Print How many times have those of us who seek out and appreciate Los Angeles history bemoaned the loss or threatened loss of those places that help us feel and connect with its past? The big buildings on our main streets where important things happened. The small bungalows on our side streets where long-ago families set down roots and grew. The favorite gathering spots that have anchored our neighborhoods for year after year after year. The wildness, whimsy and variety of our signs, structures and settings that make our city so textured and full of surprises despite its undeserved reputation for (and too many demolition-bent developers’ default to) blandness.