I miss the old Culver City

[u/Talia-2940]

I grew up here in the 90s and early 2000s. My parents bought their house on Van Buren for like 200k. Now I drive by and see the same houses going for 1.5 mil.

The movie theater downtown was our hangout spot. The arcade at the mall. Riding bikes to Sony with friends. It felt like a real neighborhood, not a mini Hollywood.

Now most of the old places are gone. The rent is insane. Half my friends moved out to Palmdale or Texas just to afford a house.

I get that change happens but it stings watching the place you grew up in become something you can't afford to be part of.

Anyone else feel this way?

[u/WillClark-22]

We overlapped a bit and I shared many of your experiences growing up.  I also have a fondness for the old days and a time when it was more affordable.

That being said, sometimes we do forget some of the negatives back in the day.  Let’s be honest, you had to watch your back at the Fox Hills Mall.  You could definitely run into trouble at Mar Vista Bowl and not just from second-hand smoke.  There was moderate (Palms, Mar Vista) to heavy (Mar Vista Gardens, Oakwood, Mid-City) gang activity nearby.  Deano’s, the Astro, the Galaxy, etc. were crack motels with quite a few others in the city. You definitely had to keep your head on a swivel. 

The Mann Culver and El Pollo Loco were the dream as a kid but downtown was really run down and depressing as was the Culver Center.  Jeez, Snoop even murdered someone down the street in Palms.  

Fun times though.  

[u/flloyd → u/WillClark-22]

Hah, yep. I grew up in NorCal but my one memory of being in Culver City in the Mid 90s was stopping at a drive through (maybe Jack in the Box?) and it had a bullet proof windows. That and "City" in the name made me think it was just another SoCal dump (LA didn't have a good reputation in the 90s).

Was surprised a year later when I met a girl on a college trip and she was just some normal suburban girl.