Thar she blows: Elon Musk’s new / retro Tesla Diner on the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and Orange Street in Hollywood, CA. Designed to appeal to the deepest techno-narcissistic yearnings of the tech genius class of Americans. . . a very small demographic. It’s all sleek chrome and glass, with overtones of UFO. Cutting Edge! Transhuman chic! America is probably as sick of the tech fantasia trend as it is with Woke ideology. We’re beginning to grok that the future isn’t what it was cracked up to be. I predict the Tesla Diner will soon become the target of flash mobs seeking Rolex watches, Hermès Birkin handbags, and the keys to hot cars parked in its modest lot.
Note (in shot below, which is likely a rendering, not a real photo) that the structure actually addresses the street-corner properly. It’s brought up to the sidewalk edge as a truly urban building with ground-floor retail should be. Parking is in mid-block. Points for that. The neighborhood is attempting to densify with multistory apartment buildings. But LA, as we know, is struggling with suicidal tendencies, what with massive homeless squalor, the “undocumented” La Raza invasion, and Marxist municipal politics. I’m not so sure the densification project will continue.
Also note (photo following the one below) just how weak and squalid the urban condition is right across Santa Monica Blvd from the diner.
You might as well be in Jolliet, Illinois.
I lived in LA for about 9 years in the '70s. Walked home 1 block from Hollywood Blvd at 10 pm unmolested. took a bus to the beach on my day off a few times. Lovely '40s vibe in a lot of Hollywood then. A few bums but you could avoid them. I cannot imagine going back now. LA and Hollywood are experiencing deliberate ruination. Another aspect of the psyop to demoralize us all. We carry what used to be and what could be in our hearts. Tell your children and your children's children... Someday, your stories may be told around the evening fire. Keep civilization alive in your heart. ~ Ginger Breggin, co-author COVID-19 and the Global Predators: We are the Prey
In our lower-energy future, parking won't be a problem any more. There may be so little electricity that you will need to make a reservation, and perhaps even buy a ticket, not just for a taxi, but for the mere elevator ride, to your 87th floor mini-closet of an apartment. Plan your shopping day carefully, or you may have to hoof it up those 87 flights with your groceries.
True fact: In Pyongyang, North Korea, poorer citizens live on the upper floors of those high rises, because it is seen as a disadvantage, given that the power to the elevators is frequently off. A sneak preview of our own future?