Issue: Issue Winter 2000/2001

From the Editor

The manufactured excitement of the new millennium has passed and, no doubt, the real beginning of the next century, (for the purists) will arrive without fanfare-thank heavens.

With the attention that has been focused on Hollywood and its "renaissance," at long last we're realizing the benefit that good publicity can bring. There is an excitement building as we see the iron pillars rising at the corner of Hollywood and Highland. Looking down at the site from the Yamashiro recently, it was exciting to see the skeleton of seating tiers in the new Academy Award theatre take shape.

As Discover Hollywood has done for many years, encourage visitors and residents to look beyond the obvious to find the treasures that exist in our midst, it's gratifying to see the delight on their faces as these explorers venture forth to find out what all the buzz is about. They are finding an area filled with a history that is vibrant and constantly evolving. Today's happenings, L.A. Confidential filmed on the streets of Hollywood or Kevin Costner sitting in a local restaurant, becomes tomorrow's lore. We are gradually learning what many twenty/thirty somethings have known for some time: Hollywood is a playground that is unassuming and unpretentious, comfortable and edgy at the same time. Confirming that Hollywood itself is a dichotomy.

More and more we're realizing that Hollywood, the place, is rich and vital, seeped in history, yet its worth is still in question. While out core-famed Hollywood Boulevard-is a declared historic district is listed with other notable structures on the National Register, the usual reverence for its significance as a National treasure has yet to be realized.

Flush with the excitement of the new it's time to acknowledge our most valuable asset-our unique history. In twenty years, a sleepy hamlet of fanciful mansions and lush gardens was overrun by newcomers who transformed this Eden and changed Hollywood and the world forever.

Before we plunge willy-nilly into the excitement of the future, we have a choice of preserving the past as we build the future. Once again, Hollywood is at a crossroads.