that many places that are so self-sustainable in Echo Park that you could hide out through a zombie apocalypse.

Although a zombie apocalypse isn’t why this home is super green – owner Michael Jacob Rochlin told Echo Park Patch he spent $100,000 converting the 1922 bungalow into a “green” home. The property features a tankless water heater, gray water appliances, an organic vegetable garden, drought-tolerant landscaping, rainwater harvesting, ten composters, and a plant nursery. The property is 10,000 square feet total, and in addition to all the delicious fruit trees is a certified farm and wildlife habitat.

I can also see why the current owner, who is an author and historian, wrote three novels and compiled two photographic essays while living there – there’s a gorgeous 225 square foot yurt retreat in the far corner amongst the trees. Though the place is only a 1 bedroom/1 bath at 700 square feet, there’s a studio in addition to the main house, and plenty of porch space to chill. Oh yes, and it’s listed at only $399,900 – which, for safe and quiet Lake Shore, is a good deal.

Enough with the sales pitch, there’s an open house tomorrow, Sunday, January 15, hosted by listing agent Darren Hubert from 1:00 – 5:00 pm. The address is 2006 Lake Shore, and you can view more photos of the place (yurt and all) by clicking here.

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Are you going? Echo Park urban planning workshop Saturday!

From the placeit.org website

SATURDAY, January 14, 2012
10:00 am – 12:30 pm
@ The Echo Country Outpost, 1770 Glendale Blvd. in Echo Park

Echo Park Improvement Association member and activist Josh Post, who organized the recent Glendale Boulevard community cleanup, has put together a great event this weekend that will help further the efforts to get fix up the historic Echo Park corridor for good.

Urban planner James Rojas is leading a workshop on, you guessed it, urban planning! Using props, blocks and salvaged items, workshop goers will create individual 3-D models reflecting how members of the community would like to see Glendale Boulevard used and changed. Ideas will be presented to the group and discussed, and results of the workshop will be shared with local government and organizations.

Rojas was just featured in the LA Times for his work on his project in Long Beach. The event is free, and everyone is welcome to come share ideas for change and have some fun!

RSVP is recommended. Email echopark@patch.com to rsvp or with questions.

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Keep Echo Park clean: Neighborhood cleanup on Saturday

Photo via the LA Stormwater website

This is the second neighborhood cleanup organized by the Echo Park Trash Abatement Program (TAP) in the past couple of months – the last one on December 3 collected more than 60 bags of trash (according to the LA Stormwater Blog).

This weekend, treat yourself to some sunshine, pack your bottled water and work gloves, and join Echo Park neighbors for the first neighborhood cleanup of the year!

Saturday, January 7, 2012 from 8:00 am – 11:00 am
Meet on Sunset by Metro Bus Stop between Echo Park Avenue and Logan
Dress for weather. Bring water as needed.

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Annual Christmas Bird Count at Echo Park Lake tomorrow

Join fellow bird lovers on Monday, January 2 for the 112th annual Christmas Bird Count at Echo Park Lake! Even though the lake is drained and undergoing construction, it’s important to keep track of what and how many bird species are still hanging around. Bird counters will be able to enter the construction site (with hard hats!) rather than just stay on the periphery.

Over 70 bird species have been counted at Echo Park Lake over the years – the last Christmas Bird Count saw 41 species (winter is usually a popular month for the migrating birds at the lake).

Meet at the Boathouse at 8:00 am for the two-hour count. Bring $5 to participate (make checks payable to the National Audubon Society)

For more information contact  judycalifornia@yahoo.com, or call (323) 663-6767.

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Vote for Echo Park for Curbed’s neighborhood of the year

The annual Curbed Cup is back – where website Curbed LA pegs sixteen neighborhoods against each other, competing for LA’s best neighborhood by popular vote over several rounds. Echo Park went up for the challenge last year and lost to Old Bank (ultimately, Hollywood took the title).

Today, Curbed LA features Echo Park versus North Hollywood in round one. Here’s how Curbed LA describes our little neighborhood:

“What is this, 2006?” you’re surely asking. Yeah, yeah, Echo Park already happened (even the LA Times discovered it late last year), but all those hipster move-ins were just prelude to the bigger and badder gentrification now underway. This year, a tiny 1881 bungalow went for $695,000, a hipster flip went for $739,000, and Heyday Partners’ Dick+Jane townhouses both sold almost immediately for asking or close to it. The Smurf Village/Durbin and the small lot subdivision Morton Village both got reanimated this year, as did the Metropolitan Water District apartments on a neglected side of the neighborhood. EP’s namesake lake was drained for a rehab this year and even snooty Conde Nast Traveler wanted in on the neighborhood action.

So far, Echo Park has the lead at 65%. Click here to vote!

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Found in Echo Park: English bulldog

What a sweet face!

This bulldog breed was found in Echo Park today – there is a collar but no tag. Anyone missing a “huge” cute-faced bulldog?

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Echo Country Outpost’s holiday hoopla on Saturday

Once you’ve thoroughly enjoyed your time at the Echo Park Community Parade, and supported some businesses for Echo Park Shop Hop tomorrow, be sure to stop by the Echo Country Outpost’s new location on Glendale Boulevard for its annual Holiday Hoopla!

The holiday party promises food, drink, music, games, and “psychic comfort” (bet you’re wondering what that means).

Here’s the lineup for the party:

Jenny Luna And The Moondogs (6:00 pm)
Matt Van Winkle Band (7:00 pm)
Olentangy John (8:00 pm)
Matt Taylor & His Laurels (9:00 pm)
Ghiant (10:00 pm)
Tommy Santee Klaws (11:00 pm)
Rt N’ The 44$ (12:00 midnight)

A Very Outpost Holiday Hoopla
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 3:00 pm
$10 donation, all ages
Echo Country Outpost is located at 1770 Glendale Boulevard

There are ton of Echo Park neighborhood holiday parties over the weekend, be sure to check it all out!

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Echo Park Community Parade on Saturday!

It’s time for the annual Echo Park Community Parade! The parade takes place on Saturday, December 10, and starts at 10:00 am (ending at about 1:00 pm) and goes along Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park, starting at Elysian Park Avenue and ending at Park Avenue.

This year’s theme is “‘Tis the Season.” Each year, young students from the area participant in art contests held at different venues such as the Central City Action Committee (CCAC) and the Echo Park Farmers’ Market, and a panel of judges chooses three winners from varying age groups to have their artwork displayed on the parade flyer, poster and banner. So keep your eye for all the different contributions from area students on these pieces!

In addition to local schools, drill teams, cheer squads, and elected officials, we’ve got a few Echo Park businesses and organizations participating in the parade lineup. Amongst those are The Echo Park Time Bank, Edendale Library Friends Society (ELFS), The Warehouse & The Classroom, Mi Alma, 826LA, and more!

We know that Mi Alma will be bringing in a lot of color to the parade with a piñata-themed float. And The Warehouse LA/The Classroom LA will be sporting a nice big trailer with a live jazz singer and back up dancers. And of course there will be Santa!

Also in the parade lineup, Mitch O’Farrell from Eric Garcetti’s Office is this year’s Grand Marshal. Parade Ambassadors include Holly Calhoun of the Echo Park Farmers’ Market, the Echo Park Improvement Association, Masa of Echo Park Bakery & Café, and Albert Torres of Recreation & Parks.

You might find us sipping mimosas at either The Park Restaurant at Douglas and Sunset, which has a reallllly pretty brand new look to the patio, or keeping a seat warm at Lot 1 Cafe drinking mimosas, where they’ll also be offering hot chocolate and cinnabons.

After the parade, be sure to support your local businesses and shop local! The annual holiday Echo Park Shop Hop is going on, as well as lots of holiday parties at Mi Alma, Tavin, and more!

And lastly my shameless plug: We are so excited to be participating a little bit this year by designing all the new graphics for the flyer, parade program, and all those festive, red posters in the windows around town (hey, it’s our day job!).

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Jesus Sanchez of The Eastsider LA earns “Distinguished Journalist” award

Major kudos goes to Jesus Sanchez of The Eastsider LA! It was announced yesterday he’s being honored by the Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists as one of five “Distinguished Journalist” winners of the year. His work in the category of “Distinguished Work in New Media” earned him this top spot, and is among other fine honorees in different categories, including Lisa Bartley (ABC7 investigative producer), Bob Moon (radio’s Marketplace), Bob Pool (LA Times), and Howard Fine (LA Business Journal).

Sanchez’s background includes 25 years in the journalism business, and was one of the LA Times newsroom’s first online reporters. And of course, he lives in Echo Park!

All the award winners will receive their honors in the spring.

Click here to read more about the awards and its winners on LA Observed.

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Echo Park holiday shop hop, weekend sales, and more

The holiday Echo Park Shop Hop is the big shopping event this weekend, in which Echo Park businesses are offering killer shopping deals along with libations, live music, and other fun events for the family. So before, during, or after the annual Echo Park Community Parade along Sunset Boulevard from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturday, December 10, make sure you support local businesses and do all your shopping locally!

Some of those businesses include (more may join up later):

  • Ballard’s Artwork Framing
  • The Echo Park Time Travel Mart
  • Rewind Audio
  • Bluecollar Working Dog
  • Origami Vinyl
  • K9 Loft
  • Echo Park Independent Co-op
  • Masa of Echo Park
  • Two Boots Pizza
  • Stories Books & Cafe: 15% all used books, 25% off Christmas cards, PLUS Laura Ann’s Jams
  • Backside
  • iam8bit
  • deKor
  • Lemon Frog Shop
  • Villainy General Store
  • Kellygreen Home
  • Anejo Duddery
  • PIlates & Arts: discounts, art, and holiday treats

In addition to the promise of “killer” deals, more Echo Park businesses are offering up some holiday parties and sales this weekend. Here’s the low-down:

Read more

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Red Hill could open as early as next week

The old Phoenix Bakery on Echo Park Avenue and Montana has few remnants of the old bakery days left – just a sticker-covered “free parking for Phoenix Express” remains. Although the magnificent mural on the Montana side is still there, a fresh coat of a burnt-orange paint is an indication that things are moving along for the upcoming opening of the much anticipated restaurant, Red Hill.

LA Weekly has the grand opening pegged as early as next week, on Tuesday, December 13, 2011, which also happens to be owner Jason Michaud’s birthday. Jason is not only an Echo Park resident, he and his wife own vintage store Tosen in Echo Park, the restaurant Local in Silver Lake, and a new restaurant in downtown called Local Express.

When we spoke to Jason last January, Red Hill was primarily going to focus on American cuisine, and would be open for brunch, lunch and dinner, with a primary focus on dinner. They also applied for a beer and wine license this year, which received the support of the neighborhood council.

The name Red Hill refers to a part of Echo Park/Elysian Heights history much older than I – the area was known to be a secluded and safe hub for artists, radicals, socialists and free-thinkers of all sorts. Communists joined them in the 1920s during the first Red Scare (a lot came from Boyle Heights), earning Echo Park the nickname of Red Hill (as well as “Red Gulch”).

Red Hill is located at 1325 Echo Park Avenue. Follow them on Twitter.

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Echo Park TAP community cleanup on Saturday

Trash from the EPIA community cleanup in November

The Echo Park Trash Abatement Program (TAP) organization that brought us the Big Belly Solar trash compactor to Echo Park Avenue and Sunset Boulevard is organizing a couple of neighborhood cleanups for you to join. The first is tomorrow, Saturday, December 3, just in time after the “big winds.” The hours dedicated by volunteers like you will be used to meet the required “Match on Grant” (possibly the Clean & Connected Communities grant) awarded by CD13 for the anti-litter banners that will soon adorn area light poles.

Here are the details for both cleanups:

Saturday, December 3, 2011 from 8:00 am – 11:00 am
Meet on Sunset by Metro Bus Stop between Echo Park Avenue and Logan
Dress for weather. Bring water as needed.

Saturday, January 7, 2012 from 8:00 am – 11:00 am
Meet on Sunset by Metro Bus Stop between Echo Park Avenue and Logan
Dress for weather. Bring water as needed.

See you there!

UPDATE:

Unrelated to TAP but related to community cleanups Elysian Heights Elementary School will also be cleaning up the post-storm madness on Saturday morning. The school doors will open at 7:00 am with Mr. Maldanado at the helm and Friends of Elysian Heights Elementary working along-side. Bring the whole family (and some coffee) and help the cleanup efforts!

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