The LA Times rarely gives the south bay region any coverage. And, when they do, they parachute out of the sky and botch it.
I've written many times about my affection for my daytime hometown of El Segundo. But I take exception to the categorization that my work--and that of my colleagues--is not "creative".El Segundo was formerly known as an aerospace hub in the shadow of Los Angeles International Airport and a refinery town — its name derives from the 1911 selection of the spot by Standard Oil Co. of California for the company's second oil refinery.
But recently the city has begun to attract a variety of creative businesses that might once have looked down their noses at the humble burg of 17,000 residents.
I was so mad to read a LAT columnist describe ES as "lily-white", I didn't trust myself to blog about it at the time. Take a look at the school demographics. Take a look around at lunch-time. Not only is the town diverse, but the dining parties are diverse. That is, friendships form over shared interests beyond superficial ones of race.
The farmers' market is also fun. I wore a me-made linen skirt to the market last summer before dining at the Farmstand.
- the El Segundo series
- Mariposa (What does a town do when growth is constrained by an endangered species? You embrace it as the town mascot!)
- From the mountains to the sea (watching supertankers roll in is a favorite past-time and I explain how to tell whether one is empty or full)
Feh to the LATimes. Seems like the media gets it wrong more often than they get it right.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you look great in your linen skirt. :)
It drives me nuts that people think tech work can't be creative.
ReplyDeleteAlso that they don't recognize that writing code IS making something, even if you can't hold the something in your hands.
I think the LA Times' coverage of the South Bay is significantly lacking too. The LA Weekly doesn't do much better, nor do any of the other area papers - even our own Daily Breeze. We must not be a big enough market for them to care about.
ReplyDeleteAs for convincing people that engineers and scientists are creative? I've given up fighting that battle long ago.
I guess the South Bay is so full of creative people making things that we don't have time to read the papers.
Actually, if you add up all the South Bay communities ES to PV along the coast, Torrance and all the inland communities that border Torrance, we're a mid-sized market in our own right.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, we'd be one of the best-educated and wealthiest metropolitan markets in the country. I don't understand why we get so little coverage and respect.
For "must not be a big enough market" read "perceived as full of flaky beach people and other marginal segments of society without motivation, ambition, or cash to spend". This would be notably dissimilar to the non-flaky Hollywood crowd.
ReplyDeleteDid that sound cynical?