Wooden Door

Spotted this door in Old Town. I am always drawn to old doors that lead to apartments above shops. I waaaaaannnnna go in and poke around. I'm a hopeless look-ee-loo!

Bessie Redux

Bessie's been repainted and memorialized in a sign! She's here to stay. :)

Monrovia Station Design Meeting

Full color design concepts for the proposed Monrovia Gold Line Station will be presented at the next Monrovia Station Design Meeting on Monday, October 2nd at the Community Center's Monroe Room from 6:30–8 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend. For more information about past meetings and the current stage of the project, visit the Foothill Extension website or call 626-305-7026.

Pool Tables

I was walking past Fourth Dimension on Myrtle the other day and spotted the rare sight of it empty. Usually there are many kids smoking and drinking on the patio, and piled around the tables inside. I liked the way the light looked on the tables. They almost seem to float.

The Monrovian

Night shot of the Monrovian Restaurant sign. Feels SO mysterious. :)

Doggie in the Window

I often see this little doggie in the window when I'm out walking in
Old Town Monrovia. He loves to watch what's happening down below and
I love seeing his cute face up there looking down. Looks as if he's
shedding his coat something fierce.

Sidewalk improvements have begun

Along Myrtle Avenue souther of Lemon sidewalk improvements have begun, and some pretty brickwork will be added.

New Library Floorplan (sneak peek)

Have a look at the new Monrovia Library Floorplan. The link will give you a PDF file which you can zoom in on and see details. Basically, the entry of the new library will be on Myrtle Ave. (see red arrow), and on the right of the entry will be a community room and on the left a bookstore.

On the south side of the building will be a decided children's room, along with "big cozy" seating area and a children's desk. In addition there will be computers, homework areas, a parent/teacher area and even a "tiny tots tech" table. The north side of the library will include fiction, non-fiction, reference, computer tables, a periodicals & reading area, study areas and a heritage room. Very exciting!

Coyote

In the few years I've lived in Monrovia, I've been lucky not to have had any run-ins with coyotes. I've seen them, yes, on more than one occasion, but it hasn't been a problem. I go my way and they go theirs. Usually by the time I take a second look, they have vanished.

I have seen them late at night, brazenly wandering down the middle of the road, and up people's driveways, driven by hunger. As a pet owner, I always get a little stab of fear in my gut when thinking that my own animal family could be in danger. My rule was to keep them locked in the house at dusk, through the night, and not let them out until the sun was high in the sky.

Last week I had to re-evaluate all this. I was talking with a friend in my driveway and we both spotted a large scruffy coyote trotting up the driveway across the street. He saw us but didn't seem bothered. I made a mental note and kept on talking. I said I was glad I had put up fencing in my front yard to make it less desirable for coyotes to just wander in.

My friend was getting ready to leave. Then we heard an awful sound—that of a badly injuired small dog. The yelps were blood curdling, and we both cringed in silence as the sounds of terror and pain kept coming. I felt frozen in my spot. It must have been the coyote we had seen not ten minutes before, and he had attacked a dog on the next street over. I ran in and called animal control. Now it seems that they are hunting in broad daylight, in 90-degree weather. It was a weekday, so perhaps on the weekends they would stay away and I could let my pets outdoors then. Not so.

Sunday rolled around and I heard my housemate yelling as she was unloading some groceries from her car. "Amanda!" she shouted. "Get the pets inside." I ran out to where she was and she was pointing to our gate. "Right over there, he was standing, looking in, very interested." I rounded up the pets and locked them in the house, pondering ways to keep the beast away.

I feel sorry for them and their diminishing habitat, their hunger, their desperation and constant need to hunt. I felt frustration at our own freedom being curtailed. Such is life, I suppose. For now, I may have find a way to mark the permiter of my territory, in a way that this coyote can understand.

Photo by Chris Chapman

Bikeboom Calendar

I'm going to add a link to the Bikeboom calendar to my right-column. I discovered this today via Cityfeeds LA, which I currently have as my homepage. It's kind of like a Google News page, but all for local stuff happening in L.A., and the information is compiled from local bloggers. On top of today's list was mention about the a piece on riding bikes with friends, and through that I found the Bikeboom Calendar. If you have a special ride that you'd like to organize, the Bikeboom Calendar seems like the place to put it!

I was out riding my bike yesterday and the only other people I saw on bikes were wearing white shirts and black ties. You know what that means: more Monrovians need to get out and on their bicycles....!

New Construction Plans

Lots of new development will be starting in the vicinity of Old Town in the coming months. In the next couple of weeks, however, construction on "screetscape" sidewalk and street improvements will begin (from the 600 block of Myrtle north to Foothill), and on Sept. 25th, construction will begin on the Colorado Commons project.

By December, it is hoped by city officials that construction can begin on the Barratt Homes' Myrtle/Olive 14-unit residential project (pictured above). Representative of Barratt Homes have filed a new application with a revised plan that, according to City Manager Scott Ochoa, has a much better design. "The retail component at Myrtle and Olive has been expanded to allow for more viable commercial space. Overall, the project provides for better unit design, additional common recreational area, more viable retail and addresses the Historic Preservation and Planning Commissions’ concerns with the livability of the project."

This project will be placed at the Neff Instruments' location, and will extend the walking area of Old Town further south.

Food, Wine & Jazz

If there's one thing locals enjoy, it's getting out amongst each other in Old Town. Sunday will be another such opportunity as the Old Town Monrovia Food, Wine and Jazz Festival rolls around again. It will be held in Library Park from 5-8:30 p.m. and tickets are $60 at the door or $50 in advance. Call 626-303-6600 for more information.

Photo by Mark Borowski

New Library Floorplan Approved

The Monrovia City Council has approved a new 28,000 square foot floor plan for the highly anticipated new library, according to library board member Charlotte Schamadan. "It is not as big a space as we'd hoped for, but it is double the size of the present facility and it will meet our needs far better than the existing mid-century structure."

"Budget concerns forced us to cut back a bit on the size of our library, but not on the dream of creating a new and vital facility for the children and adults in our town. Like the high school's bell tower, the library, sitting serenely in the center of Library Park, is the true anchor of Old Town. Amid the hustle and bustle of shopping and dining, the library reminds us all of the cultural amenities we enjoy here and the privileges we cannot take for granted."

Schamadan says that they have not yet seen illustrations from the architect, but I will be posting floorplans here as soon as they are available. She said the new entrance would be on Myrtle, and that the new library would have a bookstore connected to it that would be open beyond regular library hours.

Photo by Alexa Rabini

Queen Anne Cottage Interior

There are many Victorian homes in Monrovia, but one of the best is in neighborhing Arcadia, which houses the Queen Anne Cottage at the L.A. County Arboretum. Keith J. got a fabulous shot, and created a high dynamic range image from it.

Take Care of My Home

Here is a new trailhead sign in Monrovia Canyon Park. I like the acorn shape!

Photo by Keith J