West Adams Historical District 100 years and counting....

A rarity these days, I was born in Los Angeles in an area now called the West Adams Historical District.
http://www.westadamsheightssugarhill.com/HistoricWestAdams.html These were the days when street lights
told us when it was time to come in from riotous play. Neighbors were our surrogate parents, and believe me they took their jobs seriously! If you "acted up" at their house, you were in for double trouble when you got home! I didn't realize it at the time but Marvin Gaye was my neighbor about seven doors down!
It was home, and that's all we knew. I never imagined that I would find myself back in the "HOOD", raising my youngest, riding bikes down the very streets I rode my bike at about the same age..so amazing!
I brought with me my lifes experience of creating art through Landscape Design, Restoration, Community Activism, and diplomacy. My neighborhood is culturally diverse and architecturally stunning! I am inspired
by the building techniques, creative use of materials,use of light and natural resources.
It makes total sense to live simply and sustainably when the old ways are laid out for you with built-ins, basements, attics, clothes-lines, carriage houses!

Anyway, one of my neighbors wanted to remove their hundred year old lawn and replace it with a drought tolerant garden! They were just in time to qualify for a $'s for Lawn rebate program offered by The Dept. of Water and Power. The homeowners did not want an irrigation system and plantings could not be more than three feet high, low maintenance and of course compliment the architecture, whew!
My inspiration came from the Caribbean sea. If you squint, you might imagine what the bottom of a healthy sea looks like. The colors and textures will touch one another as the succulents mature.
This garden is totally sustainable, very little if any water is needed. When the garden was completed, my neighbors were refunded almost $1,000! Oh, and the coolest thing is that this garden was nominated and won West Adams Heritage Association's Best Garden for 2010! I say, who needs just plain old grass when you can have a garden that conserves water and refreshing to look at?
These are the kind of ideas and solutions I bring to my community, the community that watched over me when I walked to school. The village we call neighbors that kept an eagle eye out for shenanigans. It's a good feeling to be a part of what's good about community! I want to continue to share by launching my General Store for Sustainable Living and creating spaces for gardens while inspiring positive change.

It feels good to be home!OOPS  Gotta go, I've got some laundry to take off the line and hang another load up!
Be good to yourselves, thank you for checkin in!
Peace Out!