A longtime correspondent and, dare I say, friend, Aaron Gigliotti, wrote a beautiful piece in City Journal about the terrible loss of the neighborhoods in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. His own home was spared, but the places he knew all around it are gone:

Physically, Pacific Palisades resembles a high-end Mayberry, with a hint of salt water in the air. Nestled between Malibu and Santa Monica, it is name-checked in “Surfin’ USA.” Growing up in Santa Monica, I always found the Palisades a bit intimidating, too — richer, less urban, out of reach. I had a feeling the girls who lived there were out of my league, though I’m married to one now.

If Pacific Palisades is the place in Los Angeles that people want to wind up today, Altadena is where you might have wanted to be 100 years ago. Altadena sits in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, once covered in dusty orange groves and olive orchards. Zane Grey made his home there, as did Richard Feynman. Their prewar homes burned to the ground a few weeks ago, in the wee hours of the morning, in a stiff Santa Ana wind.

Please read the whole thing.