Echo Park's LAUSD Fight Covered By Los Angeles CityBeat

"Is L.A. Unified's ruin of an Echo Park neighborhood really necessary?"

http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/degree_in_devastation/6808/

New restrictions will affect Echo Park's historic fireplaces

"Curling up in front of a cozy wood fire on a nippy night will be banned in many parts of Southern California on bad air days under new regulations passed Friday by regional air regulators."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fireplace8mar08,0,4485269.story

Opportunities To Shape Los Angeles' Preservation Ordinance

Two upcoming public hearings offer an opportunity to weigh in on
possible changes:

http://preservation.lacity.org/node/94

Don't cheap out on vinyl siding for your house

What's can be worse than applying stucco over old wood siding? Try cheap vinyl or aluminum siding. 

 

"Replacing historic wood siding with new wood, or aluminum or vinyl siding could severely diminish the unique aspects of historic materials and craftsmanship. The inappropriate use of substitute siding is especially dramatic where sufficient care is not taken by the owner or applicator and the width of the clapboards is altered, shadow reveals are reduced, and molding or trim is changed or removed at the corners, at cornices or around windows and doors."

 

You can avoid this by reading the National Park Service's advice on appropriate substitutes for wood siding on historic buildings. Here's the link:

http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/brief08.htm