Adapting Our Views
But when we travel for awhile far from our mundane habits, visiting different countries, we compare what we experienced to our usual environment.
Then, it seems, we truly see our city for the first time. We realize all of the existing changes and problems.
Last month I visited Armenia and Paris.
Two Different Faces
Armenia, an old country that has newly obtained her independence, is a developing country.
This is in contrast with France, an old, traditional and also futuristic country. I was amazed by the changes that have taken place in a year in a city like Paris, which we can say is overcrowded but at the same time is well-organized.
So Unlike Los Angeles
The first attraction for a visitor in each country is the lifestyle of its citizens.
They walk in the streets of their cities. Most of their spare time they spend in common places, like streets, parks, concerts, museums, cafes. The second contrast with Los Angeles is the vast green spaces that both countries have.
A Welcome Splash
In Yerevan, almost on every corner there is a park with ponds, fountains, flowers and decorative fruit trees.
Little cafes are in every park, offering a cold drinking fountain, which also exists in many streets.
The water is delicious; especially because when the weather becomes warmer the water becomes cooler.
They have also started selling bottled water.
Running Water vs. Bottled Water
But tasting the running water reminded me of the beautiful fountains in Paris.
(A British tourist was walking in Paris years ago, and he was very thirsty. He could not find drinking water. Upon his return to England, he designed nice green metal fountains with four women holding together. He offered it to the city so no one ever would stay thirsty in Paris. But ever since the bottled water came into fashion, few of the fountains remain. One by one, they have been disappearing.)
A Dry Future
I told myself that in some years, the Yerevan fountains probably will dry out as the economy will push the plastic bottled water instead.
In the fancy restaurants of Yerevan, usually there are live music and singers. The nice thing is that in the parks there are benches and playgrounds for children.
In daytime or especially at night when the weather cools down, people come out and take walks.
Gradations of Entertainment
Not many homes have air conditioning. When they can afford the outing, people go to the fancy restaurants.
If they do not have too much money, they go to the less expensive cafes.
And if they do not have money to spend or they have eaten their food, they walk. When tired, they sit on the benches.
But everyone is able to watch the dance of the fountains and listen to the live music coming from the restaurants.
Striking a Balance
The French build. But at the same time, they preserve.
In Paris every year, they add to their green spaces and parks.
On this trip I saw that they had added green alleys between the roads. This is so people can walk inside instead of using sidewalks.
In most green alleys, they have brought new playgrounds with modern toys and sand.
Recreation for All
They have built ping-pong tables made of granite stones. Young and old play on their lunch breaks or in spare times during the week and on weekends.
Spaces have been carved out for skating and for tennis.
In both places, parents were reading, knitting or talking to each other while their children were playing.
Safe? Of Course
In both cities, people walk until very late hours.
There is no fear of theft or rape. You can hear them laughing, talking, walking, eating ice creams, crepes or the pink Barbe a Papa.
Built for Keeps
Walking in Paris, I was admiring all of the old buildings standing there for centuries.
All the art and architecture that have been used on the buildings can make you watch them for hours.
Still, on every visit you can find a new place that you missed before.
Trees are trimmed nicely every season.
Flowers are planted by colors.
Mass Comfort Is the Objective
The streets are cleaned many times a day. In some places, even the city workers drive cars that pour water on the floor by pressure and wash the sidewalks.
Seemingly every tax penny that the citizens are paying is used for their comfort and well being.
Meanwhile back home, it is different. Sometimes when I am walking in Los Angeles, only two or three other people are walking.
Stretching Out? No Way
Everyone is driving in the car, many while on their cell phones.
The streets are dirty. Some have not been cleaned for months.
The streets remain usable by the grace and generosity of home or business owners. Even in some sections of Robertson Boulevard, they rarely clean the street. When the city vehicle passes, you ask yourself if the driver is taking a ride or cleaning?
Leaves and dirt pile up on the curbs. What odors. When rainy season arrives, streets flood because the drains are clogged. You do not have to wonder why. then it floods in the street as the drains are clogged.
As for Pedestrians
Sidewalks are so narrow or so damaged that walking becomes dangerous.
The trees are trimmed, I was told, each 11 years.
Sometimes beautiful trees break. They fall on people or on cars because their branches become so heavy that the tree is not able to support them and we lose another natural beauty in the city.
(Most times, they are not even replaced.)
Who Knows Best?
On Pico Boulevard, developers have decided we need high-rise buildings and expensive condos!
In the first section of a street, 20 single houses were bought. Soon they were turned into 200 condos. (Some are not yet sold. Still new ones are built.)
Let Us Count the Contrasts
If we look through the entire neighborhood, there are no parks, no green space, no playgrounds.
No music.
No fountains.
No flowers.
The birds are singing less.
We do not see many lizards anymore.
Garbage is added one hundred times.
The consumption of water adds up.
Pondering Tomorrow
Are we prepared for disasters when we are going high on the buildings and are adding on to the population?
People who buy these expensive condos do not even have a green space they can enjoy.
They are going to work in air-conditioned offices, and they return to air-conditioned rooms and watch TV.
Just think of the traffic that has gone from the car owners of 20 single-family homes to 200 condos in one neighborhood.
Did I Hear Global Warming?
The regular yards are reduced to a little front plant.
Tall and beautiful trees that existed in the yards have disappeared.
Some people who create these developments dare even to talk about global warming!
I wish the city planners would travel in other countries less developed than ours.
And then take a walk in our neighborhoods.
Arent We Caretakers?
Are we thinking of the beauty of our city?
Its characteristics?
The forms and colors?
Soon we wont even be able to see the sun or the Hollywood Hills.
Are we turning the City of the Angels into a Box City?
