Never the 710

I grew up in a city north of Los Angeles. No, not the Valley, never the Valley. I grew up in a beach city not in a forsaken valley. Eventually I moved to LA for school and I lived in the Westside. My sister and I became roommates and she heavily subsidized my rent. I got a job in freaking Montrose, that's in Northeast LA, three freeways! No, four freeways. I needed a job, I couldn't complaint.

Then I got a job in LA right outside downtown LA. It would take less than thirty minutes to get to work. But then my sister got a job in Pasadena and started bitching about the commute. Only two freeways. And she relocated and since she subsidized my rent and offer me the same deal, I moved too.  I was only a bit resentful. We left the Westside with its cut throat parking, and its many malls, and its lovely temperate weather, and, yeah, I'm not quite over the move.

We moved to South Pasadena. No, not Pasadena. Never Pasadena, South Pasadena.  Kidding. Pasadena is not bad, just the Valley. This little slice of perfection calls itself, Mayberry. They're very confident about their community. You know that kid that banned cursing for one day or something. Yeah, he's a tiger from South Pas. High School. The city also prides itself on having great school district. It does. I'll vouch for them.

So I'm living in this amazing community paying one hundred dollars to park on the street over night. Yup, one hundred to park on the street, that's how you pay for city services there. And it turns out that the city votes. Aside from being a perfect city, South Pas. is also well known for its opposition to the expansion of the 710 freeway. Yes. The 710. That's how we say freeways down in So. Cal. In one of the greatest showings of nimby-ism, the city's voters consistently coalesced to keep their beautiful craftsman homes intack. The houses are really pretty. They're always filming around the neighborhood.  Good looking houses. If you want to run for office in South Pas. and even think about contemplating the expansion of the 710 they will vote you out of office. They will also vote you out of office if you mismanaged the capital improvements to the city's only middle school. This is all true, by the way. It is the only place where I've had to stand in line, IN LINE, for a local election.  I stood in line to vote people out of office for "thinking" about the 710 and for mismanaging the capital improvements to SPMS.

I eventually moved out of South Pas. My sister got married and my subsidy disappeared. And I moved to LA, mostly because I got a nice discount because I rent from my brother-in-law. Alto Mundo is his rental property. It's not the high life one would expect with a name like Alto Mundo. It's my fault. The name is based on geography not "the life."

I've lived in this area about 7 years now. And after so many years of living in Northeast LA, the 710 expansion has once again invaded my place of residence. One of the alternative routes being proposed, because the South Pas. route is a non-starter, goes right smack through my neighborhood and the lawn sides have sprouted yet again. The 710 is coalescing my community yet again. And as always the message is very clear, never the 710. Never.

During this election cycle, I'm voting by mail.