Apr
14
Update on City Manager Search:
Filed Under About Los Alamitos, City Council Meetings, Teamwork | 15 Comments
(4/14/00 by Dave Emerson) Last night’s Los Alamitos City Council closed session ended with no reportable action on selecting a City Manager or on the ongoing negotiations with mid-level managers.
Is the majority working hard to address Gerri’s concerns?
Did they want to give Dean Zarkos some time to get up to speed before taking a vote?
Did Dean or someone else bring up something nobody had thought of before?
Did the Council deadlock?
Read more
Dec
6
4 reasons I love So Cal (& Los Alamitos)
Filed Under About Dave Emerson, About Los Alamitos, Southern California | 1 Comment
(12/6/08) Today I’m writing as a native Southern Californian who’s lived here all of my 58 years, and maybe just a bit as a Los Al Realtor.
Every now and then it hits me what a very special place I’m privileged to live in. Today was one of those days. There are many things to love about Southern California, here are a few that hit me today:
- The weather: December 6th, 2008. Forecast high in Los Alamitos in the mid 70s. Low in the fifties. Crystal clear, warm, sunny day. I took my shirt off when I went outside to jog a couple miles. Try doing that in Chicago! We went to the Seal Beach Christmas parade last night in shirt sleeves. O.K., I’ll admit that we haven’t needed rain gear in years past for that one. But only once.
- The sunshine: Every year I tally in my journal the number of days I don’t see the sun. It averages about five. 360 days of sunshine a year, but with sea breezes! That’s because Los Alamitos is the perfect distance from the ocean–a few miles away, so the coastal clouds almost always burn off by noon, but close enough to keep the climate moderate year round. And close enough we can get to the beach in just a few minutes.
- The geography: Almost all Los Alamitos residents live about 12 minutes from the beach, and just a minute or two from a nice local park. An hour from the San Gabriel Mountains, which include a peak over 10,000 feet high and two major ski resorts. To the east, the San Bernardino Mountains include a peak over 12,000 feet high, several alpine lakes, and three more major ski areas. From the 605 freeway bridge over Coyote Creek I could see both mountain ranges clearly this morning, as well as Mt. San Jacinto, just South of Palm Springs. (Did I mention the deserts?) It’s not all that hard to snowboard (or ski) and surf (or boogie board) on the same day, but I would recommend a wet suit for the Pacific in winter.
The rivalry: Right now, I’m taking a break from the USC – UCLA game, where my Westwood alma mater is doing better than expected. . . so far. USC-UCLA is the only true cross-town rivalry among NCAA Division 1 schools in the country! Both schools are within the Los Angeles city limits, only about 12 miles apart. Many USC students live in Westwood, by UCLA. When I went to UCLA, it wasn’t uncommon for athletes from the rival schools to room together. My best friend in high school went to USC while I went to UCLA.
Rival banners are flying throughout my neighborhood. Three of the sixteen families on my cul-de-sac include UCLA alumni, but we have SC season seat holders anchoring the start of the street. My mother and I both graduated from UCLA, my son’s girlfriend hopes to go there. The managing partner of my real estate office is a USC alumn. Both schools are outstanding institutions with great traditions. And a great, but generally friendly rivalry. As a tribute to the Trojans, let me share the words to USC’s famous Fight Song, at least the way I learned them at UCLA (with apologies to my friends from “Figueroa Tech”):
Fight on! for USC.
You pay a fee; you get a degree!
You’ll be smarter than me, because I went to USC!
I went to USC! I went to USC!
Just kidding. Really. Not trying to alienate 2/3 of the city. Seriously, I think they’re both great schools, one public, one private, Just two of several dozen outstanding colleges and Universities that ring Los Alamitos, ranging from Cal Tech to Biola to CSULB to UCI.
I could go on and on. Diversity. Opportunity. Culture. Great churches and museums nearby. Great beaches. Great mountain biking. Outstanding schools, both public and private. A small town feel where local kids help sell Christmas trees to raise money for the youth center on land donated by Ganahl Lumber, and where you might just find the Mayor’s the volunteer helping you pick out your tree. That’s happened to me here in Los Al–I doubt many Los Angeles residents can say that.
Sure, we’ve got too much traffic, but locals figure out ways to deal with a lot of it. And hopefully our City Council will eventually make it enought of an ongoing high priority to eventually make some progress.
For me. Los Alamitos is a great place to live year round. If you live someplace else and want to move here, I just happen to know two good Los Alamitos Realtors.
Happy Holidays from Los Alamitos, Southern California’s “sweet spot!”
