Synogogue, right? Wrong; it’s a hidden oil rig.
If you’re not living in SoCal, the video below exaggerates the hiddenness of our oil wells here in L.A., because there are stretches where they are absolutely out in the open. Drive from the Miracle Mile to Westchester along La Cienega, and you’ll see dozens and dozens of classic-looking oil pumps.
And, of course, the tar pits are right next to our L.A. County Art Museum; around there you can smell the petroleum in the air, and see tar smeared on the sidewalks at times. The scent is thicker in that neighborhood than it is on the beaches of Santa Barbara, which is saying a lot. So of course you imagine that someone nearby is collecting it—and sure enough, they are.
The wells aren’t hidden so much in some of the industrial areas, but it’s all very discreet in the residential neighborhoods and shopping districts.
Here’s more on the secret life of my favorite American city . . .
There’s a pretty complete listing by Noah Albert here.
I’m glad that we camouflage and landscape a lot of our oil rigs; those awful platforms off the coast of Santa Barbara have done California’s beaches a lot of harm. They are visual pollution. People around here aren’t always aware of how much extraction is going on in Los Angeles itself.
The L.A. Times published a story six years ago that suggested a lot of our abandoned rigs might be recamouflaged and pressed back into service this decade. And, of course, Cracked ran one of its signature snarky stories about L.A.’s double life. And Hidden L.A. tips its hat, as well.
There is more to Los Angeles than meets the eye.
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