Life Under the Hollywood Sign

Lincoln is what S calls an urban planner's nightmare. On the one hand, it is. The long stretch of road that reaches from Santa Monica to beyond LAX is a mishmash of shops that don't belong together. A signage shop sits squashed between a chiropractor's office and a vacant storefront, and a unique furniture store can be found near the local pinata merchant. Nothing fits together. And, despite the many stores that call this street home, it's desolate.

But it holds hidden gems. Take the furniture or pinata store - at one time, the woman who runs Mary's helped furnish one of the Urban Outfitters in the city. She repaints and repairs thrift store finds until recapture their original retro feel. I have two of her pieces. Or, even more intriguing, Lincoln Fabrics. This cavernous store is messy, disorganized, and one might suspect that some of these fabrics have been there since Nixon was in office. It's the kind of place that in New York would have sent me into a near panic attack. But despite the chaos, it's quiet, and though it takes a bit of digging to find anything useful, I found exactly what I needed there, instead of at a big chain. Also, of course, on Lincoln there resides one of my favorite local restaurants - Baby Blues BBQ. Despite my original assumption, corn smothered with cojita cheese is not a likely bet at most cuban places in LA. But they serve it here and it's delicious. Their sweet tea isn't half bad either.

I'm not sure what I think should be done with Lincoln. It seems like an inefficient use of city space as it is, but on the other hand, I'm not sure I want to see it filled cute boutiques either. I sort of like it's dirty charm, but maybe that's because I spent five years in New York.