By Shelton A. Gunaratne @ 2010

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Los Angeles is big and sprawling both in terms of population and area.

If you are talking about Greater Los Angeles, also called the Southland, you are referring to the large urbanized area comprising five countiesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚Los Angeles (88 cities with 9.9 million people), Orange (34 cities with 3 million people), Riverside (27 cities and 2.1 million people), San Bernardino (25 cities and 2.1 million people), and Ventura (10 cities and 753,200 people)ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚with a total population of 17.8 million in an area covering 35,316 square miles. (Holy Cow, the whole of Sri Lanka covers a mere 25,333 square miles!)

The Los Angeles Metropolitan Area refers to the area covered by the adjacent Los Angeles and Orange counties with a joint population of 12.9 million.

The Los Angeles County of 9.9 million people spans an area of 4,752 square miles.

The smallest unit is the city of Los Angeles encompassing an area of almost 500 square miles with a population of 3.8 million.

Recapitulation

I quote from the Travels of a JournalistƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚18 published 20 March 2010:

I was an exchange instructor at Fullerton College in 1983 occupying the residence of my exchange partner, Larry Taylor, at 2903 Wellesley Court, Fullerton, a suburb of Los Angeles. I arrived with my family in California on 2 Feb. 1983, and we decided to make use of our weekends and the summer break to explore the West Coast to the fullest.

The Journey of a JournalistƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚6CƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  (published 3 Oct. 2009) also mentions my exchange year in Fullerton, which ended in January 1984. However, none of the previous installments revealed the story of how we explored Greater Los Angeles during holidays and weekends throughout our stay in Southland.

We landed in Los Angeles on a Wednesday ahead of the Air New ZealandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s scheduled 5 p.m. arrival time. Gail Nagel (LarryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s partner) and her daughter Lisa were at the airport to welcome us despite the rain and cold weather. We could not get out of the airportƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s car park for nearly 45 minutes because of a traffic jam. We stopped to eat dinner at a MacdonaldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s before Gail and Lisa brought us to Fullerton and let us in to settle down at LarryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s condo at 2903 Wellesley Court.

Next morning, Don DePuy (chairman) and Paul Kelly of Fullerton CollegeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Division of Communication visited us and took us to the campus to show us the facilities in the Applied Arts Building and to introduce us to relevant personnel. They also took us out for lunch at the nearby Big Boy restaurant. Then, DePuy conducted us to FC Administration and introduced us to President Philip Borst and deans Jane Armstrong and Robert Gates. Jan Ballard, the divisional secretary, gave me the keys to my office (Room 513) and the classrooms. At the end of all the formalities, DePuy brought us back to the condo. That evening, we shopped at the University Shopping Center (then popularly called Gemco), a hop-step-and-a-jump north of the condo, for groceries. The Crossroads Shopping Center was a block away to the east. Adjoining it was Placentia Town Center Shopping Center.

The next day (Friday), accompanied by Yoke-Sim and Junius, I drove the five miles from LarryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s condo (south on North Placentia Avenue and west on East Chapman Avenue) to FC campus in LarryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Volvo with trepidation. I had to overcome the psychological block of getting used to driving on American freeways.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  I spent the weekend at the condo preparing for the courses assigned to me for teaching in the spring semesterƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚Reporting and Writing, Magazine Production, Mass Media Survey and Public Relations/Publicity. The classes began on Monday (7 Feb.). Toni Schrotberger, a graduate intern from California State University Fullerton, helped me as my teaching assistant in the Reporting and Writing class (on Tuesday nights) and the PR class (on Wednesday nights).

Exploring Locality

Fullerton (pop. 126,000) is a 22-square-mile city in northern Orange County, 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Los Angeles city. It shares borders with La Habra and Brea on the north, La Mirada on the northwest, Buena Park on the west, Anaheim on the south, and Placentia on the east.

Geographically, FullertonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s northern and western reaches are dominated by the Coyote Hills, a low-lying mountain range divided into the East Coyote Hills and West Coyote Hills the lands nestled to their south and west are known as Sunny Hills. For most of the cityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s history these areas were groves of citrus trees, open scrubland, and oil fields (Wikipedia).

Fullerton oversees more than 50 city parks, including Hillcrest Park, the Craig Regional Park and Ralph B. Clark Regional Park. The Fullerton Arboretum (adjoining CSUF campus) comprises 26 acres of sculpted gardens and unusual plants in northeastern Fullerton. Additionally, the city features about 200 acres of recreational land in the Brea Dam Recreational Area (about a mile northwest of FC campus), plus an equestrian center and trails, two golf courses, a tennis center located south of St. Jude Medical Center and the Janet Evans Swim Complex (Wikipedia).

I was happy that I could use the rubberized athletic track of Fullerton College to do my afternoon jogging

Fullerton has also the distinction of being the birthplace of Kim Chambers, the famous blue movie star.

Neighborhood First

Our exploration of Greater L.A. began with our immediate surroundings in Fullerton and its border cities. I visited the CSUF campus, a stoneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s throw on the southwest of LarryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s condo; and Cypress College campus, 14 miles to the west, during the first week to get an idea of the vicinity and to get rid of my freeway phobia. (I had to drive on three freewaysƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚Orange, Riverside and ArtesiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚to get to Cypress.) I had not driven on an American freeway since I left the United States early 1974. On Saturday (12 Feb.), Yoke-Sim also gained the experience of American freeway driving, when she drove home from Cypress College, where she attended a course on Data Processing. That experience nearly gave her a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-heart attack,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ she confessed.

I got my California driverƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s license on 3 March. Yoke-Sim got hers a week later.

Having got used to local driving conditions over a month, weƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚Junius, Yoke-Sim and IƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚made our first joint trip to downtown Los Angles on Friday, 4 March. The purpose was to exercise our right to participate in the Australian federal election. Our polling booth was the office of the Australian Consulate-General in L.A. After voting, we toured the cityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Chinatown, where Yoke-Sim purchased a bagful of groceries essential for our survival.

Larry TaylorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s condo, Fullerton College and AAA provided me all the facilities and information I needed to plan my regular explorations of Greater Los Angeles and beyond.

Our methodical forays into specific parts of GLA for exploration began on Saturday, 12 March, with northwestern Orange County as our target. We drove east all the way to Yorba Linda (pop. 59,0000) and beyond, along the boulevard bearing the same name; then, we headed northeast on Esperanza Road to explore the Hidden Hills area on the Eastern edge of Yorba Linda, where the most visited and well-known site is the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum (18001 Yorba Linda Blvd.). The graves of Nixon and the First Lady, as well as NixonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s birthplace, are in the premises.

Then, we drove southwest to Anaheim Hills and circled around the country club along Nohl Ranch Road, Serrano Avenue and Canyon Rim Road with a stop at the Plaza Shopping Center. Finally, we went north on Imperial Highway, Valencia Avenue and Carbon Canyon Road to Sleepy Hollow (pop. 400) in San Bernardino County, where we walked leisurely on Oakway Lane to observe the dilapidated homes in the terraced area. On the way back, we stopped at La Vida Mineral Springs and the Olinda village in Brea.

Our second foray was an exploratory tour of central coastal Orange County on Sunday, 27 March. Our first stop was the Laguna Hills Mall, off Interstate 5.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Then, via El Toro Road and Laguna Canyon Road, we came to Laguna Beach (pop. 24,000), where we stopped at Irvine Bowl, Main Beach, Heisler Park, Art Museum and Village Fair. Then, we headed north on Coast Highway to Balboa Island (in Newport Beach), where we stopped for refreshments and walked on Park Avenue to get the feel of the place. The streets on the island were narrow and quaint. We left the place at 5 p.m. to return home stopping in Placentia (pop. 47,000) for dinner.

We went back to Newport Beach (pop. 87,000) again on Saturday, 2 April, to find bumper-to-bumper traffic in the beach area. Unable to park, we drove to the eastern tip of Balboa Peninsula at Channel Road and looked across at Corona del Mar. Then, we came back on Ocean Front Boulevard to Balboa Pier and ate a mud pie at RubyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s. Thereafter, we crossed over to Edgewater Avenue to see the boats and the ferry to Balboa Island. We also drove around Lido Isle. On the way back home, we tarried at the South Coast Plaza for more than an hour. We capped the day with a family dinner at the Sizzler Family Steak House, close to our condo.

Two days later, on 4 April, Junius started his pre-schooling at the Ivy Crest Montessori Private School (still in operation at 2025 E. Chapman Ave.). The arrangement was for me to deposit Junius at the school on my way to office in the morning and to pick him up at 3.30 p.m. on my way back to the condo.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ (To be continued)

(The writers a professor of mass communications emeritus attached to Minnesota State University Moorhead.)

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Figure 1: Cities comprising Orange County, California

Source: Wikimedia Commons

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Picture 1: The author and his son Junius, 3, in front of Larry TaylorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s condominium (2903 Wellesley Court, Fullerton), which became their home for one year (April 1983).

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Picture 2: Junius Gunaratne, 3, relaxes on a chair by a Jacuzzi in the Wellesley Court pool garden on a sunny day during the Gunaratne familyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s year in Fullerton (April 1983).