The city saves a vintage Long Beach foursquare

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
The so-called “school house” isn’t a historic landmark, although it’s survived 104 years of floods, earthquakes and development in downtown Long Beach. But in conversations with surviving members of the Hunter family—three generations of whom lived there from 1906 to 1977—acts of God and the [...]

Critics say Redevelopment Agency eats cash, produces blight

PHOTO by RUSS ROCA
In 1988, the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency greenlighted the demolition of the historic Jergins Trust building, a stately old high-rise and California landmark. They plowed it under to make way for a hotel. But today, 20 years later, there’s nothing there—or rather this: a chain-link [...]

Four historic houses up for auction abound in classic features

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
The city Redevelopment Agency is taking bid proposals through Aug. 11 on four vacant, historic houses in the Willmore City Historic District, three of which it rescued from the West Gateway project.
So, hire a contractor to help, then bid what’s left after you [...]

Take Ray Bradbury’s advice on Acres

PHOTO by DANIEL DE BOOM
I was back under the tin roof at Acres of Books that Ray Bradbury especially loves when it rains, and when I went to prowl early for Bradbury books—they don’t come through so often, but I found first-edition Bester instead—someone had Lee Hazlewood playing in that [...]