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Before LA became Tinseltown, it was an oil town
- litoE 2y agoEven in Beverly Hills. Here's a street view of Beverly Hills High School's athletic field a couple of years ago. The oil derrick has been removed since then, but they are still extracting oil there. https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0597113,-118.4099141,3a,75y,294.44h,99.71t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sGSrRK68G7ikNfIBfBOdvWA!2e0!5s20180401T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DGSrRK68G7ikNfIBfBOdvWA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D294.44482200767106%26pitch%3D-9.711414791137273%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0597113,-118.4099141,3a,75y,...
- ikety 2y agoBaldwin Hills is my favorite part of LA. Historically rich African American neighborhood. Tons of great views, really good location overall in LA. Nice access to LAX, the water and downtown isn't too far. And of course tons of oil derricks near Kenneth Hahn. Highly recommend.
- kcrwfrd_ 2y agoCulver City Stairs (aka Baldwin Hills Scenic Outlook) is an amazing outdoor workout destination as well.
- ikety 2y agoDefinitely, I would have done it more often if I didn't have asthma.
- forgot-im-old 2y agoBaldwin Hills over Griffith?
- ikety 2y agoThe only thing missing from Griffith is the ocean. On a super clear day you can see the ocean but 9/10 times you see can only see a little past downtown. It is definitely the most iconic and can't miss view, but Baldwin Hills is less crowded and more 360 views
- vondur 2y agoHuntington Beach located in Orange County, south of Los Angeles used to have oil wash up on the beach due to it seeping from the ocean bottoms. Signal Hill located near Long Beach California used to be completely covered with oil pumping rigs. Even in Long Beach close to PCH and 2nd street there are still active oil wells.
- sroussey 2y agoTar on the beach was a mainstay of my childhood, and now almost completely gone. No more pressure pushing oil naturally on to the beach. Turpentine on my feet post beach was never fun.
- throwawayq3423 2y agoI walked my dog on manhattan beach last year and he got tar everywhere. Never again.
- nox101 2y agoLong beach also has those oil well islands. https://la.curbed.com/2018/9/28/17858248/history-long-beach-oil-islands-thums https://la.curbed.com/2018/9/28/17858248/history-long-beach-...
- analyte123 2y agoIt really shouldn't be a point of pride for any kind of "researcher" to have the revelation as an adult that oil has been important in the history of the California economy. I could understand this level of naive astonishment and bitter demonization if all your education came from an elementary school textbook, but this author is supposed to be some kind of public intellectual. From the tone of this article, you would think that oil is some kind of purely toxic, useless substance that fiendish villains decided to dig up for fun and hate, "boosterish paper[s] smirk[ing]" all along. I imagine the state of the world if the oilfields in LA and elsewhere had been "left fallow" as the author's misapplied metaphor desires. It is not good: starvation, deprivation, no modern materials or planes, extremely restricted technology development. On the other hand, those of us who still managed to be born likely wouldn't have computers and we'd be spared from having to read this.
- pixl97 2y agoThe difference between medicine and poison is the dose.
- JohnMakin 2y agoI agree with the first part of what you said, I mean, every native angelino has at one point made a field trip to the tar pits. What did he think the tar was?
- MaxHoppersGhost 2y agoPeople like the writer of TFA that lament the historical and ongoing production of oil really show just how ignorant people are of how our insanely high standard of living came to be. Oil production is a net benefit for the world in ways that can’t be overstated.
- colechristensen 2y ago> but that was over 20 years ago. We’ve made scant progress. Ugh. At this moment, 74.2% of California’s electricity is coming from renewables, overwhelmingly solar. Nearly 8% of new cars sold in the US are electric, a similar number of total cars on the road are electric. In ten years it will be nearly 100%.
- throwup238 2y ago> At this moment, 74.2% of California’s electricity is coming from renewables, overwhelmingly solar. It's even better than that! The rest is mostly nuclear and hydro so at this moment only 12% of California's power supply produces significant amounts of CO2 [1]. [1] https://www.caiso.com/todays-outlook/supply https://www.caiso.com/todays-outlook/supply
- fcccccbjjv 2y agoUnless I'm missing something this is the instantaneous generation, ie it needs to be averaged over 24hr (actually over the year) to get a real picture of CA's energy mix. (Also, I wouldn't put hydro in the clean energy in CA)
- jvanderbot 2y agoIt's a bit misleading to say Hydro doesn't tackle climate change, though it is environmentally unfriendly. One particular political party loves to make jokes about "clean" energy, by conflating different definitions of clean. Generally, I think it's fair to say climate change is the biggest concern, so I am comfortable when "clean" or "green" refers to CO2 free.
- fcccccbjjv 2y agoMy concern with California hydro is the water wastage. Nothing excuses the amount of water California wastes.
- fcccccbjjv 2y ago
- user3939382 2y agoI heard the movie business started there to get out of reach of enforcement of movie camera patents back east. If true that’s pretty ironic since the whole industry is built on IP rights.
- kyleee 2y agoWin by any means necessary and then lock it down to prevent upstarts and competition. A time tested strategy
- JohnMakin 2y agoIn addition to other sibling comments - often this “enforcement” heavily involved the mafia, which had less of a foothold on the west coast.
- Clamchop 2y agoAnd in part because of the diversity of landscapes to film in. Westerns and such were never going to be filmed in the east.
- DaoVeles 2y agoAnd then the TMZ came into limit those landscapes. For good reason though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_zone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_zone
- treebeard901 2y agoThe weather and diverse geography played a role too. Many sunny days needed for filming.. Locations not far from L.A. that can represent many different climates and landscapes in film. There are tons of reasons why it was all built. Many explain why other places are starting to compete more with Hollywood. Even the Disney style Unreal Engine scenery is a threat to advantages Hollywood had.
- gxs 2y agoInteresting, I always heard it was started by Jews looking to get away from racism back east. I might have to do a little reading myself to clear this up
- keiferski 2y agoMany/most of Raymond Chandler’s works are set in the time period when LA was gradually shifting from oil to film as its predominant industry. I believe oil executives were in a few of the stories as villains too. Great reads if you’re interested in the era.
- no_exit 2y agoUpton Sinclair's Oil! is pretty good too.
- mezentius 2y agoAbsolutely. Chandler was in fact employed by an oil company before he tapped a richer vein (sorry) with his fiction. Incidentally, while re-reading Chandler's "The Lady in the Lake," I realized that the scene in which Marlowe meets his employer, dozing off in a "high-backed chair" in his club's library, was a description of the library at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Today, if you're a member (or know one), you can pop up to the third floor, still preserved in all of its interwar ersatz-Gilded-Age splendor, and doze off in one of those distinctive high-backed chairs after a drink and schvitz. It turns out that Chandler had worked across the street when employed by Dabney Oil, and visited the L.A. Athletic Club frequently.
- keiferski 2y agoAh you’re right, I’ve read a few biographies of Chandler but somehow totally forgot he worked for an oil company. IIRC it was a job he got through his father in law. Great trivia about the club - will definitely have to visit that if I make it to LA again.
- ahazred8ta 2y agoThere was a Rockford Files episode where he distracted a crooked businessman in LA by buying the mineral rights under his house and sending a drilling crew to his front yard.
- bdcravens 2y agoPerhaps that means that there's hope for Houston when oil inevitably declines.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- keernan 2y agoMy dad was transferred to LA when I was in 9th grade in 1967. I was excited at the thought of living in warmth amid enormous palm trees. Alas, I was shocked to see so many oil rigs yards from the land side of the coast highway. PS: I absolutely loved living in LA. Alas, we only stayed 2 years.
- marc1 2y agoOil Wells are hidden around LA: https://lamag.com/lahistory/hidden-oil-wells https://lamag.com/lahistory/hidden-oil-wells