South Bay Echo for Sept 16
BeachLife wows, an art show with a fortune cookie twist, the cool thing about Lawndale and a way to give back
Hello friends… Welcome to the third edition of South Bay Echo, your source of local hometown news with a real estate angle. For more on what this is all about please read my welcome post here.
This Substack is brought to you by Rosetree Real Estate, a full service real estate brokerage dealing in residential and commercial properties to both own and lease. For more information visit RosetreeRealEstate.com. DRE# 02145024
What a vibe at BeachLife
Wow, oh, wow, what a weekend it was in Redondo Beach at BeachLife Festival, bringing people together in a way that hasn’t been felt since before the pandemic. It was a three day love fest to music, sunshine and the beach life culture. I never felt more proud to be a South Bay local than watching Ben Harper Sunday night followed by Ziggy and Stephen Marley’s tribute to their father. What a special performance to witness, something that likely won’t be duplicated anytime soon. It really felt like seeing Bob Marley reincarnate. Ziggy looks exactly like him and Stephen sounds almost identical… They most definitely did the old man proud.
There were so many moments during BeachLife that were magical, but it was the atmosphere I’ll remember most. Truly one of the best. The sea of smiling faces, everyone grooving to the music, singing along to songs they know by heart and dancing, the endless dancing. For more on the festival please read the absolutely beautiful piece by my friends Mark McDermott and Rachel Reeves over at EasyReaderNews.com.
The cool thing about Lawndale
This housing and real estate report is brought to you by Rosetree Real Estate. Learn more at RosetreeRealEstate.com DRE# 02145024
For this week’s real estate report I am focusing on what I view as an up-and-coming area and that’s the city of Lawndale, once the home of Roy Rogers. I know that for many long-time South Bay residents, Lawndale does not conjure an image that’s most desirable. But when you look at it, Lawndale is really an extension of Manhattan Beach… Eastern Manhattan Beach, if you will. Perhaps a name change may be in order, LOL…
Covering just about two square miles with a population of 32,000 people, Lawndale is a great option for those looking to own property at a relatively affordable price while staying within the South Bay. There’s easy access to the beach as well as freeways and downtown. And while median home prices in almost all nearby cities are at historic highs, sale prices in Lawndale have risen most dramatically, up 38.2% year over year in August compared to 29.4% in Redondo Beach, -4.6% in Manhattan Beach and 11.4% in Torrance. Lawndale, with a median sale price of $840,000 in August, offers among the best opportunities to own property under $1 million in the South Bay.
Palos Verdes art exhibit
My friend and longtime entertainment writer for the Easy Reader newspaper, Bondo Wyszpolski, has curated a very cool art exhibit called “Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?” that opens Saturday Sept. 25 at the Palos Verdes Art Center. Reception is 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The idea for the show came from Bondo’s twisted idea to force artists out of their comfort zone… That and his addiction to fortune cookies. It’s actually a great idea because so often our best work comes from being challenged. And fortune cookies are delicious.
Bondo gathered 35 visual artists together in January of last year to spin a wheel of fortune. Attached to the wheel were fortune cookies, from which Bondo removed the fortune and replaced it with a title that would inspire a piece of artwork. There were just two requests: the piece must vary from what the artist was known for, but not veer too much into the abstract. The results will be shown Sept. 25 to Nov. 13 at the PV Art Center, 5504 Crestridge Road, Rancho Palos Verdes. For more visit PVArtCenter.org.
Family Promise supply drive
The non-profit homeless service provider Family Promise of the South Bay is hosting a supply drive for families 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at the Riviera Hall Lutheran School at 330 Palos Verdes Blvd. Family Promise is a community-based organization that seeks to remedy family homelessness. The supplies will go to help children and families in need.
Items that could be gifted include gift Cards (Amazon/Target/Walmart/Gas) Cleaning Products and Disinfectants, Laundry Detergent, Paper Towels and Toilet Paper, Personal Care Products, Individual Size Snack Foods and Juices, Coffee (Keurig) and Herbal Tea, Hot Chocolate and Cider (individual packets), Pillows (new), Dishware and Cutlery, Towels (new or gently used).
You can also order items from Amazon to be gifted directly through the link here: https://bit.ly/FPSupplyDrive
Did you see it? The SpaceX rocket
For the aerospace geeks in the South Bay, for which I know there are many, SpaceX launched a rocket out of Vandenberg Air Force Base Monday evening, Sept. 13, which was notable because the Hawthorne-based company really hasn’t launched off the West Coast for quite a while. The launch Monday carried with it the next batch of 51 Starlink satellites expected to blanket the globe with Internet access.
The reason SpaceX came back to the West Coast has to do with the orbital flight trajectory. Florida, at a lower latitude, allows for space flights orbiting East and West, while Vandenberg on the West Coast, at a higher latitude, allows rockets to go on a North to South orbit. Most of the Starlink satellites so far were all sent on a West to East trajectory with the company just now covering the poles, according to Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX president and chief operating officer, according to SpaceFlightNow.com. Various orbital paths can be useful for other purposes as well, such as weather forecasts and surveillance imaging.
SpaceX also just launched on Wednesday the first all civilian crew of astronauts for a three-day orbit around the Earth. What a ride that must be!
Go fly a kite
The 47th Annual Festival of the Kite takes place 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19, at the Redondo Beach Pier. This free community event is presented by the Redondo Pier Association and Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital. There will be a DJ, live musical performance, giveaways and prizes for highest flying kite and youngest kite flyer in addition to a Craig’s Hot Dog on a Stick eating contest. For more visit RedondoPier.com.
That’s all for now.. Thanks for reading and see you next week.
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