Neighborhood

Re "Built With Middle-Class People in Mind," March 6: I live exactly three blocks east of the 180 block of Kelton Avenue and have been a proud member of this terrific Westside neighborhood for 12 years. During this time, I've seen many tear-downs and new condo/townhouse developments put in place of older buildings. Usually, the buildings being removed have not been kept up, nor do they have any architectural significance. However, the duplexes on Kelton Avenue are in mint condition and are quite unique for the neighborhood.

After having witnessed the disaster on Montana Avenue, I thought I might be the only one opposed to this so-called improvement. I was relieved, then, to discover there are many, many more ("Residents, Merchants Protest Montana Ave. Lane Restriping," March 19). "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" should apply to the oxymoronic Santa Monica Planning Commission in this case. Montana was a nice, accessible, though no longer quiet, street. Two lanes on each side meant you could pass up the rubbernecker looking for Robert Redford's offices or the 33 1/3-r.

He dances in the alley when the music's right, remembering the days when he made machine guns during the week and in his off hours slipped on a satin shirt and black-and-white shoes and gathered a band of horn blowers to play weddings along the Nile. He was the singer, a high-rise hairdo and a voice to match. The neighborhood knew him, but the neighborhood pretty much knew everybody; still, Saber Saad felt special, microphone in hand, his two-tones tapping in the lights, the wind carrying his music through marsh grass and out to the desert, dying somewhere beneath the stars.

We live within two doors of three separate houses that are made available as "transient rentals" as covered in "It's a Vacation on the House," April 16. Ventura has been remiss in enforcing the city ordinances that prevent this abuse. These de-facto "hotels" are against the law and operate at a cost to the neighborhood living standard. JOHN WHITMAN Ventura

Our hearts go out to the surviving family and friends of Keith Brown, who was slain July 23, particularly to his widow and daughter. As parents of a son who was murdered on July 24, 1993, almost two years to the day of Mr. Brown's death, we truly understand the pain and grief they are going through. My wife, like Mrs. Brown, is a block captain active in Neighborhood Watch in our area of West Hills. Quite naturally, we are very concerned about the safety and well-being not only of persons active in Neighborhood Watch, but also of the entire community.

In answer to City Councilwoman Laura Chick's article (Oct. 17) concerning land-use controversies, we would say that Laura Chick is a typical professional politician who had no regard or concerns for 150 Keswick-Louise Avenue neighborhood homeowners. Her claim of serving and listening to all her constituents is totally false. The only one she served in our case was the applicant, while the homeowners were left in the dark. The only time we got a meeting with Chick was when we demanded it (18 calls were made to her office in Los Angeles, and we were given the runaround)

We would like to welcome staff writer Berkley Hudson to our Pasadena neighborhood. My wife and I are also residents of Northwest Pasadena, just a few blocks west of the area Hudson is writing about in the series "Newcomers on the Block." We often go on early morning walks in that direction. I was interested to see that Hudson and his wife had asked a lot of the same questions my wife and I asked before we purchased our home two years ago. Like them, we are white and had fears about buying in a neighborhood where we would be a minority.

There was something about the trees that had Officer Christine D'Alena mesmerized. While walking her beat in a neighborhood of University Park last week, she repeatedly glanced from one side of the street to the other, her eyes always returning to the trees. D'Alena says that burglars, who have victimized the neighborhood for more than 19 months, breaking into 50 homes, could be anywhere--even in the trees. Tall, stately pines line the streets in front and behind homes.

A large bear roamed in a residential neighborhood this week, spending two hours swimming in pools, eating garbage and trying to enter homes before going back into the forest, authorities said. The incident occurred Wednesday in the Hastings Ranch area, prompting Pasadena officials to activate the reverse 911 system to alert residents. The bear was estimated to weigh 400 to 500 pounds and described as seeming at home in the neighborhood. Officials said the bear caused no damage, but they said residents should stay indoors if it returns.

Gwen Trenier has lived on a quiet, palm tree-lined street just south of Crenshaw High School for 16 years, seemingly insulated from the crime and gang-related violence that surrounds her neighborhood on four sides. But for the first time she can remember, Trenier is fearful that youth gangs that operate at the fringes of her neighborhood may be moving closer.