Welcome New Readers

Happy new year and welcome to Atwater Village Newbie, a nominee for LA City Nerd's 2006 Blogger, a proud member of the blog-LA-sphere and, in the words of our esteemed blogging colleagues at LAist, "quite a good neighborhood blog." What is Atwater Village? A banana-shaped Los Angeles neighborhood, just inside northeast city limits, with about 8,000 residents. In ways a microcosm of LA: average housing prices (for LA), a mix of people and languages, palm trees and graffiti, struggles between tradition and progress. Unlike some LA hoods, though, a distinct village feel: outdoor movies, well-heeled sidewalks, holiday trees, mom-and-pop shops, farmers markets, and bickering about Starbucks. Where is Atwater Village? Between I-5 and the Los Angeles River to the west, highway 134 to the north, railroad tracks and Glendale to the east, and highway 2 and the Elysian Valley neighborhood to the south. Is Atwater Village on the east side of LA? Depends. It's east of the LA River, so yes. And it's 20 miles from the nearest beach. But it's north of downtown LA, and it's not adjacent to Latino-dominated East LA. Plus it's next to Glendale. And Burbank. Which might, to some, make Atwater Village part of the San Fernando Valley. (Definitely not the east side). To keep people from getting itchy, it's best not to say, "Atwater Village is eastside." Try instead, "Atwater Village is on the east side." Get the difference? No? Me neither. Who Is the Newbie? In 2006 Mrs. Newbie and I migrated from Colorado to California. In March, when we reach our one-year anniversary here, we will no longer be newbies and will be, according to the LA Times, LA veterans. (Subject to approval by other members of the blog-LA-sphere.) Looking for more? Perhaps these previous posts will help answer recent requests: Is the new Canele bistro on Glendale Blvd. any good? Do the Black Eyed Peas have a recording studio in Atwater Village? Didn't the Beastie Boys have one too? Sad about Atwater resident Matthew Merrill. What happened? Any giant new housing developments in the neighborhood? Or college campuses? What post, if any, riles up the most people? (See here for most recent riling) Is this blog really the #1 Google result for trendy red wine? Speaking of trendy, isn't Atwater Village one of those up-and-coming hipster hoods? Latte, anyone?