Photo of the Day: Coastal reflection

Spotted this morning at the corner of Centinela and Washington in Mar Vista.

Credit: L.A. Land

--Peter Viles

Photo of the day: what a bank bailout really looks like

Inspired headline and photo combo, no? Hat tip to Calculated Risk, who was wider awake than yours truly this morning.

-- Peter Viles

Photo of the Day: Falling prices, before your eyes

Photo credit: Christopher Zyda

A colleague sent this photo along. The house is on Coldwater Canyon. You can see the house itself by clicking below.

Photo of the day: buyers wanted

Saw this in the Valley today and thought I'd share. Here's the website for the homes.

-- Peter Viles

Photo Pop Quiz: Name that bank (Update)

This photo (please excuse the poor quality) was taken in a Los Angeles-area bank over the weeken and cropped so that you can't see the bank's logo. Here's the quiz: Which bank has this "limited"  5%-interest offering on CDs?

Update: Yes, as most of you guessed correctly, it's WAMU.

--Peter Viles

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to Peter Viles

Photo Credit: L.A. Land

Photo of the day: A Neutra in motion, on Sunset

This is from Brian Thomas Jones' excellent photo essay on LATimes.com about the process of moving a Richard Neutra house from Brentwood to Angelino Heights. Here's the crib, heading east on Sunset in Hollywood.

Hat tip: LAObserved. I didn't notice this great photo until I saw it there.

-- Peter Viles

What $1 buys in: Detroit

Zillow's Diane Tuman chased down this photo, and several others, from the Detroit News, and they're worth a look. This is the house that sold recently for $1. That's not a typo, it sold for a dollar.

I'll reprint what Detroit News reporter Ron French told Diane about the looting of vacant houses in Detroit: “As soon as they know it’s empty, it’s like a gazelle limping in the Serengeti — they will take it down. You will see people pushing a wheelbarrow down the street, full of siding or copper. They take everything.”

-- Peter Viles
Photo credit: Bearing Group Real Estate via The Detroit News

Waiting in line: That was then... This is now.

October 7, 2003, Simi Valley

In Simi Valley, in 2003, people camped out for the chance to buy a yet-unbuilt condo for about $300,000.
Photo Credit: Bob Carey, L.A.Times

July 14, 2008, Pasadena

In Pasadena today, depositors line up to take their money out of IndyMac Federal bank on its first day of operation as a federally-run bank.
Photo Credit: Al Seib, L.A. Times

Hat tip: Commenter Buz, who wrote of today's IndyMac picture, "Reminds me of the lines that used to form outside new housing developments a few years ago. People literally camped out overnight to be first in line..."

Photo of the Day: When construction jobs disappear

This picture shows idle construction trailers in the Inland Empire. It's a snapshot from Sandler O'Neill & Partners analyst Aaron Deer's recent tour of the I.E.

News item from the L.A. Times today: According to today's report on the job market, "the construction sector was among the hardest-hit parts of the economy, losing 43,000 jobs" in June.

Note: Because the Inland Empire is a center of California's booming logistics industry -- which includes warehousing -- it's likely that these trailers reflect a construction slowdown far beyond the I.E.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo: Sandler O'Neill & Partners

Pricey on Pico: $4.75 a gallon in West L.A.

I'm seeing a lot of $4.29's on the Westside, but I saw this one this morning at the corner of Pico and Barrington. That's some expensive gasoline. There must be something special in it.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com
Photo Credit: L.A. Land