CathrynDC

​Updated at the bottom with a statement from Verizon and some additional background. First posted at 8:09 a.m.

It's a data-hungry world, and now we want it wherever we are. Thus cellphone companies have been on a quest to find new locations for its data towers. Not only that, but they've had to get creative with how the towers appear.

And so the "cellphone tree" -- towers made to look more incognito -- was born. See that vertical tree-like pole? Perfectly natural. There are palm tree cell phone towers and pine tree cell phone towers.

Verizon Wireless wants to put one of the latter in Glassell Park, but ...

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​The $1.5 million Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier is going to look like a hamster wheel next to this thing.

It's called a "Great Observation Wheel," and it's manufactured by British company Great City Attractions. Models in Asia, Australia and Europe are up to 60 metes in diameter and generally much more classy-looking than America's Ferris, with futuristic glass pods to sit in and a setup/takedown time of a couple weeks. All very sleek and efficient and, well, Euro.

The Venice Neighborhood Council, along with the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, is looking at setting one up...

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Beverly Hills vs. Metro.

​Beverly Hills schools have been in a battle with Metro over its plans to tunnel under the famous 90210 high school as part of the "Westside Subway Extension."

As our Patrick Range McDonald reported in an LA Weekly cover story, the line has essentially been bent from a more straight shot down Santa Monica Boulevard to coincide with plans by a friend-of-L.A.-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to build a skyscraper on "sleepy" Constellation Boulevard. And that would put the subway and tunneling under Beverly Hills High.

This week Metro, where Villaraigosa holds much sway, issued a report stating that seismic activity begs it to move the subway stop to Constellation. The school district is pissed:

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'Slums of Beverly Hills' ... as if.

​Los Angeles has the largest homeless population in the nation. There's 48,000 people on the streets in L.A., more than enough to replace each person in Beverly Hills -- and then some. (That would be somethin' ... ).

Interestingly, that gilded city would be surrounded by L.A. if it weren't for West Hollywood. This week the Beverly Hills Courier reports that the city's latest homeless count came up with ... 37 people on the mean streets of B.H.

How does Beverly Hills keep the homeless out?

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Councilman Greig Smith

​Damien Newton of LA Streetsblog has an interesting piece about a potential conflict between bike activists and neighborhood councils, though it may wind up in peace, love and harmony.

Backstory: City Councilman Greig Smith, who represents district 12 in the Valley, has offered a motion forcing the L.A. Department of Transportation to get input and final approval from the relevant neighborhood council when putting in new bike amenities, e.g., bike lanes. To Newton at Streetsblog, this seemed like it was setting up a conflict between bike activists and neighborhood councils, and would ultimately be viewed by the cyclists as a backdoor way to prevent new bike lanes -- a hostile power grab by autos in the never-ending conflict with cyclists. But maybe not.

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Councilman Paul Krekorian

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The City Council this week moved $1.3 million and five full-time positions from the Community Development Department to the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, which oversees the city's 91 elected neighborhood councils.

Neighborhood council types cheered and breathed a little easier, as it seemed a sign that a plan hatched by Mayor Villaraigosa earlier this year to save money by merging DONE with CDD is dead, at least for now.

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Gregory Bojorquez

L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti

​Yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved entitlements for a massive high-density project in Hollywood, where a 28-story residential building, a 7-story hotel, and a 17-story office tower are planned for construction at Columbia Square on Sunset Boulevard.

City Council President Eric Garcetti, who represents the neighborhood where the project is located, said the redevelopment of the landmark site will usher in a "new Golden Age" for Hollywood, but some community activists aren't so sure.

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Proposed site for Vendome Palms Apartments in Silver Lake

​Last Friday, the Los Angeles City Council approved a $6.2 million loan to a non-profit housing organization so it can build a 36-unit apartment complex for the homeless and mentally ill near Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake, much to the chagrin and surprise of community activists in that area.

"We hadn't heard anything about this (project) since 2008," says Scott Crawford, a member of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council who's not speaking for that group. "There was no public notice whatsoever."

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Gail Goldberg, who hoped to bring high-density, transit-oriented development to Los Angeles but was accused of being too friendly to builders, has resigned as the city's top planner, leaving a key vacancy. The Weekly is reaching out to people all over the city to get their ideas about the type of person who should replace Goldberg, and what vision that person should bring to Los Angeles and its future. If you have your own ideas, Email us.

So far we've heard from Damien Newton of Streetsblog LA.

This time, Jay Handal, West L.A. Neighborhood Council chairman, weighs in, and he's pessimistic.

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Gail Goldberg, who hoped to bring high-density, transit-oriented development to Los Angeles but was accused of being too friendly to builders, has resigned as the city's top planner, leaving a key vacancy. The Weekly is reaching out to people all over the city to get their ideas about the type of person who should replace Goldberg, and what vision that person should bring to Los Angeles and its future. If you have your own ideas, Email us.

First up, Damien Newton, proprietor of Streetsblog LA, which advocates for smarter development that is friendlier to pedestrians, street-life and bikes.

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DiCastro knows how to get these fixed.

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In these lean budget times, services are being cut, which means more trash, potholes and unwanted liquor stores in your neighborhood, in a city already known for having well enough of all of the above. City workers have many more demands on them and are being asked for contract concessions, and so are more surly than usual.

Add it up, and L.A. residents have to learn how to master the byzantine ways of city government to get some help in their neighborhoods. Allan DiCastro, president of the Mid-City Neighborhood Council, or MINC, has mastered it, insofar as it can be. After the jump, DiCastro explains what you have to do to get the city to solve your problem.

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