Neighborhoods

Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 12 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database . 10 neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Encino (A) was the most unusual, recording three reports compared with a weekly average of 0.5 over the last three months. Mission Hills (K) topped the list of two neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded 12 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 7.4 over the last three months.

As part of a campaign to enhance and preserve neighborhoods citywide, the Planning Commission Friday made 50 recommendations for east Anaheim. Planning Commission Chairman Bob Messe said most of east Anaheim is "lovely, but some areas need improvement. . . . If we are able to get all these recommendations in, it will be an improved area and a model for the rest of the city." A blighted area south of the Riverside Freeway and east of State College Boulevard is among those that would benefit.

The metro neighborhoods of San Diego have been a battlefield for the last few years, with developers and construction companies on one side and homeowners on the other. In addition to living in one of these areas, I am a real estate agent who works in the neighborhoods--North Park, University Heights, Normal Heights, Hillcrest, Golden Hill--and I find myself listening to both sides and often being asked for an opinion or a solution.

On the surface, the matter before the Cultural Heritage Commission on Wednesday was a proposal to preserve the architectural character of two residential neighborhoods in the Miracle Mile area. But the real issue was change--whether a trend toward high-density housing will continue there and whether 60-year-old buildings with gables, towers and curving archways will survive north of Wilshire Boulevard.

After years of debate, council members have declined to make any changes to the mix of homes and industrial shops in one of the city's oldest districts. The council this week adopted updates to a planning document guiding development, but voted against a zoning change for the Logan neighborhood. Five property owners asked that the area be zoned all industrial to better accommodate business needs.

The Buena Clinton neighborhood, once known as one of Orange County's most blighted areas, will celebrate a remarkable turnaround today with the grand opening of the Buena Clinton Neighborhood Center. The center sits on land that formerly held rundown, crime-plagued apartment complexes. City Manager George Tindall said at least $10 million from federal, state and local funds has been spent to give the neighborhood a face-lift.

Visit Ballona Shores, L.A.'s newest beach resort. OK, it's not a resort. It's really a neighborhood near the Ballona Creek drainage channel, and the name is a joke. Sort of. It came up when officials of the Los Angeles County Flood Control Management District had bad news and good news to share with residents of the area near Venice and La Cienega boulevards.

Howard and Carole Storrie were recently honored by the city as Neighborhood Heroes. The Storries arrived in Santa Ana from Michigan as a young married couple in 1959, working ever since to make the Valley Adams neighborhood a nicer place to live. Both helped develop the Valley Adams neighborhood association. They have represented the interests of the neighborhood before the City Council for years and still deliver monthly association meeting notices door to door.

Jacques was an unlikely neighborhood mascot. The papillon-terrier mix with imposing pointed ears weighed just 10 pounds, but his personality outweighed his poundage. With his 25-foot leash tied to a stake in the frontyard of his owner's Palm Street home, the black-and-tan dog played daily with about 50 visitors--and many of their pooches. He became known as a "greeter," "mood lifter" and "security guard."