After our over-the-top chocolate indulgence experience, we decided to walk around Beverly Hills to see what additional damage we could do to our diets get some exercise and walk off a few calories.
Beverly Hills is kind of a surreal place. It was originally a lima bean ranch (I did NOT make that up), but was subdivided into building lots in 1906. It was one of several planned communities in the area that were specifically all-white and non-Jew. We Californians like to think we never had the discrimination issues so prevalent in the South, but BH is evidence that this is false, although lawsuits were settled in 1948 that allowed blacks and Jews to move into the city, years before major Civil Rights legislation. These days, African Americans still only make up 2.2% of the population, but Beverly Hills has the largest Jewish population per capita of any city in the United States. Iranian Jews are especially dominant and make up over 25% of the city's population of 35,000. Some sources say that overall, Beverly Hills is 60% Jewish, and Wikipedia says Beverly Hills High School is "predominantly Jewish."
Anyway, back to how BH became BH. It helps to have good roots. A group of wealthy investors incorporated the city in 1914. Then it really got rolling when Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford built a home in Beverly Hills in 1921, starting the mass migration of The Beautiful (and rich and famous) People to the area.
Oh, and it doesn't hurt that Beverly Hills is built on top of an active, continuously producing oil field discovered in 1900. Perhaps even more productive than the Beverly Hills Oil Field, however, is one of the most famous shopping streets in the world, Rodeo Drive, and the surrounding shopping area, the Golden Triangle.
After bypassing the above entrance to Rodeo Drive, we came upon Jack Colker's 76 Station, a gas station straight out of the Jetsons. This unique futurist style of the 1950s and 1960s, known as "Googie" architecture, originated in Los Angeles and reflected America's obsession with cars, jets, space travel, and the Atomic Age.
The most famous example of Googie architecture is the Theme Building at LAX:
The term comes from "Googie's," the name of an LA coffee shop with this distinct architectural style. "Googie" was the nickname of the owner's wife.
Beverly Hills is kind of a surreal place. It was originally a lima bean ranch (I did NOT make that up), but was subdivided into building lots in 1906. It was one of several planned communities in the area that were specifically all-white and non-Jew. We Californians like to think we never had the discrimination issues so prevalent in the South, but BH is evidence that this is false, although lawsuits were settled in 1948 that allowed blacks and Jews to move into the city, years before major Civil Rights legislation. These days, African Americans still only make up 2.2% of the population, but Beverly Hills has the largest Jewish population per capita of any city in the United States. Iranian Jews are especially dominant and make up over 25% of the city's population of 35,000. Some sources say that overall, Beverly Hills is 60% Jewish, and Wikipedia says Beverly Hills High School is "predominantly Jewish."
Anyway, back to how BH became BH. It helps to have good roots. A group of wealthy investors incorporated the city in 1914. Then it really got rolling when Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford built a home in Beverly Hills in 1921, starting the mass migration of The Beautiful (and rich and famous) People to the area.
Oh, and it doesn't hurt that Beverly Hills is built on top of an active, continuously producing oil field discovered in 1900. Perhaps even more productive than the Beverly Hills Oil Field, however, is one of the most famous shopping streets in the world, Rodeo Drive, and the surrounding shopping area, the Golden Triangle.
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| The northern terminus of Rodeo Drive where it intersects with Sunset Boulevard. I was willing to contribute to the local economy, but Bob wanted to press onward. |
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| Photo from here |
