Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill VOL. XXXVIII NO. 40
Signal Hill City Council approves speed-limit changes Council also narrowly approves language policy for memorial bricks. Sebastian Echeverry Staff Writer
Speed limit During its Sept. 27 meeting on Tuesday, the Signal Hill City Council voted to approve an ordinance that changed the speed limit on 15 street segments located in Signal Hill and parts of Long Beach. The City’s Public Works Department conducted a traffic survey in compliance with a California vehicle code that mandates City officials to do so every five years. The results helped the public works staff determine what sections of the city’s roads needed an adjustment to its speed limits. Bill Zimmerman, the City’s traffic engineer, advised the council to increase the speed limit on three of the 15 roads as recommended by the survey’s results. Alamitos Avenue to Hill Street increased to 30 mph, 33rd Street to 32nd Street climbed to 35 mph and I-405 to Spring Street was elevated to 35 mph. Councilmember Larry Forester voted against the ordinance. He did not understand why the speed limit needed to change three times in a certain section of roadway. “I’m really confused with the logic behind it, so I’m voting against it,” Forester said. “It is what it is.” Speed-limit decreases were approved in 12 street segments, including the locations of Willow, Hill and 28th streets and Walnut, Obispo, Junipero and California avenues. Marijuana The city council voted to place an ordinance for a medical-marijuana tax on the next ballot. Recently, two petitions for medical marijuana passed through the city– one was about the selling of medicinal cannabis within city limits, and the other was a proposition for the City to tax the sale of said marijuana. see COUNCIL page 15
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
September 30, 2016
Snap judgment Architect amplifies personality of hundreds of local buildings via social-media platform. Cory Bilicko Managing Editor
R
afael Rosas has a knack for using his iPhone to snap compelling photos that seem to capture the quirky personalities of local buildings. He has amassed a collection of hundreds of images and shared them on Instagram, which necessitates that all photos be posted into a square format. That geometric restriction has proven to be a benefit, rather than a detriment, to Rosas, whose images clearly are the work of someone who understands construction, in the first place, as well as pictorial composition, to document these buildings in a visual social-media platform. Having a degree in architecture may have something to do with his ability, but a love for old-school Hollywood glamour, believe it or not, has also influenced his eye for determining what makes an engaging photo of a building. The 44-year-old architect, who was born in Queretaro, Mexico but now lives in Long Beach, began taking the pictures a few years ago. It started as somewhat of a hobby but eventually became something more purposeful as he photographed structures that caught his eye in Signal Hill, Long Beach and the surrounding area. “First, it was purely aesthetics– buildings that I liked and could be photographed well,” he said. “Later, I began to notice there were certain architectural elements that I wanted to photograph for personal record– kind of an archive of inspirational images.” Previously, he had been inspired by something altogether different. “During my college years, I was obsessed with fashion photographers of the Golden Age of Hollywood, like Horst P. Horst, Cecil Beaton and Edward Steichen,” Rosas said. “Their photographs were not only perfectly composed, but the subject’s striking personality was at the heart of each image. Such idea is what I learned to seek every time I take a photograph– the personality of a building. I also feel like I’ve become, not only a
photographer, but a historian surveying the architecture and urbanism of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.” When asked what it is that strikes him about a place and compels him to stop and snap its photo, he said, “Everything implicit about its existing aesthetic conditions. By that, I mean reading instantly its shapes, order, light, colors, plants, materials and/ or its urban context– and how these elements harmonize so well, which makes me visualize a great capture.” Others have taken note. EIS Design, an exhibit designer in New York City, contacted Rosas about his photos. “They wanted to exhibit Instagram accounts that reflected the city of Los Angeles, and they liked mine,” Rosas said. “They wanted me to let them use photos so they can digitally display them. I said yes.” What began as a social-media-centered pastime has resulted in a permanent exhibit in the lobby of One California Plaza in downtown L.A. ✦ Rosas can be found on Instagram as @mmeviolette.
Signal Hill Park—2175 Cherry Avenue
$3.00 Per Wristband (required for all activities)
Photos courtesy Rafael Rosas
Local architect Rafael Rosas has turned the lens of his iPhone toward the buildings that capture his eye in Long Beach, Signal Hill and the surrounding area. He has posted hundreds of these photos on his Instagram account in the last few years.