Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classical film noir period is regarded as extending from the early 1920s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key, black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression; the term film noir, French for "black film" or "dark film", was first applied to Hollywood films by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, but was unrecognized by most American film industry professionals of that era. Cinema historians and critics defined the category retrospectively. Before the notion was adopted in the 1970s, many of the classic film noir were referred to as "melodramas". Whether film noir qualifies as a distinct genre is a matter of ongoing debate among scholars.
Film noir encompasses a range of plots: the central figure may be a private investigator, a plainclothes policeman, an aging boxer, a hapless grifter, a law-abiding citizen lured into a life of crime, or a victim of circumstance. Although film noir was associated with American productions, the term has been used to describe films from around the world. Many films released from the 1960s onward share attributes with film noirs of the classical period, treat its conventions self-referentially; some refer to such latter-day works as neo-noir. The clichés of film noir have inspired parody since the mid-1940s; the questions of what defines film noir, what sort of category it is, provoke continuing debate. "We'd be oversimplifying things in calling film noir oneiric, erotic and cruel..."—this set of attributes constitutes the first of many attempts to define film noir made by French critics Raymond Borde and Étienne Chaumeton in their 1955 book Panorama du film noir américain 1941–1953, the original and seminal extended treatment of the subject.
They emphasize that not every film noir embodies all five attributes in equal measure—one might be more dreamlike. The authors' caveats and repeated efforts at alternative definition have been echoed in subsequent scholarship: in the more than five decades since, there have been innumerable further attempts at definition, yet in the words of cinema historian Mark Bould, film noir remains an "elusive phenomenon... always just out of reach". Though film noir is identified with a visual style, unconventional within a Hollywood context, that emphasizes low-key lighting and unbalanced compositions, films identified as noir evidence a variety of visual approaches, including ones that fit comfortably within the Hollywood mainstream. Film noir embraces a variety of genres, from the gangster film to the police procedural to the gothic romance to the social problem picture—any example of which from the 1940s and 1950s, now seen as noir's classical era, was to be described as a melodrama at the time.
While many critics refer to film noir as a genre itself, others argue. Foster Hirsch defines a genre as determined by "conventions of narrative structure, characterization and visual design". Hirsch, as one who has taken the position that film noir is a genre, argues that these elements are present "in abundance". Hirsch notes that there are unifying features of tone, visual style and narrative sufficient to classify noir as a distinct genre. Others argue. Film noir is associated with an urban setting, but many classic noirs take place in small towns, rural areas, or on the open road. While the private eye and the femme fatale are character types conventionally identified with noir, the majority of film noirs feature neither. Nor does film noir rely on anything as evident as the monstrous or supernatural elements of the horror film, the speculative leaps of the science fiction film, or the song-and-dance routines of the musical. An analogous case is that of the screwball comedy accepted by film historians as constituting a "genre": the screwball is defined not by a fundamental attribute, but by a general disposition and a group of elements, some—but and never all—of which are found in each of the genre's films.
Because of the diversity of noir, certain scholars in the field, such as film historian Thomas Schatz, treat it as not a genre but a "style". Alain Silver, the most published American critic specializing in film noir studies, refers to film noir as a "cycle" and a "phenomenon" as he argues that it has—like certain genres—a consistent set of visual and thematic codes. Other critics treat film noir as a "mood", characterize it as a "series", or address a chosen set of films they regard as belonging to the noir "canon". There is no consensus on the matter; the aesthetics of film noir are influenced by German Expressionism, an artistic movement of the 1910s and 1920s that involved theater, painting and architecture, as well as cinema. The opportunities offered by the booming Hollywood film industry and the threat of Nazism, led to the emigration of many film artists working in Germany, involved in the Expressionist movement or studied wit
Chris Brown
Christopher Maurice Brown is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Born in Tappahannock, Virginia, he was involved in his church choir and several local talent shows from a young age. Having signed with Jive Records in 2004, Brown released his self-titled debut studio album the following year, it peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, selling an overall three million copies worldwide. With his first single "Run It!" Peaking atop the US Billboard Hot 100, Brown became the first male artist as a lead since Diddy in 1997 to have his debut single top the chart. His second album Exclusive spawned his second Hot 100 number one "Kiss Kiss", in addition to "With You" and "Forever"; the album was certified double platinum by the RIAA. In addition to his solo commercial success, Brown has been featured on several singles such as "No Air", a duet with singer Jordin Sparks, "Shortie Like Mine" with the rapper Bow Wow and "Shawty Get Loose" alongside Lil Mama and T-Pain.
The songs have peaked at number three, number nine, number ten and eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 respectively. His third album Graffiti was released that year, included the top-twenty single "I Can Transform Ya". Brown's fourth album F. A. M. E. Became his first to top the Billboard 200. F. A. M. E. Earned Brown his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 54th Grammy Awards, his fifth album Fortune was released in 2012, with X, Royalty and Heartbreak on a Full Moon being released the following years, all peaking in the top 5 on the Billboard 200 charts. Alongside his work in the music industry, Brown has pursued an acting career. In 2007, he made his on-screen feature film debut in Stomp the Yard, appeared as a guest on the television series The O. C.. Other films Brown has appeared in include This Christmas, Think Like a Man, Battle of the Year. In 2009, Brown received significant media attention after pleading guilty to felony assault of his girlfriend, singer Rihanna. Brown has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists.
Throughout his career, Brown has won several awards, including a Grammy Award, 15 BET Awards, 4 Billboard Music Awards, 6 Soul Train Music Awards. According to Billboard, Brown has the seventh most Hot 100 entries on the chart with 90. Christopher Maurice Brown was born on May 5, 1989, in the small town of Tappahannock, Virginia, to Joyce Hawkins, a former day care center director, Clinton Brown, a corrections officer at a local prison, he has Lytrell Bundy, who works in a bank. Music was always present in Brown's life beginning in his childhood, he would listen to soul albums that his parents owned, began to show interest in the hip-hop scene. Brown taught himself to sing and dance at a young age and cites Michael Jackson as his inspiration, he began to perform in several local talent shows. When he mimicked an Usher performance of "My Way", his mother recognized his vocal talent, they began to look for the opportunity of a record deal. At the same time, Brown was going through personal issues.
His parents had divorced, his mother's boyfriend terrified him by subjecting her to domestic violence. At age 13, Brown was discovered by Hitmission Records, a local production team that visited his father's gas station while searching for new talent. Hitmission's Lamont Fleming provided voice coaching for Brown, the team helped to arrange a demo package and approached contacts in New York to seek a record deal. Tina Davis, senior A&R executive at Def Jam Recordings, was impressed when Brown auditioned in her New York office, she took him to meet the former president of the Island Def Jam Music Group, Antonio "L. A." Reid, who offered to sign him that day. "I knew that Chris had real talent," says Davis. "I just knew I wanted to be part of it."The negotiations with Def Jam continued for two months, Davis lost her job due to a corporate merger. Brown asked her to be his manager, once Davis accepted, she promoted the singer to labels such as Jive Records, J-Records and Warner Bros. Records. According to Mark Pitts in an interview with HitQuarters, Davis presented Brown with a video recording, Pitts' reaction was: "I saw the potential...
I didn't love all the records. It wasn't a problem because I knew that he could sing, I knew how to make records." Brown chose Jive due to its successful work with then-young acts such as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Brown stated, "I picked Jive because they had the best success with younger artists in the pop market, I knew I was going to capture my African American audience, but Jive had a lot of strength in the pop area as well as longevity in careers." Brown attended Essex High School in Virginia until early 2005, when he moved to New York to pursue his music career. After being signed to Jive Records in 2004, Brown began recording his self-titled debut studio album in February 2005. By May, there were 50 songs recorded, 14 of which were picked to the final track listing; the singer worked with several producers and songwriters—Scott Storch, Cool & Dre and Jazze Pha among them—commenting that they "really believed in ". Brown made some input on the album, receiving co-writing credits of five tracks.
"I write about the things that 16 year olds go through every day," says Brown. "Like you just got in trouble for sneaking your girl into the house, or you can't drive, so you steal a car or som
Koreatown, Los Angeles
Koreatown is a neighborhood in Central Los Angeles, centered near Eighth Street and Irolo Street, west of MacArthur Park. The rectangular area covers about 150 blocks, spanning 15 avenues. While significant links with Korean culture remain, the residents are a broad mix, with half Latino and a third Asian. Koreans found housing in the Mid-Wilshire area. Many opened businesses as they found tolerance towards the growing Korean population. Many of the historic Art deco buildings with terra cotta facades have been preserved because the buildings remained economically viable for the new businesses. Today, Koreatown is becoming one of LA's most popular neighborhoods. Despite the name evoking a traditional ethnic enclave, the community is complex and has an impact on areas outside the traditional boundaries. While the neighborhood culture has been oriented to the Korean immigrant population, Korean business owners are creating stronger ties to the Latino community in Koreatown; the community is diverse ethnically, with half the residents being Latino and a third being Asian.
Two-thirds of the residents were born outside of the United States, as a high figure compared to the rest of the city. In 1882, the United States and Korea established the United States-Korea Treaty of 1882, which ended Korea’s self-imposed isolation; the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Korea paved the way for Korean immigration to Hawaii in the late 1880s. In the early 1900s, Korean immigrants began making their way to Los Angeles, where they created communities based around ethnic churches; as the number of Koreans increased to the hundreds, their residential and commercial activities spread to the southwestern corner of the Los Angeles business district, putting them within walking distance of Little Tokyo and Chinatown. By the 1930s 650 Koreans resided in Los Angeles, they established churches and community organizations, as well as businesses that focused on vegetable and fruit distribution. In 1936, the Korean National Association, one of the largest Korean immigrant political organizations, moved its central headquarters from San Francisco to Los Angeles to continue promoting political, cultural and religious activities.
However, racial covenant laws and economic constraints limited Korean residents to an area bounded by Adams Boulevard to the north, Slauson Avenue to the south, Western Avenue to the west, Vermont Avenue to the east. The 1930s saw the height of the area's association with Hollywood; the Ambassador Hotel hosted the Academy Awards ceremony in 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934. As the entertainment industry grew in the surrounding Koreatown area, Koreans remained segregated into low-income districts because of discriminatory housing policies. After the 1948 Shelley v. Kraemer Supreme Court case prohibited racially restrictive housing policies, Koreans began to move north of Olympic Boulevard to establish new homes and businesses. In the late 1960s, the surrounding neighborhood began to enter a steep economic decline; the once-glamorous mid-Wilshire area became filled with vacant commercial and office space that attracted wealthier South Korean immigrants. They found many opened businesses in Koreatown. Many of the area's Art Deco buildings with terracotta facades were preserved because they remained economically viable with the new commercial activity that occupied them.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 removed restrictions on Asian migration and helped further the growth of the immigrant community in Koreatown. By the late 1970s, most businesses in the Olympic Boulevard and 8th Street areas were owned by Koreans; this economic boom led to the creation of Korean media outlets and community organizations, which played a key role in developing a sense of communal identity in the neighborhood. The ethnic enclave was able to establish itself as the primary hub of the Korean community in Southern California, the residents lobbied for the installation of the first Koreatown sign in 1982; the 1992 Los Angeles riots had a significant impact on the community, solidifying the importance of community-based nonprofit organizations, such as the Koreatown Youth and Community Center and Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance. These organizations advocated for reparations and protections for Korean Americans, who received little support from government authorities as a result of their low social status and language barrier.
During the time of the riots and Korean Americans were facing racial strife. In many predominately Black neighborhoods, Korean citizens owned the majority of businesses; when white residents left the area, Koreans purchased their businesses from them for little money. Rapper Ice Cube spoke of this, along with Asian suspicion of Black residents in his 1988 album "Death Certificate" during the song "Black Korea". On March 16, 1991, a Korean store owner, Soon Ja Du, shot and killed a 15-year old, black customer, Latasha Harlins. Du accused Harlins of stealing orange juice, after watching her slamming down the jug and turning to leave, shot her in the head; some historians view Du's posting bail as the breaking point in tensions. The 1992 unrest stimulated a new wave of political activism among Korean-Americans, but split them into two camps; the liberals sought to unite wit
Music of Los Angeles
As well as being one of the most important cities in the world in the film industry, Los Angeles, California, is one of the most important places in the world for the recorded music industry. Many landmarks in Los Angeles - such as Capitol Records, which resembles a stack of albums - are representative of this. A&M Records long occupied a studio off Sunset Boulevard built by Charlie Chaplin; the Warner Bros. built a major recording business in addition to their film business. During the 1930s and 1940s Los Angeles had a vibrant African-American musical community when it was small: a numund Central Avenue, the community produced a number of great talents, including Charles Mingus, Buddy Collette, Gerald Wilson, but in the 1950s it disappeared. In the 1950s Ritchie Valens was a rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted eight months, as it abruptly ended when he died in a plane crash. In the 1960s the Sunset Strip became a breeding ground for bands like The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Spirit and The Doors.
The Beach Boys were founded in nearby Hawthorne. In the 1970s, bands such as Toto were some of the most'heard' bands on radio. There was a sizable punk rock movement in the 1970s which spawned the hardcore punk movement featuring bands like X, Black Flag and Wasted Youth. Los Angeles' original late 1970s punk scene received less press attention than their counterparts in New York or London, but it included cult bands the Screamers, the Germs, the Weirdos, the Dils, the Bags, 45 Grave, Nervous Gender, X. There was an East LA music scene that spawned bands like Los Lobos, The Plugz, Los Illegals among many others. In the 1980s, the Paisley Underground movement was native to Los Angeles in rock music. In rap music, the seminal career of N. W. A. would lead the development of G-Funk out of the combination of P-Funk and gangsta rap. Much internationally acclaimed hard rock has come out of Los Angeles since the 1980s, including hard rockers Van Halen from nearby Pasadena. In the early'90s, many of the biggest alternative rock / alternative metal bands such as Tool, Jane's Addiction, Rage Against the Machine and Red Hot Chili Peppers hailed from the Los Angeles area.
In the mid-1990s, Los Angeles' contribution to rock music continued with acclaimed artists such as Elliott Smith, Beck and Sublime of Long Beach. At the end of the 1990s, the nu metal band Linkin Park was formed in Agoura, was named after Lincoln Park in Santa Monica, near their recording studio. In addition, the gangsta rap and G-funk of the solo careers of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg, among related acts, flourished in this decade and reestablished Los Angeles as a center of African-American musical development and G-funk as one of hip-hop's major living styles. In the late 1990s, indie rock artists such as Eels rose to fame. In the new millennium, the city retains its importance as a center of live rock music, of the music industry. After 2000, LA based noise rock acts like Liars, Health and No Age became famous worldwide touring bands; the Game became one of the most prominent voices in modern hip-hop, rising to prominence internationally in part due to a feud with New York's famous rapper 50 Cent.
The L. A. indie scene rides the wave through neighborhoods like Hollywood, Los Feliz and Echo Park, which have given rise to such bands as Weaving the Fate, Moving Units, Rilo Kiley, Autolux, Scarling. Giant Drag, Best Coast, Local Natives; the venue The Smell became a prominent spot after 2000 where many new avant garde indie rock acts like Abe Vigoda, Ancestors, BARR, Foot Village, Carla Bozulich, Captain Ahab, David Scott Stone, Laco$te, Lavender Diamond, The Mae Shi, Mika Miko, Nite Jewel, Mellowdrone, No Age, Silver Daggers and Upsilon Acrux started their careers. The rap-rock group Hollywood Undead represents one of the most prominent acts of the so-called budding scene music subgenre developing in Los Angeles out of the emo subculture; the rave scene and electronic music have become popular in Los Angeles in the late 2000s and 2010s. House music and drum and bass, which have all developed strong scenes in Los Angeles; the Electric Daisy Carnival festival, an electronic dance music festival and had an attendance of over 185,000 people over a two-day weekend.
Making it the largest dance music festival in North America and one of the largest in the world. Other festivals such as Together As One, Monster Massive and Hard Fest have had attendances of 50,000+ to 125,000+, Which undoubtedly makes Los Angeles the rave capital of North America. Los Angeles party crews garnered cult followings in the city's expanding nightlife culture. Event organizers Brownies & Lemonade, Space Yacht, Ham On Everything continue to host curated event series that showcase lesser-known electronic music artists; the event series vary drastically in both venue type. Past events have been held at Union Nightclub, The Roxy Theatre, the El Rey Theatre along with a variety of warehouse and gallery locations. Brownies and Lemonade helped foster the growth of artists Ryan Hemsworth, Jai Wolf, Louis the Child, Sam Gellaitry, Prince Fox, others by providing a platform for lesser known electro
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,988 officers and 2,869 civilian staff, it is the third-largest municipal police department in the United States, after the Chicago Police Department and the New York City Police Department; the department operates in a population of 4,030,904 people. The LAPD has been fictionalized in numerous films and television shows throughout its history; the department has been associated with a number of controversies concerned with racism, police brutality, police corruption. The first specific Los Angeles police force was founded in 1853, as the Los Angeles Rangers, a volunteer force that assisted the existing County forces; the Rangers were soon succeeded by another volunteer group. Neither force was efficient and Los Angeles became known for its violence and vice; the first paid force was created in 1869, when six officers were hired to serve under City Marshal William C. Warren.
By 1900, under John M. Glass, there were one for every 1,500 people. In 1903, with the start of the Civil Service, this force was increased to 200; the CBS radio show Calling All Cars hired LAPD radio dispacher Jesse Rosenquist to be the voice of the dispatcher. Rosenquist was famous because home radios could tune in to early police radio frequencies; as the first police radio dispatcher presented to the public ear, he was the voice that actors went to when called upon for a radio dispatcher role. During World War II, under Clemence B. Horrall, the overall number of personnel was depleted by the demands of the military. Despite efforts to maintain numbers, the police could do little to control the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots. Horrall was replaced by retired United States Marine Corps general William A. Worton, who acted as interim chief until 1950, when William H. Parker succeeded him and would serve until his death in 1966. Parker advocated police autonomy from civilian administration. However, the Bloody Christmas scandal in 1951 led to calls for civilian accountability and an end to alleged police brutality.
The iconic television series Dragnet, with LAPD Detective Joe Friday as the primary character, was the first major media representation of the department. Real LAPD operations inspired Jack Webb to create the series and close cooperation with department officers let him make it as realistic as possible, including authentic police equipment and sound recording on-site at the police station. Due to Dragnet's popularity, LAPD Chief Parker "became after J. Edgar Hoover, the most well known and respected law enforcement official in the nation" at that time. In the 1960s, when the LAPD under Chief Thomas Reddin expanded its community relations division and began efforts to reach out to the African-American community, Dragnet followed suit with more emphasis on internal affairs and community policing than solving crimes, the show's previous mainstay. Under Parker, LAPD created the first SWAT team in United States law enforcement. Officer John Nelson and then-Inspector Daryl Gates created the program in 1965 to deal with threats from radical organizations such as the Black Panther Party operating during the Vietnam War era.
The old headquarters for the LAPD was Parker Center, named after former chief William H. Parker, which still stands at 150 N. Los Angeles St; the new headquarters is 300 yards west in the purpose built Police Administration Building located at 100 W. 1st St. south of Los Angeles City Hall, which opened in October 2009. The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners known as the Police Commission, is a five-member body of appointed officials which oversees the LAPD; the board is responsible for setting policies for the department and overseeing the LAPD's overall management and operations. The Chief of Police reports to the board; the Office of the Inspector General is an independent part of the LAPD that has oversight over the department's internal disciplinary process and reviewing complaints of officer misconduct. It was created by the recommendation of the Christopher Commission and it is exempt from civil service and reports directly to the Board of Police Commissioners; the current Inspector General is Mark P. Smith, the Constitutional Policing Advisor for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The OIG receives copies of every complaint filed against members of the LAPD as well as tracking specific cases along with any resultant litigation. The OIG conducts audits on select investigations and conducts regular reviews of the disciplinary system in order to ensure fairness and equality; as well as overseeing the LAPD's disciplinary process, the Inspector General may undertake special investigations as directed by the Board of Police Commissioners. The Office of the Chief of Police has the responsibility for assisting the Chief of Police in the administration of the department; the Chief of Staff is responsible for coordinating the flow of information from command staff to ensure that the Chief is informed prior to making decisions and coordinating special administrative audits and investigations, assisting and submitting recommendations to the Chief of Police in matters involving employee relations. The Office of the Chief of Staff is composed of the Board of Police Commissioners Liaison, the Public Communications Group, the Media Relations Division, the Employee Relations Group.
The Director of the Office of Constitutional Policing and Policy Police Administrator III Arif Alikhan reports directl
Hancock Park, Los Angeles
Hancock Park is a historic and affluent residential neighborhood in the central region of the City of Los Angeles, California. It has many mansions from the early 20th century. Many celebrities have been known to live here. Hancock Park is built around the grounds of a private golf club. Developed in the 1920s, the neighborhood features architecturally distinctive residences; the neighborhood is low density, with a 70.7% white educated, older-aged population of 10,600+ people. Most of the residents are home owners. There are four private and two public schools in the area. Hancock Park was developed in the 1920s by the Hancock family with profits earned from oil drilling in the former Rancho La Brea; the area owes its name to developer-philanthropist George Allan Hancock, who subdivided the property in the 1920s. Hancock and raised in a home at what is now the La Brea tar pits, inherited 4,400 acres, which his father, Major Henry Hancock had acquired from the Rancho La Brea property owned by the family of Jose Jorge Rocha.
Hancock Park activists were instrumental in the passage of a 1986 Congressional ban on tunneling through the neighborhood. The ban, sponsored by Congressman Henry Waxman, prevented the Red Line Subway from being routed along Wilshire Boulevard through the neighborhood. According to the Mapping L. A. project of the Los Angeles Times, Hancock Park is flanked by Hollywood to the north and Windsor Square to the east, Koreatown to the southeast, Mid-Wilshire to the south and southwest and Fairfax to the west. Street boundaries are Melrose Avenue on the north, Arden Boulevard on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south and La Brea Avenue on the west; the neighborhood surrounds the grounds of the Wilshire Country Club. As of 2007, the Hancock Park homeowners association counted about 1,200 homes within the boundaries of Melrose Avenue, Wilshire Boulevard and both sides of Highland and Rossmore avenues; the 2000 U. S. census counted 9,804 residents in the 1.59-square-mile neighborhood—an average of 6,459 people per square mile, including the expanse of the Wilshire Country Club.
That figure gave Hancock Park one of the lowest densities in Los Angeles. In 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 10,671; the median age for residents was 37, considered old. Hancock Park was moderately diverse ethnically; the breakdown was whites, 70.7%. Korea and the Philippines were the most common places of birth for the 26.3% of the residents who were born abroad, a figure, considered low compared to rest of the city. The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $85,277, a high figure for Los Angeles, a high percentage of households earned $125,000 or more; the average household size of 2.1 people was low for the city of Los Angeles. Renters occupied 52.7% of the housing units, house- or apartment owners 47.3%. The percentages of never-married men and women, 41.3% and 34.4% were among the county's highest. The 2000 census found 203 families headed by single parents, a low rate for both the city and he county; the percentage of military veterans who served during World War II or Korea was among the county's highest.
Hancock Park has a population of Orthodox Jews. According to Teresa Watanabe of the Los Angeles Times there are no clear figures but an estimate of 20% by the Jewish Journal." Hancock Park is home to nearly all subsections of Orthodox Judaism. The Chasidic Jewish population is growing at an above-average rate due to high birth rates within the community. Orthodox Jews are required to be in walking distance to their synagogues, Hancock Park is in walking distance to the La Brea Avenue-area synagogues. Teresa Watanabe stated some Orthodox families cited the large size of houses as a reason for moving there, others cited a higher housing value compared to Beverly Hills, other cited a proximity to the Yavneh Hebrew Academy; as of 2007 there were six Jews on the 16-member board of directors of the Hancock Park Homeowners Association. As of 2007 the number of Orthodox Jews in Hancock Park is increasing; as of that year there had been disputes between their neighbors. Hancock Park residents were considered educated, 56.2% of those aged 25 and older having earned a four-year degree.
The percentage of residents with a master's degree was high for the county. The schools operating within the Hancock Park borders are: Yeshiva Rav Isacsohn/Torath Emeth, private elementary, 540 North La Brea Avenue Bnos Esther, private high school, 116 North La Brea Avenue Third Street Elementary School, LAUSD, 201 South June Street Samuel A. Fryer Yavneh Hebrew School, private elementary, 5353 West Third Street Marlborough School, private school for young women, 250 South Rossmore Avenue John Burroughs Middle School, LAUSD, 600 South McCadden Place Multiple residences of consuls general are within Hancock Park. Since 1957, the residence of the Los Angeles British Consuls-General has been in a home designed by the renowned architect Wallace Neff and completed in 1928; the residence is at the Hancock Park address of 450 S. June St. Los Angeles, CA 90004, backs the Wilshire Country Club; the residence was where Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge stayed in July 2011 on their first visit to the United States after their wedding.
Antonio Banderas Anacani, actress and accomplished seamstress Stacey Bendet, fashion designer Nat King Cole and first black resident Natalie Cole, singer Jan Crull, Jr. Eric Eisner, producer Bruce Feirstein, writer Melanie Griffith Patricia Heaton, actres
Pocket park
A pocket park is a small park accessible to the general public. Pocket parks are created on a single vacant building lot or on small, irregular pieces of land, they may be created as a component of the public space requirement of large building projects. Pocket parks can be urban, suburban or rural, can be on public or private land. Although they are too small for physical activities, pocket parks provide greenery, a place to sit outdoors, sometimes a children's playground, they may be created around a historic marker or art project. In urbanized areas downtowns where land is expensive, pocket parks are the only option for creating new public spaces without large-scale redevelopment. In inner-city areas, pocket parks are part of urban regeneration plans and provide areas where wildlife such as birds can establish a foothold. Unlike larger parks, pocket parks are sometimes designed to be locked when not in use. Small parks can increase the value of nearby homes. One study conducted in Greenville, South Carolina, found that "attractively maintained small and medium parks have a positive influence on neighboring property values."
Pocket parks, such as the Balfour Street Park, can be created from small unused areas of public land. In Santiago, the first pocket park was created beside of Palacio La Moneda at Morandé Street, it was an initiative of Architecture Departament of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Regional Government of Santiago. In Mexico City, there is a city program to create up to 150 pocket parks of 400m2 or less on vacant lots or on land, part of a large intersection, such as Jardín Edith Sánchez Ramírez and the Condesa pocket park. In England, a 1984 project to involve the local community in the creation and running of small, local parks has fostered several pocket parks in Northamptonshire, was developed by the Countryside Commission into the Millennium Green and Doorstep Green projects. In Columbus, Polaris Founder's Park was opened in 2011 and holds a 35-foot wind sculpture. In Los Angeles, where there are restrictions on how close registered sex offenders can live to parks, local officials planned three pocket parks to drive "undesirables" from a given area.
Parklet Pocket parks in Northamptonshire
Windsor Square
City of Los Angeles
