Hollywood and Highland, 1908.

Los Angeles isn’t a city–it’s a region. It has no center so it can’t be fixed or ruined. But different pieces of L.A. can become their own laboratories, experimenting, pushing forward. Hollywood, that glitzy, seamy dream factory, is being reimagined as a green, urban paradise in this age of post-peak oil, though not everyone’s happy about it. The opening of Adam Nagourney’s New York Times report:

“Hollywood, once a sketchy neighborhood in a spiral of petty crime and decay, has been well on its way over the past 10 years to becoming a bustling tourist destination and nightlife district. But now it is on the verge of another transformation: to a decidedly un-Californian urban enclave pierced by skyscrapers, clustered around public transportation and animated pedestrian street life.

A far-reaching rezoning plan that would turn parts of Hollywood into a mini-city — with residential and commercial towers rising on streets like Vine, Hollywood and Sunset — has won the support of key Los Angeles officials. And it has set off a storm of opposition from residents fearful that it would destroy the rakish small-town charm of their community with soaring anodyne buildings that block views of the Hollywood Hills (and its iconic sign) and overwhelm streets with traffic.”

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“I’d like to dream / My troubles all away / On a bed of California stars”: