Streetsblog had been following up with city staff, trying to get a status on when and if the city was planning to clear the rocks. Then, yesterday, Streetsblog bicycled around the corner and noticed that the rocks were gone. No word yet on whether they were cleared by the city, or by whomever had them placed there.
The Westmoreland Avenue site where the infamous rocks used to beThe former Westmoreland Avenue site of the Ktown rocks
The Westmoreland rocks in March, with Streetsblog editor for scaleKoreatown rocks, with Streetsblog editor for scale
After Streetsblog broke the rock news, other media - including CBS2, ABC7, and Fox11 - picked up the story, hyperbolically upgrading the two-to-three-foot tall rocks to "mysterious large boulders” causing a “crisis in Koreatown.” The city of L.A. soon posted a notice that it would clear the rocks. At the scheduled time and date in February, city trucks and crews showed up, but couldn’t access the rocks due to parked cars.
Now they're gone.
The rocks didn't solve Koreatown homelessness. Get involved with groups like Ktown for All and PATH to help with that.
But the Westmoreland rocks apparently inspired other, more recent, unhoused-hostile copycat installations nearby. The two examples below are within a half-dozen blocks of the Westmoreland rocks; both appear to be on private property, not in the city right-of-way.
Koreatown's Ralphs market, at 3rd and Vermont, hardscaped a formerly landscaped area surrounding their signKoreatown's Ralphs market, at 3rd and Vermont, replaced a small landscaped area surrounding their sign
It's not clear that a fire marshal would approve of these new large rocks blocking the apparently little-used front door of an office building on Shatto PlaceNot sure that the Fire Marshall will like these large rocks blocking the apparently little-use front door of the office building at 519 Shatto Place
Santa Monica's recently completed 17th Street bikeway improvements have a "region leading design" featuring Southern California's first protected "Dutch-style" intersections, plus concrete curb protection, and makes great connections to the city's growing bikeway network
New concepts for rapid bus service across the 626 have ironed out the questions of where an East-West route would run and where demonstrations could begin.
Metro and Caltrans eastbound 91 Freeway widening is especially alarming as it will increase tailpipe pollution in an already diesel-pollution-burdened community that is 69 percent Latino, and 28 percent Black