BUNNYWOOD

Somebody is certainly going to raise a stink by the fact that Hugh Hefner was the last big donor to put the fundraising over the top.

Living my boyhood in the hills immediately under the sign & hiking/biking those trails endlessly - and seeing plenty of naked women getting their pics taken, perhaps for Playboy, at or near the sign - it is a good day when that big a tract of land is saved from developers. Maybe Hefner has an exclusivity clause for his photo shoots. Anyway the land is now to be added to the an ever bigger portion of Griffith Park (which I assumed it was already a part of anyway), as it is already the largest city park in the nation.

Of course I find it a little hypocritical that folks are protesting the development of the land nearby the original sign HOLLYWOODLAND; as it was erected (maybe that's the Hefner interest) by developers hoping to attract land buyers up to the hills to build in the first place - like my parents did.

Also since the land immediately above the HOLLYWOOD sign (on Mt Lee) has been occupied by unsightly radio towers and associated buildings seemingly forever (ever since I lived there in '61); what would it matter if somebody developed the 4 parcels on the ridge just to the west? Would it be that obtrusive or distinguishable from all the other ridge lines in the Santa Monica Mtns that have been developed?

Though I do find it interesting with ridge property in the hills being the most desirable, it is refreshing that more "Hollywood" types didn't seize the opportunity to jump on the 138 acres when it was first available in 2002 at a steal ($1.8m) or even offered more recently in 2008 for $22m - a mere pittance. Though the development costs of access & essentials (water, sewage & electricity and/or gas) would be pricey, they wouldn't be astronomical & certainly worth the price of exclusivity and prestige.

Anyway now that won't be the case - let's all go for a hike.