From The Ashes

Can "The Palisades" rise again?

Even though i lived through them, this past year's wildfires still don't seem real.

Call it delusion, derangement or plain old arrogance I remember the details. Grey skies raining ash in the middle of the afternoon. Flames licking the hills above your eyeline while dropping the kids off for school. LA can often seem absurd. But never more so than this past year.

For a little over a decade, I lived in the very northern end of santa monica... Those craggy bluffs, where santa monica meets the pacific palisades. A little hamlet of multi million dollar estates nestled atop the Pacific. "The Palisades", as it's known to locals, is what everyone dreams about when conjuring up California Real Estate.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOMES IN THE COUNTRY. Tucked into lush green hills in the coastal canyons. Million dollar views.

The crown jewel of American Dream, the people who lived in the palisades have the life that normies like you and me only dream about.

I know because while the rich and famous ambled around their property I was stuck in a one-bedroom hotbox on San Vicente blvd.

A rent controlled blessing in disguise. But always a normie in that crowd.

They lived that life. The infiniti pools, guest house. Theater rooms. Five, ten, hell fifteen thousand square feet. Movie stars, Media Moguls, Tech titans, Saudi Sheikhs and a few who just got lucky and bought at the right time.

Craftsmen. Mid Century Modern. Uber Modern. Spanish Haciendas. All jumbled together dotting the hillsides. I remember looking up the listings on my first iphone. Zillow and Redfin. the dawn of the digital real estate era.

Point is, I've slipped down the canyon and up Temescal and Chataqua for a million hikes. I Mountain biked mandeville back.

I've pushed 2 kids and two dogs up those trails. Watched polo matches @ will Rogers with a newborn and coors light in the diaper bag.

The Palisades is truly one of the best spots in all of LA.

And it's gone. Gone.

Now that I've thoroughly depressed you, there is a ray of hope. In that Californian's are absurd, innovative dreamers that always find a way. Provided the city helps us do that. Because... It would be a real shame. NOT TO

REBUILD THE PALISADES!

Check out episode 5 of the CryptoCabin Podcast.

#PaliStrong