From The Editor

One thing I've learned in the many years that I've been involved in Hollywood community life is that nothing ever stays the same. This year, thanks to a sweeping edict from our governor, we reluctantly said goodbye to the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency which had made such an impact in our community. The agency definitely left its mark providing affordable housing, new market rate apartments, mixed use projects and the development that got the so-called Hollywood renaissance started, Hollywood & Highland. The community engaged in art projects through the CRA's 1% for the arts.

While there was much concern about Hollywood's future sans CRA, we have begun to experience a rebound indicating that momentum has not been lost and the promise of a new Hollywood is as true today as it was before the "great downturn." 

Indeed we feel it everywhere, Hollywood & Highland is now a great place to shop for visitors and locals alike. There are numerous small shops created by creative entrepreneurs who believe in the promise and are willing to go for it. They are a joy to find. We're also discovering that when we venture eastward, there's a lot to discover in so-called East Hollywood, an area that's a wonderful eclectic mix of cultures, cuisine and lifestyles.

Then, when you think we've found just about all the wonderful unique places in this crazy quilt of a community, you turn the corner in East Hollywood and find Melrose Hill or learn that one of the music business' most successful artists has lived steps off of Sunset Boulevard on a 10 acre compound that sports an 1885 bungalow and an amazing house that is a 1909 Craftsman masterpiece.

So, as we say goodbye to 2012, we find that there's still much to discover and, yes, much further to go. Plans for major studio expansion have been announced by Paramount Pictures and Sunset Gower Studios. A major dig at Argyle and Hollywood Blvd. will have ample parking for Pantages Theatre goers, retail and restaurants plus 500 apartments as the Clarett West project resumes. Although far from reality, the community is engaged in a dialogue with the developers of the controversial Millenium project to surround Capitol Records.

Sadly we'll say goodbye to Cirque du Soleil's IRIS on January 26. It was a great run - a bit shorter than planned, but in Hollywood, life is a circus no matter who's in town.

Happy New Year!

Nyla Arslanian