Interesting. And yes, a very similar idea with some of the same issues that so much of "modern" city sprawl has. Cookie cutter sameness, bland boringness. Like the more recent Kelowna quadplex. And countless other higher density housing ideas, duplexes, quadplexes, apartments, etc. My reaction to the architectural "dream" for LA at 7:38 in this vid sums it up... welcome to Hell. I will say the loophole exploit of the Vancouver Special was brilliant though.
This is what affordable housing looks like; cheap, minimal, and efficient. An underappreciated element of these compared to other apartments is there's no interior hallways or lobby, so the unit doors open directly to the outside. It's very pleasant to be able to open your front door and walk right out to the street, or leave your front door open on a hot summer day, especially since they usually have screen doors.
I lived in Vancouver for a LOT of my young adult life in a "garden estate" and we had outside front doors and 2 units shared a staircase per floor and the buildings faced inwards with a garden with trees in the courtyard and the other block has a pool (8 blocks in total in a figure of 8 layout) car parking was single row in the laneway behind NOT "under" the building I could open the sliding door on to "my porch" and look out into the tree tops and across to the other block facing towards us and this is in a central area UNDER THE SKYTRAIN with a 2 block walk to transit station OR Metrotown mall and all the shopping / dining you want/need
@@jasonriddell Yeah the LA light rail and subway lines have this kind of development around them as well Dingbats were conceived decades ago during a time when both LA’s and Vancouver’s interurban transit systems fell apart and were demolished
@@ashtonnelson2624 you have to keep in mind too that most of oc was developed much later than la county, so maybe not mid century ones but 70s or 80s ones for sure
agree with your points except the “no room for socialization” thing. I have never once wanted to pay for a space to socialize with my neighbors, especially if it means using space that couldve gone to make more units so the apartments are cheaper. That kind of stuff is for high-income housing. We want a place to live, not to be some property developer’s social experiment for “communal living” or whatever
Absolutely. I have never once seen a communal space actually getting used by more than a person or two. I don't care about whether my apartment has a pool or a gym I want it as inexpensive as possible, with no forced cable subscription, and the ability to reliably find a spot to park my car since public transit is basically unusable in my city.
Absolutely. I live in a neighborhood. We do shit together. Except 1 cat. I grew up with him. I rarely ever talk to my neighbors aside from saying hi. Maybe helping them out fit quick random things. I rather them not know me personally. But we do watch out fit each other.
Yep. On my first housing hunt after graduation, I considered extensive common spaces to be a negative feature. To me, that was space that I was paying to maintain, heat in winter, and air condition in summer that I almost certainly wasn’t going to use. Sometimes, “no frills” can be a positive feature.
They keep reiterating "cheap" but they were built in the 50's and 60's and still standing, still housing folks, and getting those soft-story retrofits all the time. Wish they could build them again. We need them here in LA!
@RuDuffEnough WellRu exactly, the kie is where just "unrestrained" now. I don't smoke, I don't drink I don't drug, but I don't make eneds meet in Vegas by simply not doing those things. If you think they haven't figured out most quit vices as they raise prices, thus they take that same money other way, I can't help ya. They plan for you to be squares. So when you aren't, you suffer greatly. If you are square, you suffer less.
The biggest reason is that soft-sided buildings are illegal due to earthquake readiness: Many collapsed in the Northridge quake. Those open carports with poles are really hard to make resist multiple angles of quake waves.
With a few design changes they would be able to resist damage just like any cheap home. I don't think you can blame the car port when the house itself is so thin.
I lived in one for 4 years. 8 months of the last year I was there were spent towards retrofitting it to be earthquake safe. It can be done quicker in about 3 months but it’s a big job nonetheless
This. Retrofitting costs a fortune and periodically there’s data released on how many properly owners have failed to retrofit. An earthquake slightly larger than northridge will be devastating given the current number of buildings still not brought up to date.
The 'Crapi' apartments started out as the 'Capri' apartments. Someone switched the letters a few years back. What's funny is that the facade has been cleaned up since (and the property manager's sign updated) -- so now management is in on the joke. Must be a kinda sick feeling signing a lease for that building at West LA rents while the landlord is in on the lulz....
I live in one of these in Santa Monica, a few blocks from the "swiss chalet" apartment. Mine is not poorly built. It is spacious, has a balcony, has the original wood cabinetry in the bathrooms and kitchen, original tile, stove, and louver windows. They are beautiful. It even survived the Northridge quake. I never knew that these types of buildings are called dingbats. I am a fan of them.
@@johnel-amin4095 yea, overpriced sun drenched, drought ridden beauty, with a few methheads sleeping on your sidewalk and pooping in the sand. Paradise.
@@uwishuknewnunya7845yeah haven’t you ever seen Scarface or blow ? These houses exist not only in our home state of Southern California but also god forsaken Florida
I much prefer the look of dingbat housing than the sea of generic, faux-luxury units we have today. Who doesn't love the distinctive L.A. mid-century look? They are like a mirage, an oasis, with loads of character. Perfect for Tinsel Town. They should make more of these, just with better insulation and modern building techniques.
They were supposed to look faux-luxury at the time. The reason new units tend to be so upscale is that lets them mark up the properties even more with the housing demand. And earthquake design constraints mean they're chunkier and with fewer overhangs and open car ports.
@@CrissaKentavr That may be ever so true for L.A.. But here in Phoenix. it appears they're allowing same over-priced "pseudo-luxury" garbage to be thrown up in just about every nook and cranny that can be found. I say pseudo because even an untrained eye like mine can tell this stuff ain't made of nothin'. But the developers and realty management groups want to charge you an arm, a leg and few of your gold tooth fillings to rent that crap.
I want to see more focus on efficient simple affordable connected multi-family housing with common sidewalks and bike-friendly pathways to shops, schools, places where kids can go play in recreational parks walking distance and not need a car, and that liberation from being secluded in suburbia. I think this is what all of American cities could use more of and I think it requires relaxing zoning requirements for an important and practical and pursuit of happiness reason. Affordable places to sleep are in short supply and we need more affordable connected housing wherever there’s room for it. I think we could look to Dutch towns in the Netherlands for neighborhood designs.
@@ESponge2000 "we need more affordable connected housing wherever there’s room for it." I agree with you. But, as usual, this sensible solution faced two obstacles: Greed and Selfishness. The obstacle of greed is pretty much self-explanatory in that it is one of the biggest reasons why so many people with good jobs and decent wages have been priced out of the market, rental and home purchasing. As for selfishness, a number of area residents have made it clear that they do not want ANY form of affordable housing either in or around their precious neighborhoods. That resistance is being experienced right here in the metro Phoenix area.
@@TheChicagoL I am of the idea that we don't need to build "affordable housing", just more housing. Multi-unit, on the order of 4-8 to a lot, but with much more parking. Once housing supply exceeds demand, prices will drop. That's my idea. I think that prices would drop naturally and the stupid concessions made to facilitate "affordable housing", such as less parking per unit which make neighborhoods unlivable, would be eliminated.
Seeeing these types of buildings in movies and shows is how I know it’s filmed in LA and not somewhere else. It’s fascinating how different regions in the US have specific types of structures that they’re known for and they’re distinctive in their own ways
I always liked that Denver had a lot of fine Victorian structures because they used brick to build them. I recall one particular one-time Boxing Arena with spiral chimneys. I wonder is it still there? I lived in a nice three story wooden Victorian on Race Street by the park in '83.
@@LogicalChronicalPhenomenal When I moved to CA at 10 in 1970 I immediately recognized the terrain AND flora because I'd seen it in movies and shows my whole short lifetime.
The poignant movie Slums of Beverly Hills was the first time I saw this design, so ever after, but especially when I lived in LA, seeing these apartments made me feel a little sad. California makes me a little sad; it’s so beautiful, so progressive, and so unaffordable.
I learned a few things from this video, but the number one thing that I learned is that apparently “dingbat” is my favorite word in the English language. You said it so many times and it brought me a little burst of happiness every time! 😂
Was in Japan during the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. Amongst the sites i’ll never forget is the streets of collapsed two and three floor homes, that looked very much like the ones shown here. The top stories looked battered and shaken but appeared to be more or less intact. However, they had collapsed straight down onto the columned car parks over which they sat - squashing everything and anyone that was unfortunate enough to be there at the time.
Im sure there are a lot of Dingbats around the area I grew up, like outer Melbourne beach suburbs in Australia. But I didn't have any recollection of them until about halfway through this video. Or the crazy signage they used on the front, I know Ive seen it before but cant believe I didn't appreciate it until now. And Ive always assumed they were 70s era motels. Wow what a video 🤣
@@AshLilburne dingbats are NOT very common in Winnipeg but there are a LOT of 50 era apartment blocks and some still have the 50's charm including the "driftwood" and "thunderbird" but are "normal" Canadian walkups with NO under building parking and are NOT residential lot takeover we DO have "block of 4" buildings and other 4 to 6 flat apartment blocks in residential neighbourhoods on 2 or so "normal lots"
They are LA's Brownstone. In areas of the country that lack adequate housing and still have street patterns that are more conducive to cars, why not build something like this?
Except they're all throughout CA. I used to live in one and am 8 hours from LA. I'm not sure why the person in this video makes it seem like they're LA specific.
I do too, I think they're adorable. And if done right,you could have a green space or courtyard in the between dingbats as the video stated. Put up a gate and only let the residents use it.
Mid rises in mixed zoning are also a good option, as much of Europe does that, but there’s a lot of issues right now with housing prices than just too much demand
@@tom4208They aren’t. I rented one for 3,000$ and I didn’t even know what a dingbat meant. I had no clue that they were built to be affordable. The dingbat I lived in had a great inside and outside even if older.
What you neglected to mention is that while these style buildings don't have much, if any, common spaces they make up for it with the square footage in the rooms. These building tend to have much bigger living rooms and bedrooms at a lower price then their more modern competitors. But, interestingly in my experience, that does not translate to their kitchens. Which tend to be " no frills" small galley style kitchens.
FACTS! I live in one of these buildings and the rooms are HUGE compared to every other apartment I've ever lived in - some of them brand new construction with these tiny rooms. Who wants to commingle with neighbors in an apartment building in LA anyway?! I'd rather have more space inside and keep my tiny kitchen and huge dining room!
@@LisaMontoya 😄 while I don't hate a swimming pool. The ones in newer building are usually only 5' deep and shaded 80% of the day. Bigger rooms all day! 🥳
I have a love/hate relationship with these, because the style is kinda nostalgic if you're from LA but on the flip side it always felt like a perfect embodiment of why everyone gets disillusioned and hates LA after a while. So much effort to make things appear grand, aspirational and mimic certain styles but it's purely surface level and the inside is shabby and basic at best if not totally rundown, impractical and poorly maintained. It's almost like the perfect metaphor for the shallow, pretentiousness of LA culture. Everything is built to be an ad for a dream or lifestyle that doesn't actually exist.
sounds like "middle American "McMansions" all outside and junk box on the inside have a friend that has a McMansion and the and the place is Ridiculous and as described all outside grandeur
Hmm. Maybe there's a solution in the problem there. Like if people enjoyed being ironically pretentious, but actually enjoyed simple lives, then maybe the fakeness could become a part of the real charm. That's asking for a lot though. Whenever a large group starts doing something ironically, there's always going to be a minority that doesn't realize it's all ironic, and then eventually the irony is ruined. The pictures of the "Crapi Apartments" from the video are basically an example of what I'm talking about.
@@JDWonders I can see that, it is weirdly nostalgic but the issue is, it's not people doing it intentionally, it's almost a scheme, like if you took the worse rundown apartments you see in NY but in LA they make the putside look pretty to try and hide how shabby and unmaintained so many buildings in LA are once you get inside. It just instantly reminds me of how people associate LA culture with fakeness. It's on a mountain of things that give this vibe of false success and aspiration you honestly see everywhere out here.
Yeah these urbanists are annoying tbh. I like walkability but you can't just remove parking overnight without putting in any solutions for getting places.
@@MoonShine-o5nThey always seem to see the working classes as lab rats to experiment on or force into their own personal (often out of touch) philosophies, as opposed to individuals living varied lives. Just see some of the comments here calling people who don't want to spend all their time hanging out with their neighbors "antisocial personality disorders" or "brutish".
Awesome, I lived in LA for eight years and it's possible that every place I ever lived (other than the UCLA dorms) was a dingbat, and I had no idea they were called that. The reality is, that when I lived there (most of the 90's), it was not hard at all to find an affordable place to live in LA and I think these buildings are a big part of the reason why.
Same here! I lived in LA for about nine years and for most of my time there I lived in a very large dingbat. It was affordable when I first moved there but as time passed and the area started getting trendy the rent doubly increased.
@@xr6lad Condescending is right. This was an L.A. hit job, for the most part. The real "dingbat" is the narrator, IMO. He tried to make up for it a little at the end, but it wasn't convincing.
@@xr6lad funny how people want affordable housing but then buy luxury vehicles. There were lots of BMWs and Audi’s parked in the dingbats. Interesting…….
My dad built several "dingbats" in the '60's. So. Cal featured concrete slab construction with lath and plaster interior walls. They are actually built quite well.
Not all were built well. Some were. Most, probably not so much, unfortunately. As with most things, the first are usually done well, then the cheap copies come along.
I guess so because they’ve survived a lot of earthquakes! My triplex is from the 1940s and still has the original windows. The land it’s built on has jello like characteristics. Or is it pudding? Lol.
“They are often unremarkable” that is a really really nice apartment for LA. We don’t need apartment complexes that “allow for socialization”. We don’t talk to our neighbors. We have no idea who they are. And the fact they have garages? Pure luxury.
Agree. When I heard that (and I live in an apartment) I’d hate areas like that. People would abuse them or have parties. Apartment complexes are not public halls for entertainment. They are where people live. I know my neighbors to chat in the hall or when we met at the supermarket; I don’t want areas that have to be paid for to be maintained for groups to gather.
A carport or garage is truly appreciated today. There's nothing quite like starting your car , on the street , and discovering that the catalytic converter is missing. LA today.
Out of the 5 apartments I lived in before buying my house, my favorite was a dingbat with a Japanese garden entryway & courtyard in Mar Vista, sandwiched between the post office & the public library, I have fond memories of it.
We lived there too! On Pacific ave in a very obvious dingbat, right down the street! It was in the 80s and we ate at Bruno’s on Centinela every Friday night. Miss those times! Glad we eventually bought though…
Thank you so much for this video. I always wondered why I got such a distinct, mid-century now-gone beach nostalgia California Dream vibe whenever I'd drive through places like San Pedro, Redondo Beach, etc. Dingbats are as important to LA as Brownstones are to New York!
Yup. When I was a younger person living in LA - I lived in exactly this style apartment in Glendale for six years while attending university - no yard but a nice big balcony for each unit (8 units total in my building) The balcony overlooked the manicured grounds of a lovely estate next door. There were wonderful sunsets too. That part was lovely… until… the state bought that property and razed the home, destroyed the landscaping to create an on-ramp for a new freeway. That totally destroyed the ambiance of the whole neighborhood and we decided to move away from that place. It was heartbreaking to witness but nothing in LA is permanent - everything is always being torn down and replaced. Torn down and replaced. Everything in LA is transitory. (Yeah… I moved away from the LA Basin decades ago. I now live on an island on another coast - And things are transitory here as well. Such is life. )
I love this. I am a 1950's baby and remember these. My aunt lived on Formosa Ave. in Hollywood in one of the older courtyard-type apartment- six apartments facing a courtyard, I loved it. These "dingbat" apts were across the street from her Spanish-tile roofing apt built in the 30's. I love the nostalgia of both, but I liked the quaint courtyard type better.
Speaking as a recent arrival to LA in a dingbat-heavy neighborhood, I really enjoy them. Despite the uniform skeleton, people have come up with so many quirky ways to differentiate them from each other. They’re charmingly odd. May they survive the twin evils of earthquakes and redevelopment!
Not being from the States, I had no idea this style had a specific name, but whenever someone says Los Angeles to me, one of the things that comes to mind are these houses. :) Very interesting video!
I didn't know they had a name either and I was born, raised and still live in So Cal 60+ years. They are pretty much innocuous, just "apartments" and can be found almost anywhere here. "Dingbat" has a negative connotation as someone who is empty headed or silly. I guess that does apply since these buildings are very vulnerable to earthquakes (a huge concern) and must have been designed by dingbats.
L.A. also famous for Bungalow style houses/duplexes. But, it seems every time I visit more of the old buildings seem to get torn down and most neighborhoods look so different than when I was a kid.
@@sw8741 Dingbats are a reference to fonts and lettering styles that are strictly graphic in nature. Little stars and such are dingbats, hence the name for the apartments.
As cool as dingbats look, I shudder every time I see them. I was a kid during the Northridge earthquake of 1994, and I remember dingbats closer to the epicenter collapsing and pancaking on the people inside them. There was an infamous case of a mother and child who were trapped for something like two days. There were so many collapsed buildings that one of the search and rescue workers ended up inventing a new method for searching rubble for bodies that's still taught today. The dingbats that are still around are the ones that haven't had a large quake close by. They're a great design, but not safe for seismically unstable areas.
@@keithbroh5730fr, the way i see the cart port in these, is like any other room of the house, but without the outer wall. I think if the other walls were all present or strengthened, it wouldn’t be a problem to withstand the weight.
@@joltjolt5060Europe tried to test something like that out on humans. They look like mini epcots and apparently people living there say it's extremely clostrophobic but it is cheap housing.
I live in a Santa Monica dingbat. I was wondering why no one builds them anymore. We definitely need more non luxury buildings. Apparently even free housing for homeless people costs over 1 million per unit to build due to regulations.
I live in Santa Monica too! My dingbat was renovated for a more millennial-friendly look and it is the most terrible-looking way to deal with MCM that I can think of LOL. They just stripped the character and painted it navy blue and white (poorly) with faux marble countertops :/ - I agree that we need more than those! So many luxury condos and NIMBY-ism in our community leave me with little hope that we can house everyone affordably.
Per unit? I think you need to do more research sir , if it’s that expensive nobody would build 💀💀💀 a single unit will be less then 100k if we’re talking apts or right at that.
you should see the ones they have in the smaller beach cities in San Diego, like in Encinitas I don't know what it is but the 50s aesthetic is stronger down there there's some nice ones too though in Belmont Shores in Long Beach
I lived in one for 20 years. I love that building so much. Particularly the way all units opened to a beautiful courtyard. The building facilitates a sense of community that way. Additionally I loved that no two units in the building had the exact same floor plan. This can of course create its own set of struggles - kitchens with noisy children directly above a bedroom for example. My building is extremely well cared for as the property owners occupy a single story, single family home on the property which also allowed for a more open feeling courtyard. I love the dingbats!!
Wow is this a blast from the past! I grew up in Los Angeles in the 60’s and as it happens My parents came home from the hospital with me to the second dingbats apt building shown from when you start talking in this video! Totally blew my mind to see it in a UA-cam video!! The apt’s were small but I do have good memories of our apt. We later moved to a very small bungalow style apt on Kenmore just off Hollywood blvd, that was my favorite apt of all. Last we checked 3years ago the Bungalow apt complex was still there but most of the houses and apts on our side of the street had been knocked down for a Kaiser hospital parking garage. Guess they dug up the coffee can time capsule us kids buried in my friends backyard. Seeing your video made me soooooo homesick! Thank you for posting it, totally made my day! Saving to one of my playlists.
I remember that era! Living in Baldwin Hills, L.A., as a 4 year old, I lived at the very upper end of one of these apartments, on a very steep hill. With only two circuits, the fuses frequently tripped necessitating a two block walk up and down that steep hill to reset. The walls were paper thin. The only heat was from a gas wall furnace in the hallway. We were poor as church mice but were content and happy anyway.
I love these apartment buildings. I live in one now and my last building was a variation of one as well...larger though with 20 units and a courtyard. I love that the front doors to the units open directly to the outside as opposed to an indoor hallway. Its a really nice advantage of this style.
I live in LA and the crazy thing is these are some of the most expensive apartments to live in throughout the city. They even crazier thing is a lot of them are not remodeled on the inside and still have the same old toilets, bathtubs, and kitchen cabinets that they've had for over 60 years. Of course you do have the occasional owner of some of these buildings that will put money into them and remodel each unit. But the fact of the matter is they charge top dollar for these places and put very little money into each unit.
"The fact of the matter is they charge top dollar for these places and put very little money in them" Isnt that the story of america though, charge top dollar for some shitt you barely did anything with. Thats also the whole trailerpark BS right now right, people buying up trailer parks. Barely doing anything for the place but asking a coupla hundreds a dollars more of the people that already own barely a thing. Because of course your middle higher class couldnt care less about whom they are stealing from aslong as they themselfs make a profit, yall even have a dude giving lectures about this subject AND HES PROUD OF IT, heyy im casually robbing people for no other reason then my own personall gain look how cool i am, oewhh im going on a luxury vacation next month while the latest familie i suddenly demanded a coupla hundreds more from is struggling to eat....
@@lyssanch3096 - True, it also has to do with all of the "Hollywood attractions". No matter how old or ugly a building is if it's close to any of the Hollywood attractions or studios it raises the price as well, just living near any of those.
I lived in a unit sort of like this for a few years. It's a single-unit standalone building over a 5-car garage for the rest of the apartment complex. Pros: no shared wall so no neighbor to worry about and I got a kick ass patio. Cons: no shared wall, so it's an oven in the summer. But for less than 2k a month for a 2 bedroom, that's pretty much all you can get in LA.
Burbank and Glendale both have many dingbat apartments. My first apartment in Burbank was a dingbat with the carport in back off of an alley. The design is iconic.
Watching this from my rent controlled dingbat apartment haha! I actually recognized several in my neighborhood. It's like track homes for apartments. True, they lack modern conveniences and can be run down, but my building is clean and my place has so much space...way more than I could afford in any modern apartment building. Plus, the small dingbats make it feel like a neighborhood, and not like I'm walking down a sprawling city block. I do prefer them over the giant expensive complexes that are sadly taking over. In general, affordable housing is an issue in LA and even renovated dingbats are becoming out of reach!
@@haylobos8261 Yeah, um, trust me, as someone who lived near Cabrini Green (see original "Candyman." It was no joke then. It was WORSE than they showed you in the movie) and another one that was more low-rise...you don't want that shite NEAR you. It's nothing but noise, crime and other issues: drugs, shootings. Prostitution, gangs, public defication/urination and worse. Vandalism. Too many people are too lazy/stupid to not have kids they can't afford or get into school or trades. Then expect handouts for doing NOTHING. Any idiot can walk into city colleges and get FREE schooling. But people PREFER being stupid. As you'll see when anyone tells someone they have the wrong word or didn't spell a 3rd grade word right (they're/their/there, too/too/to...). If you get permanent birth control and get education or in trades, I'm all for help. Laziness? Hell, no. With grants, that shite is FREE. Shouldn't be given anything to give NOTHING in return. Give these people anything, and they'll be back in an hour for more, and you'll see how stupid you were. Been there, won't do it again. You can make more bothering people for their money, than working. And you'll see them over and over for YEARS.
Good overview. Many people that live these apartments love them. They usually lack sufficient insulation, air conditioning, sound transmission control. They are usually heated by a gas wall heater or two. Most are owned by "mom and pop" owners who take pride in them and many have stayed in the family. Many have an owner's unit which was typically larger. Many of them in LA city have been retrofitted.
One thing I've never liked is that there are hardly any buildings which use - or partially use - the roof as a recreation space. LA is perfect for that. I live in one that does and love that feature.
That would be expensive as the roof (and walls below) would have to be built to hold the people and stuff they'd bring up. Current roofs are just simple lightweight truss structures that a very few can walk on (repairmen) and support some equipment (HVACs), but that's it. I worked on one in OC that had a roof deck and the roof/deck floor was literally bombproof.
I know I was surprised by that once I bought a drone and starting seeing air conditioner units where I thought would be rooftop pools on the new multimillion dollar condos here in LA, like the one at Wilshire and Western. Even the original ad back in the 2000s showed a rooftop pool when in reality it’s just a bunch of air conditioning units up there 🤷♀️
Right? In videos I've seen from Japan it seems like rooftop areas that are accessible recreational spaces are not uncommon. In the US, not just in LA, it seems like rooftops are overlooked as a usable space in building design, you just don't see it here much at all. I think that is a shame, it's such a nice feature IMHO.
The roof seems like a lot of fun until you fall thru or off of one, or even worse, get stuck up there for any length on time. They made a movie about that called The Hangover
we have that in like Playa del Rey and the South Bay it's pretty bourgeois though it's not something you can expect to see implemented on a large scale
About 5 years ago I overheard a conversation on an airplane between two real estate developers. They were excited because they had just been given approval to tear down a 50 year old apartment complex in Huntington Beach and construct a new and modern replacement. How long did this approval process take? Sixteen years.
and now you know why there is a housing crisis. it is engineered by the regulatory agencies. and this is also why our nation is falling behind in development.
I lived in southern California for over 20 years and I actually resided in a few Dingbats! This was so fascinating, thank you so much for posting this. I look forward to more
Love our dingbat apartment! In 2013 we were lucky enough to get into a rent controlled 2bd/2ba a block from Beverly Hills for only $1650 a month! The building management is amazing too. The only way we’re moving out of here is if we win the lotto or move out of the city. 😂
That’s so cool ! I agree some people who live in similar complexes have been there for YEARS upon years never leaving the rent stays lower for them since they lived there for so long
Thanks! The rent was actually $1500 when we moved in. The $1650 is where it’s at now. The bulk of the people that live here have been here longer than us!
@@taylors5145 that’s a steal! I live in a rent controlled gem in NYC, only a 1b/1ba, but it’s slightly more expensive than yours. I’ve always admired the LA dingbat apartments, definitely an under appreciated aspect of LAs architecture 🌴
Same for me, but in Los Feliz! I joke all the time that the only way I'm leaving this rent controlled dream is if I leave LA, win the Lotto, or die!!!! 🤣
This is a video that I didn't know I needed. I grew up in the '60's and '70's in SoCal, and to say these things were everywhere is an understatement. At the time I never gave much thought about their street facing signage and design cues - I just knew them as simple boxes on the inside and that they had virtually no unit-to-unit sound insulation. Good or bad, you always knew what was going on in the neighboring unit. Many at the time had crater filled beat up asphalt driveways. I never thought about their aspirational status, but I definitely saw them as housing for couples who got married too young, and often seemed trapped in them as they had kids too soon.
@@PlaystationMasterPS3 Yes, but remember these were built 60 years ago!! They addressed the needs of the time, fast forward to now and many that were dilapidated have been gutted, retrofitted and upgraded. Except for the single carport per unit, they still meet the needs of many people today.
We have a few scattered around Houston, primarily in the older districts hipsters moved into. I've always liked the small size and simplicity of them. I used to refer to them as duplexes, but now I will refer to them as dingbats.
This made me so nostalgic; my big sister used to live at the Acapulco (2:35) in the '60s - '70s. I had no idea they were called Dingbats. I don't remember them seeming any cheaper or substandard than the other LA apartments she lived in.
Never knew I owned and lived in a dingbat... In Long Beach, there are some blocks that are 80 to 90% dingbats and then a few still remaining bungalow and single family units... I was in the Villa Capri in Long Beach, just off of Broadway near downtown LB...! Dingbats were cool!
My grandparents owned two dingbat apartment buildings -- and they lived in one of them, 1134 10th St. in Santa Monica. I didn't know the style name until today - thanks!
The house in Los Angeles is a very nice place and also a place that has developed well in terms of scenery and economy, etc. There are many places we can go and like.
Living in a brutish 6 floor housing project makes these things look nice to me lmao. I once had a tiny apartment in Pacific Beach, San Diego that was part of like 10 rows of buildings that had no street, only sidewalks. I was the 5 rows back from the ocean, so it was kinda nice. My bedroom was a fucking triangle, which was nonsensical floor planning used to cram as many apartments in the building with plumbing as possible I'm sure... My girlfriend and I had moved there from Detroit when we were 17 with $5,000 in our pocket. I was able to keep up with the $1,000 monthly rent by simply playing guitar downtown in the Gaslamp District from 5-10pm Thrusday-Sunday nights. I ended up getting sick of it though, I missed my friends, and back home I could rent a house for literally half the price :p
They can be! Tho they have downsides if there's gates that confuse or block deliveries, like badly designed apartment buildings. Ones that lack trees or proximity to parks and stores are also frighteningly common.
The ‘lanes’ or sidewalks only often with little gardens each side in Pacific Beach/Mission Beach can be lovely with some quite nice homes/condos. Or you taking more inland down Grand ave etc?
Ha reminds me of my time in PB those were great great times...& yes AFFORDABLE if you had any basic job not just being a beach bum....I worked @ the Firehouse
Love when a place has parking on the first floor or below. Hate to see parking spaces just wasting away when someone is gone. This type of housing should be required for apartments that always have giant parking lots, given that the USA loves cars and NIMBY's hate of transit.
with the "garage" OR open and the cars make up the facade as is most of the dingbats shown in Canada 40s era blocks would often have a row of garages in the rear and the cars park inside the garage but the "front" is grass up to the facade of the unit often with 1/2 sunken units so windows near the ground
Here's an idea. How about a reverse dingbat in a way? Parking on the roof? Put a ramp along the side of the building so the car can drive up and park on the roof, and put a covered carport with a white painted roof on top of that and it will provide more protection from the sun and reduce energy costs, and keep the car off the street.
@@samsanimationcorner3820 no hate to you but the logistics of that are a nightmare and the look would be substantially uglier if that happened, it would fit less units, need to be made of reinforced concrete and it would be very visually a parking lot on the roof at only 2-3 stories tall
@@LucasFernandez-fk8se I mean, you're probably right. I just love puzzles and brain teasers. My first instinct to any puzzle is "what happens when you flip it upside down?". I still think I'm on to something, but it needs more refinement than just "park on the roof". Of course it would probably call for a whole shake up of infrastructure, and in the bureaucratic plate of spaghetti that California keeps serving itself that, might not work.
Really enjoyed this video. Born in S.M. in 1944, I grew up with vacant lots and single family homes in the area being replaced by these building. It never occurred to me that so many were built. My dad was working on the 'housing projects'. They were putting up the thousands of small three bedroom single family houses in the 1950's. They wiped out all the Walnut groves in the San Fernando Valley and small farms to build 'housing treacks' with 50 - 100 houses at a time. I grew up walking around the houses on the week ends checking for break ins, thefts, etc. That was part of his job. I knew everything east and south to be Orange groves, dairy farms, and fields of vegetables. What is now 'the Marina' was an oily smelly slough that was filled with water with the tides. I blinked and all the Orange trees were removed and thousands of houses replaced them. California was a beautiful place but the massive growth spoiled it.
California should learn from Portugal, a similar climate where they primarily build vertically. Much more open space is preserved. Portugal has more open green space than any other country in western Europe. The tiled surfaces are a sonic nightmare though.
These are built throughout Long Beach as well. During the “shutdown “ I walked through neighborhoods never seen in my 60 years in Long Beach. I was delighted to see some of the most preserved and restored buildings add historical charm to neighborhoods. Great video.
I lived through the Northridge quake in 1994. The Northridge Meadows Apartment Complex, across the street from me, collapsed. Sixteen people died there. It was a "dingbat" style building. There's a picture of it on Wikipedia.
@@Kingsleyrulz "Can" and "will" are two different things. Low cost structural designs are always just good enough to comply with current code. Has the code for digbats been updated for earthquake safety? I don't know.
San Diego is full of these as well! They provide such a sense of time and place. I have a real soft spot for them. The oasis courtyards and mid century styling are so cozy. And yeah, they are among the only real adorable options in the area. It’s so interesting to examine the many ways cars have shaped SoCal. It’s so much more than the jokes about highways and parking would have you believe. Thanks for sharing your info with us!
I was today years old when I learned these were called Dingbats. Growing up in the West Hollywood area between Sunset and Santa Monica Blvd area in the 90s, these were where most of my friends lived. They were cheaper than standard apartment buildings and usually had far less units than the "standard" apartment complex.
Pretty sure we have these around coastal areas of Australia. Maybe other areas too but lets face it I only just learnt what a Dingbat was 10 minutes and 35 seconds ago
They remind me a lot of redbrick apartment complexes of 4-12 units built around Sydney (and probably other cities) in the 60s and 70s. Different materials but similar concept, and still very liveable and durable today. I used to live in one called 'Pasadena' so I expect they were California influenced!
I only been to LA once, but I was very charmed by these. If you can do an earthquake update and renovate the insides some, they seem like great options to me.
I've always used the term dingbat as an insult towards someone - I had no idea it was a term derived for an apartment. So every time I heard you say dingbat so nonchalantly, I giggled
I was and is an insult. Even when applied to these apartments. That's the point. Crappy cheaply built apartments with a pretentious or overly optimistic name like "Shady Manor" of "Fiesta Village".
A major part of the cost saving is that they don't need elevators. There's this awkward stage that buildings go through when they have more than three but less than six floors. At six floors or more you can justify the cost of the elevator because it serves so many floors, but at something like four floors you still have the cost of the elevator but you only need it for a few floors. At less than three floors you don't have to worry about it.
I love these dingbats! I especially love how they (almost all) look so different from each other. Cookie-cutter basic building, perhaps, but they have varying sizes, unit quantities, styles and even varying ownership levels. You are right that they cannot be accurately replicated today; not only have the building codes and requirements changed, but so have the styles. However, I don't see why these can't be an inspirational springboard, instead of yet another McMansion or fake Spanish villa single family home 😒
Interesting buildings. Put a bunch of 50's cars in those driveways and you've stepped back in time. Best of all they may be similar in construction, but the facades are what make them unique. As for illegal, I'm sure they can be built to code today as well as updating the older ones. I'd invest in one of them. 😁😁
Such an iconic look for LA! Love this little doc, thank you. I see a lot of these around, especially near Beachwood Canyon, and wasn't aware of the history. I think the look is so important to LA. Of course, I've never tried to live in one, but it seems like there could be worse places to live, for sure!
What if the parking requirement limited each unit to only one car instead of demanding 1.5 parking spaces? 'Muricans love their cars too much to go without at least one spot.
@@AdamFaruqi "bUt wHaT iF We BuIlT No PaRkiNg???" Then people will park in the street and clog them up worse than they already are. 1 per unit is reasonable. 0 is stupid, and you know it.
As an LA apt-dweller for many decades, I vowed never to live in a Dingbat since they look like cheap student housing from the outside, and I always foud them, frankly, depressing .Instead, I've lived in everything from a 1920's Hollywood Regencey apt, to a 1930's Art Deco apt in South Pasadena, to a 1940's Streamline Moderne apt in Santa Monica, to guest houses in the Hollywood Hills with stunning views. But now, I somehow find myself living in a 1950's Dingbat since I got a great deal a stone's throw from Beverly Hills during the pandemic and I have to say, there's a lot to like on the inside. If you can somehow get past the lack of modern conveniences like air conditioning and a dishwasher (I have installed portable versions of both myself) these apartments offer a ton of space, an entire hallway of closets (I have 2 built-in linen closets and 3 large regular closets) plus the main selling point for me... cross ventiliation and windows in every room including the bathroom. Very hard to find this in any modern LA apartment and so crucial to have air flow in every single room. Plus, original hardwood floors, a dining room with crown molding and floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room for great natural light. I've learned to love the Dingbat aesthetic and the odd long and narrow rooms because for the price, I'd take a Dingbat over a soulless, stifling cookie cutter unit any day.
Some of those Dingbat streets you show look so inhospitable. Like no way would I want to walk down there in no shade with a butt ton of driveways all over the place
Yeah, the streets they're on is often the most dystopic thing, not the building or even the traffic levels. If they had narrow lanes, timed parking for visitors and delivers, actual sidewalks or multiuse paths, they'd be less upsetting.
Would be neat to see a remodeling show dedicated to remodeling the interiors. It would be cool if the one with the lush courtyard had the facade restored. Think I'd add trellising to the exteriors of many of these to improve exterior apoearance, and add cooling, as well as adding raingardens and other rainwater harvesting features.
I actually like these they give the neighborhoods that California feel we’ve all seen in movies plus ppl renovate the inside of them so they’re really not bad at all
Another LA design that I remember a lot is from the big Lebowski. The dudes bungalow in a multi unit lot accessible from one front gate and with only street parking. These bungalows did not face the street, were smaller, and all were fit on a lot which would have otherwise been a moderately sized house. These small bungalows were in the middle of what looks like a street with many single family homes
We have plenty of these in San Diego. The neighborhood I grew up in (City Heights) is comprised of dingbats, or craftsman houses with ADUs/duplexes built behind them. I would walk to school, parks, stores, restaurants, and bus stops because of how dense the neighborhood was.
@@ahuramazda980 not to LA's extent. Some of them have very generic names like "Park Gardens" or "Crestview". LA has some awesome mid century themes going on
I actually live in an apartment with a very similar kind of layout (though, made of brick instead of wood), and its 1 garage per unit, and its more than enough for the residents. But 1.5 parking spots per unit? Good lord the city knew exactly what it was doing there. That and all of the other zoning changes they made.
I had no idea these were called Dingbats even after living in several of them around L.A. in the 60's-80's. Also lived in several Bungalows which seemed just as popular in L.A.
I didn’t realize the term “dingbat” had evolved from referring to starburst-like design motifs used for exterior decorations to meaning the entire buildings themselves.
Cool, I have lived in LA for almost 30 years and never heard them called ding-bats. I even have one at the end of the street where I live. But I don't think this would be much of a solution for the housing shortage, too little too late. What we need is transit oriented housing. Within 10 minute walk of every lite rail / subway station there should be 10+ story apartment building with little to no parking and shops on the ground level.
“Casa Bella. Another dingbat. Dingbats…that’s what they’re called. Two-story apartment buildings featuring cheap rent and fancy names that promise the good life, but never deliver.” -Vivian Abramowitz, Slums of Beverly Hills
I wish more houses had carports like that, keeps the car cool in the shade while not needing to take care of a garage or garage door, and also not needing to park on the street
I only had one parking space and it was always a battle shuffling cars for guests and getting off the street when the street cleaners came. I knew no one who didn't get tickets occasionally as the parking nazees followed right behind them!! Oh well.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
In Vancouver, we have the Vancouver Special. They are everywhere and illegal to build now since the 80s. People thought they were ugly.
Did that change?
Interesting. And yes, a very similar idea with some of the same issues that so much of "modern" city sprawl has. Cookie cutter sameness, bland boringness. Like the more recent Kelowna quadplex. And countless other higher density housing ideas, duplexes, quadplexes, apartments, etc. My reaction to the architectural "dream" for LA at 7:38 in this vid sums it up... welcome to Hell.
I will say the loophole exploit of the Vancouver Special was brilliant though.
This is what affordable housing looks like; cheap, minimal, and efficient. An underappreciated element of these compared to other apartments is there's no interior hallways or lobby, so the unit doors open directly to the outside. It's very pleasant to be able to open your front door and walk right out to the street, or leave your front door open on a hot summer day, especially since they usually have screen doors.
Yes it makes the whole experience feel like this is _your_ apartment unit. It doesn’t feel like a hotel room
@@jarjarbinks6018 I'd totally go for a dingbat. I want more of them built
I lived in Vancouver for a LOT of my young adult life in a "garden estate" and we had outside front doors and 2 units shared a staircase per floor and the buildings faced inwards with a garden with trees in the courtyard and the other block has a pool (8 blocks in total in a figure of 8 layout) car parking was single row in the laneway behind NOT "under" the building
I could open the sliding door on to "my porch" and look out into the tree tops and across to the other block facing towards us and this is in a central area UNDER THE SKYTRAIN with a 2 block walk to transit station OR Metrotown mall and all the shopping / dining you want/need
@@jasonriddell Yeah the LA light rail and subway lines have this kind of development around them as well
Dingbats were conceived decades ago during a time when both LA’s and Vancouver’s interurban transit systems fell apart and were demolished
@@PlaystationMasterPS3 They're illegal to build
My aunt and cousins lived in Le Tiki in the early 70’s when I was around five years old. We thought it was like a tropical paradise. 😂
I never knew these buildings were such an LA thing, growing up in LA I thought these buildings were so normal
I would say its more of a SoCal thing. We have a million of these in OC and I've seen them in San Diego and IE as well.
@@ashtonnelson2624 you have to keep in mind too that most of oc was developed much later than la county, so maybe not mid century ones but 70s or 80s ones for sure
Me too. I grew up in the 70s in one of these dingbats in West LA on S. Bundy Dr. My neighborhood was full of dingbat housing.
They also have them in NoCal too in the San Francisco Bay Area.
it’s not just in socal
agree with your points except the “no room for socialization” thing. I have never once wanted to pay for a space to socialize with my neighbors, especially if it means using space that couldve gone to make more units so the apartments are cheaper. That kind of stuff is for high-income housing. We want a place to live, not to be some property developer’s social experiment for “communal living” or whatever
Besides, it’s Southern California. You can go outside.
Absolutely. I have never once seen a communal space actually getting used by more than a person or two. I don't care about whether my apartment has a pool or a gym I want it as inexpensive as possible, with no forced cable subscription, and the ability to reliably find a spot to park my car since public transit is basically unusable in my city.
Absolutely. I live in a neighborhood. We do shit together. Except 1 cat. I grew up with him. I rarely ever talk to my neighbors aside from saying hi. Maybe helping them out fit quick random things. I rather them not know me personally. But we do watch out fit each other.
Yep. On my first housing hunt after graduation, I considered extensive common spaces to be a negative feature. To me, that was space that I was paying to maintain, heat in winter, and air condition in summer that I almost certainly wasn’t going to use.
Sometimes, “no frills” can be a positive feature.
What a nasty brutish way of thinking
Grew up in these in Torrance Ca in the 90's as a teen and early 2000s. Gives me all feels and makes me homesick.
They keep reiterating "cheap" but they were built in the 50's and 60's and still standing, still housing folks, and getting those soft-story retrofits all the time. Wish they could build them again. We need them here in LA!
@RuDuffEnough WellRu they didn't waste money like people do nowadays
@RuDuffEnough WellRu People spend hundreds of dollars on cell phones. It's a matter of principles.
@RuDuffEnough WellRu exactly, the kie is where just "unrestrained" now. I don't smoke, I don't drink I don't drug, but I don't make eneds meet in Vegas by simply not doing those things. If you think they haven't figured out most quit vices as they raise prices, thus they take that same money other way, I can't help ya. They plan for you to be squares. So when you aren't, you suffer greatly. If you are square, you suffer less.
They have to get retrofit BECAUSE they were cheaply built. Also because of the L.A. soft story ordinance that requires they retrofit by law.
@@deadfIag You can say that when payphones make a comeback. It's also called technological progress.
The biggest reason is that soft-sided buildings are illegal due to earthquake readiness: Many collapsed in the Northridge quake. Those open carports with poles are really hard to make resist multiple angles of quake waves.
With a few design changes they would be able to resist damage just like any cheap home. I don't think you can blame the car port when the house itself is so thin.
I lived in one for 4 years. 8 months of the last year I was there were spent towards retrofitting it to be earthquake safe. It can be done quicker in about 3 months but it’s a big job nonetheless
Oh 😲
This. Retrofitting costs a fortune and periodically there’s data released on how many properly owners have failed to retrofit. An earthquake slightly larger than northridge will be devastating given the current number of buildings still not brought up to date.
There’s plenty of pictures of them pancaking cars during the Northridge quake. Scary stuff.
I live in a dingbat next to the Hauser shown at the beginning of the video. It’s rent controlled, so I pay $600 a month in rent for the past 16 years
Lol I know them landlords want you out so bad
$600 for rent in California?! And if my math is correct, you got that place right around the housing market crash in 2008!
I did. The price is amazing, but sometimes it feels like I’m handcuffed to it. And yes the new landlord has offered two buyouts over the past year.
How does it feel to be God’s favorite
@@eddycarpenter8989landlords be plotting assassination attempts on the mf
The 'Crapi' apartments started out as the 'Capri' apartments. Someone switched the letters a few years back. What's funny is that the facade has been cleaned up since (and the property manager's sign updated) -- so now management is in on the joke. Must be a kinda sick feeling signing a lease for that building at West LA rents while the landlord is in on the lulz....
ROFLMFAO.🤣🤣🤣🤣
Or It makes you feel like you are in on the joke bc they didn't look that crapi. At least from the outside.
I heard they put the sign on wrong from the beginning, and just left it because people found it funny.
If I'm paying $400 a month, I'm not going to complain lol
I live in one of these in Santa Monica, a few blocks from the "swiss chalet" apartment. Mine is not poorly built. It is spacious, has a balcony, has the original wood cabinetry in the bathrooms and kitchen, original tile, stove, and louver windows. They are beautiful. It even survived the Northridge quake. I never knew that these types of buildings are called dingbats. I am a fan of them.
We used to call them "Sunburst " apartments. I lived in one in Palms when I first moved to CA. Never had a noise problem , tho.
Love it !
Santa Monica is paradise! I live in South Carolina, I wish I was in Santa Monica.
@@johnel-amin4095 yea, overpriced sun drenched, drought ridden beauty, with a few methheads sleeping on your sidewalk and pooping in the sand. Paradise.
How do you afford rent my boy
These are all over southwest Florida as well… I love them! Been around for 60-70 years now!
By the beach?
@@uwishuknewnunya7845yeah haven’t you ever seen Scarface or blow ? These houses exist not only in our home state of Southern California but also god forsaken Florida
I much prefer the look of dingbat housing than the sea of generic, faux-luxury units we have today. Who doesn't love the distinctive L.A. mid-century look? They are like a mirage, an oasis, with loads of character. Perfect for Tinsel Town. They should make more of these, just with better insulation and modern building techniques.
They were supposed to look faux-luxury at the time. The reason new units tend to be so upscale is that lets them mark up the properties even more with the housing demand. And earthquake design constraints mean they're chunkier and with fewer overhangs and open car ports.
@@CrissaKentavr That may be ever so true for L.A.. But here in Phoenix. it appears they're allowing same over-priced "pseudo-luxury" garbage to be thrown up in just about every nook and cranny that can be found. I say pseudo because even an untrained eye like mine can tell this stuff ain't made of nothin'. But the developers and realty management groups want to charge you an arm, a leg and few of your gold tooth fillings to rent that crap.
I want to see more focus on efficient simple affordable connected multi-family housing with common sidewalks and bike-friendly pathways to shops, schools, places where kids can go play in recreational parks walking distance and not need a car, and that liberation from being secluded in suburbia. I think this is what all of American cities could use more of and I think it requires relaxing zoning requirements for an important and practical and pursuit of happiness reason. Affordable places to sleep are in short supply and we need more affordable connected housing wherever there’s room for it. I think we could look to Dutch towns in the Netherlands for neighborhood designs.
@@ESponge2000 "we need more affordable connected housing wherever there’s room for it." I agree with you. But, as usual, this sensible solution faced two obstacles: Greed and Selfishness. The obstacle of greed is pretty much self-explanatory in that it is one of the biggest reasons why so many people with good jobs and decent wages have been priced out of the market, rental and home purchasing. As for selfishness, a number of area residents have made it clear that they do not want ANY form of affordable housing either in or around their precious neighborhoods. That resistance is being experienced right here in the metro Phoenix area.
@@TheChicagoL I am of the idea that we don't need to build "affordable housing", just more housing. Multi-unit, on the order of 4-8 to a lot, but with much more parking. Once housing supply exceeds demand, prices will drop. That's my idea. I think that prices would drop naturally and the stupid concessions made to facilitate "affordable housing", such as less parking per unit which make neighborhoods unlivable, would be eliminated.
Seeeing these types of buildings in movies and shows is how I know it’s filmed in LA and not somewhere else. It’s fascinating how different regions in the US have specific types of structures that they’re known for and they’re distinctive in their own ways
I thought they were everywhere in the US when growing up in California cause of how common it is here. 😅
We have some in Seattle, too
I always liked that Denver had a lot of fine Victorian structures because they used brick to build them. I recall one particular one-time Boxing Arena with spiral chimneys. I wonder is it still there? I lived in a nice three story wooden Victorian on Race Street by the park in '83.
@@LogicalChronicalPhenomenal When I moved to CA at 10 in 1970 I immediately recognized the terrain AND flora because I'd seen it in movies and shows my whole short lifetime.
The poignant movie Slums of Beverly Hills was the first time I saw this design, so ever after, but especially when I lived in LA, seeing these apartments made me feel a little sad. California makes me a little sad; it’s so beautiful, so progressive, and so unaffordable.
I love these buildings! So many cool ones in Redondo and Torrance.
I learned a few things from this video, but the number one thing that I learned is that apparently “dingbat” is my favorite word in the English language. You said it so many times and it brought me a little burst of happiness every time! 😂
Watch All in the Family. You'll hear it several times.
@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 - Along with Meathead.
Incredibly nostalgic, brings back driving around Los Angeles and the Valley in the 1970s looking for my next apartment...
Right? All the feels.
Was in Japan during the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. Amongst the sites i’ll never forget is the streets of collapsed two and three floor homes, that looked very much like the ones shown here.
The top stories looked battered and shaken but appeared to be more or less intact. However, they had collapsed straight down onto the columned car parks over which they sat - squashing everything and anyone that was unfortunate enough to be there at the time.
Ok, whenever I go to LA I have to see some of these. Love mid century modernism
los angeles isn't *all* hell thankfully
Palm Springs is another great place to see preserved mid century architecture, although no dingbats there afaik
Im sure there are a lot of Dingbats around the area I grew up, like outer Melbourne beach suburbs in Australia. But I didn't have any recollection of them until about halfway through this video. Or the crazy signage they used on the front, I know Ive seen it before but cant believe I didn't appreciate it until now. And Ive always assumed they were 70s era motels. Wow what a video 🤣
You wouldn't have to look very far haha
@@AshLilburne dingbats are NOT very common in Winnipeg but there are a LOT of 50 era apartment blocks and some still have the 50's charm including the "driftwood" and "thunderbird"
but are "normal" Canadian walkups with NO under building parking and are NOT residential lot takeover
we DO have "block of 4" buildings and other 4 to 6 flat apartment blocks in residential neighbourhoods on 2 or so "normal lots"
Dingbats are the most LA architectural style I've ever seen. Love these kooky and moderne mid centuries
They are LA's Brownstone. In areas of the country that lack adequate housing and still have street patterns that are more conducive to cars, why not build something like this?
Very kooky
Except they're all throughout CA. I used to live in one and am 8 hours from LA. I'm not sure why the person in this video makes it seem like they're LA specific.
Check out Googie -Coffee Shop Architecture if you're into Mid Mod type of stuff!
They look like seedy places that remind me of ghetto shitholes. Id much rather live in a clean new high rise tower
awww theyre so cute! we need to bring back these forms of affordable housing. theyre a nice middle ground between single-family homes and high-rises.
I do too, I think they're adorable. And if done right,you could have a green space or courtyard in the between dingbats as the video stated. Put up a gate and only let the residents use it.
affordable??? lol good joke.
Mid rises in mixed zoning are also a good option, as much of Europe does that, but there’s a lot of issues right now with housing prices than just too much demand
@@tom4208They aren’t. I rented one for 3,000$ and I didn’t even know what a dingbat meant. I had no clue that they were built to be affordable. The dingbat I lived in had a great inside and outside even if older.
The last thing we need is more housing. LA is so overpopulated it's ridiculous.
What you neglected to mention is that while these style buildings don't have much, if any, common spaces they make up for it with the square footage in the rooms. These building tend to have much bigger living rooms and bedrooms at a lower price then their more modern competitors. But, interestingly in my experience, that does not translate to their kitchens. Which tend to be " no frills" small galley style kitchens.
The Kitchen is a hallway
Those are the best.
He actually did mention this in the beginning - referenced "maximizing living space" and minimizing common space.
FACTS! I live in one of these buildings and the rooms are HUGE compared to every other apartment I've ever lived in - some of them brand new construction with these tiny rooms. Who wants to commingle with neighbors in an apartment building in LA anyway?! I'd rather have more space inside and keep my tiny kitchen and huge dining room!
@@LisaMontoya 😄 while I don't hate a swimming pool. The ones in newer building are usually only 5' deep and shaded 80% of the day. Bigger rooms all day! 🥳
I have a love/hate relationship with these, because the style is kinda nostalgic if you're from LA but on the flip side it always felt like a perfect embodiment of why everyone gets disillusioned and hates LA after a while. So much effort to make things appear grand, aspirational and mimic certain styles but it's purely surface level and the inside is shabby and basic at best if not totally rundown, impractical and poorly maintained. It's almost like the perfect metaphor for the shallow, pretentiousness of LA culture. Everything is built to be an ad for a dream or lifestyle that doesn't actually exist.
sounds like "middle American "McMansions" all outside and junk box on the inside
have a friend that has a McMansion and the and the place is Ridiculous and as described all outside grandeur
@@jasonriddell Yeah lol I've been inside a handful of mcmansions over the years and I was shocked by how bland and uninspired the interiors were.
Hmm. Maybe there's a solution in the problem there. Like if people enjoyed being ironically pretentious, but actually enjoyed simple lives, then maybe the fakeness could become a part of the real charm. That's asking for a lot though. Whenever a large group starts doing something ironically, there's always going to be a minority that doesn't realize it's all ironic, and then eventually the irony is ruined.
The pictures of the "Crapi Apartments" from the video are basically an example of what I'm talking about.
you've put a lot of thought into this
@@JDWonders I can see that, it is weirdly nostalgic but the issue is, it's not people doing it intentionally, it's almost a scheme, like if you took the worse rundown apartments you see in NY but in LA they make the putside look pretty to try and hide how shabby and unmaintained so many buildings in LA are once you get inside. It just instantly reminds me of how people associate LA culture with fakeness. It's on a mountain of things that give this vibe of false success and aspiration you honestly see everywhere out here.
Bruh, the parking coming along with the building is what makes them so popular.
Yeah these urbanists are annoying tbh. I like walkability but you can't just remove parking overnight without putting in any solutions for getting places.
LA streets that were laid out before 1960 are quite narrow. Parking on the street, you risk someone hitting your car. Off-street parking is a perk.
@@MoonShine-o5nThey always seem to see the working classes as lab rats to experiment on or force into their own personal (often out of touch) philosophies, as opposed to individuals living varied lives. Just see some of the comments here calling people who don't want to spend all their time hanging out with their neighbors "antisocial personality disorders" or "brutish".
Awesome, I lived in LA for eight years and it's possible that every place I ever lived (other than the UCLA dorms) was a dingbat, and I had no idea they were called that. The reality is, that when I lived there (most of the 90's), it was not hard at all to find an affordable place to live in LA and I think these buildings are a big part of the reason why.
I sort of find the guy speaking a bit condescending. People live in what they can afford. It comes across as smug comfortable middle class.
Same here! I lived in LA for about nine years and for most of my time there I lived in a very large dingbat. It was affordable when I first moved there but as time passed and the area started getting trendy the rent doubly increased.
@@xr6lad Condescending is right. This was an L.A. hit job, for the most part. The real "dingbat" is the narrator, IMO. He tried to make up for it a little at the end, but it wasn't convincing.
@@xr6lad funny how people want affordable housing but then buy luxury vehicles. There were lots of BMWs and Audi’s parked in the dingbats. Interesting…….
@@glamdawling most people can’t afford to live in LA. But spending 50% of your income on LA housing sounds so appealing!!!
My dad built several "dingbats" in the '60's. So. Cal featured concrete slab construction with lath and plaster interior walls. They are actually built quite well.
I lived in a well built apt. on Cattaraugus , near Robertson , in LA.
Never heard the neighbors , or traffic. I liked it.
Not all were built well. Some were. Most, probably not so much, unfortunately. As with most things, the first are usually done well, then the cheap copies come along.
Built well with cheap materials. Have you lived in one ?
I guess so because they’ve survived a lot of earthquakes! My triplex is from the 1940s and still has the original windows. The land it’s built on has jello like characteristics. Or is it pudding? Lol.
@@TrevorHammonds exactly
Dingbat - The nickname my father lovingly called me as a child .... oh the nostalgia 😂😂❤
Omg me too lol
“They are often unremarkable” that is a really really nice apartment for LA. We don’t need apartment complexes that “allow for socialization”. We don’t talk to our neighbors. We have no idea who they are. And the fact they have garages? Pure luxury.
Agree on the non-socialization, it's an apartment, not a college dorm.
The neighbors probably don't speak English anyway.
Agree. When I heard that (and I live in an apartment) I’d hate areas like that. People would abuse them or have parties. Apartment complexes are not public halls for entertainment. They are where people live. I know my neighbors to chat in the hall or when we met at the supermarket; I don’t want areas that have to be paid for to be maintained for groups to gather.
A carport or garage is truly appreciated today. There's nothing quite like starting your car , on the street , and discovering that the catalytic converter is missing. LA today.
This whole thread is full of a happy and pleasant bunch. Sheesh.
Out of the 5 apartments I lived in before buying my house, my favorite was a dingbat with a Japanese garden entryway & courtyard in Mar Vista, sandwiched between the post office & the public library, I have fond memories of it.
We lived there too! On Pacific ave in a very obvious dingbat, right down the street! It was in the 80s and we ate at Bruno’s on Centinela every Friday night. Miss those times! Glad we eventually bought though…
Is Dinah's Chicken still there??
L.A. nostalgia above!
Sounds idyllic.
I fricking love these! I grew up on a huge spread in Redondo Beach but thought always that these "dingbat" bldg.'s were awesome.
Thank you so much for this video. I always wondered why I got such a distinct, mid-century now-gone beach nostalgia California Dream vibe whenever I'd drive through places like San Pedro, Redondo Beach, etc. Dingbats are as important to LA as Brownstones are to New York!
Yup. When I was a younger person living in LA - I lived in exactly this style apartment in Glendale for six years while attending university - no yard but a nice big balcony for each unit (8 units total in my building) The balcony overlooked the manicured grounds of a lovely estate next door. There were wonderful sunsets too. That part was lovely… until… the state bought that property and razed the home, destroyed the landscaping to create an on-ramp for a new freeway. That totally destroyed the ambiance of the whole neighborhood and we decided to move away from that place. It was heartbreaking to witness but nothing in LA is permanent - everything is always being torn down and replaced. Torn down and replaced. Everything in LA is transitory. (Yeah… I moved away from the LA Basin decades ago. I now live on an island on another coast - And things are transitory here as well. Such is life. )
I love this. I am a 1950's baby and remember these. My aunt lived on Formosa Ave. in Hollywood in one of the older courtyard-type apartment- six apartments facing a courtyard, I loved it. These "dingbat" apts were across the street from her Spanish-tile roofing apt built in the 30's. I love the nostalgia of both, but I liked the quaint courtyard type better.
Speaking as a recent arrival to LA in a dingbat-heavy neighborhood, I really enjoy them. Despite the uniform skeleton, people have come up with so many quirky ways to differentiate them from each other. They’re charmingly odd. May they survive the twin evils of earthquakes and redevelopment!
I love them too!!! I didn’t know they were unique to LA. I think they’re a treasure.
What about global warming, and non-vegans. Think they have a chance at surviving those twin evils?
Not being from the States, I had no idea this style had a specific name, but whenever someone says Los Angeles to me, one of the things that comes to mind are these houses. :) Very interesting video!
I didn't know they had a name either and I was born, raised and still live in So Cal 60+ years. They are pretty much innocuous, just "apartments" and can be found almost anywhere here. "Dingbat" has a negative connotation as someone who is empty headed or silly. I guess that does apply since these buildings are very vulnerable to earthquakes (a huge concern) and must have been designed by dingbats.
L.A. also famous for Bungalow style houses/duplexes. But, it seems every time I visit more of the old buildings seem to get torn down and most neighborhoods look so different than when I was a kid.
In Sacramento, California's capitol, these were built in the 1960s & 1970s by the McKeon Corporation and are known as McKeons.
Exactly! Especially the ones with two houses and a courtyard in the middle. So many 80s and 90s movies showed them.
@@sw8741 Dingbats are a reference to fonts and lettering styles that are strictly graphic in nature. Little stars and such are dingbats, hence the name for the apartments.
As cool as dingbats look, I shudder every time I see them. I was a kid during the Northridge earthquake of 1994, and I remember dingbats closer to the epicenter collapsing and pancaking on the people inside them. There was an infamous case of a mother and child who were trapped for something like two days. There were so many collapsed buildings that one of the search and rescue workers ended up inventing a new method for searching rubble for bodies that's still taught today. The dingbats that are still around are the ones that haven't had a large quake close by. They're a great design, but not safe for seismically unstable areas.
Good to know but I’m certain it was more of a design flaw or oversight, it could definitely be built to withstand a strong earthquake anything can
@@keithbroh5730fr, the way i see the cart port in these, is like any other room of the house, but without the outer wall. I think if the other walls were all present or strengthened, it wouldn’t be a problem to withstand the weight.
In that case, the safest structure is the a frame or pyramid structure but nobody would like those.
Which is probably why they are illegal lol
@@joltjolt5060Europe tried to test something like that out on humans. They look like mini epcots and apparently people living there say it's extremely clostrophobic but it is cheap housing.
I live in a Santa Monica dingbat. I was wondering why no one builds them anymore. We definitely need more non luxury buildings. Apparently even free housing for homeless people costs over 1 million per unit to build due to regulations.
I live in Santa Monica too! My dingbat was renovated for a more millennial-friendly look and it is the most terrible-looking way to deal with MCM that I can think of LOL. They just stripped the character and painted it navy blue and white (poorly) with faux marble countertops :/ - I agree that we need more than those! So many luxury condos and NIMBY-ism in our community leave me with little hope that we can house everyone affordably.
Per unit? I think you need to do more research sir , if it’s that expensive nobody would build 💀💀💀 a single unit will be less then 100k if we’re talking apts or right at that.
No, it doesn’t cost that much. I do plan review for architects on attached dwelling unit buildings. The regulations are easy to accommodate.
Those regulations keep you from getting crushed in an earthquake.
@@mrorganic13 sadly the OP is right, idk if it's due to regulations tho
I live in L.A. and have always loved the retro look of these buildings. I hope they are maintained and preserved for their historical value.
you should see the ones they have in the smaller beach cities in San Diego, like in Encinitas
I don't know what it is but the 50s aesthetic is stronger down there
there's some nice ones too though in Belmont Shores in Long Beach
@@tictacterminator Yes, I love both of those areas, particularly Encinitas.
No
OMG noooo. There should be no historic monument protection for these…
I lived in one for 20 years. I love that building so much. Particularly the way all units opened to a beautiful courtyard. The building facilitates a sense of community that way. Additionally I loved that no two units in the building had the exact same floor plan. This can of course create its own set of struggles - kitchens with noisy children directly above a bedroom for example. My building is extremely well cared for as the property owners occupy a single story, single family home on the property which also allowed for a more open feeling courtyard. I love the dingbats!!
Wow is this a blast from the past! I grew up in Los Angeles in the 60’s and as it happens My parents came home from the hospital with me to the second dingbats apt building shown from when you start talking in this video! Totally blew my mind to see it in a UA-cam video!! The apt’s were small but I do have good memories of our apt. We later moved to a very small bungalow style apt on Kenmore just off Hollywood blvd, that was my favorite apt of all. Last we checked 3years ago the Bungalow apt complex was still there but most of the houses and apts on our side of the street had been knocked down for a Kaiser hospital parking garage. Guess they dug up the coffee can time capsule us kids buried in my friends backyard. Seeing your video made me soooooo homesick! Thank you for posting it, totally made my day! Saving to one of my playlists.
I remember that era! Living in Baldwin Hills, L.A., as a 4 year old, I lived at the very upper end of one of these apartments, on a very steep hill. With only two circuits, the fuses frequently tripped necessitating a two block walk up and down that steep hill to reset. The walls were paper thin. The only heat was from a gas wall furnace in the hallway. We were poor as church mice but were content and happy anyway.
I love these apartment buildings. I live in one now and my last building was a variation of one as well...larger though with 20 units and a courtyard. I love that the front doors to the units open directly to the outside as opposed to an indoor hallway. Its a really nice advantage of this style.
I live in LA and the crazy thing is these are some of the most expensive apartments to live in throughout the city. They even crazier thing is a lot of them are not remodeled on the inside and still have the same old toilets, bathtubs, and kitchen cabinets that they've had for over 60 years. Of course you do have the occasional owner of some of these buildings that will put money into them and remodel each unit. But the fact of the matter is they charge top dollar for these places and put very little money into each unit.
"The fact of the matter is they charge top dollar for these places and put very little money in them"
Isnt that the story of america though, charge top dollar for some shitt you barely did anything with.
Thats also the whole trailerpark BS right now right, people buying up trailer parks. Barely doing anything for the place but asking a coupla hundreds a dollars more of the people that already own barely a thing. Because of course your middle higher class couldnt care less about whom they are stealing from aslong as they themselfs make a profit, yall even have a dude giving lectures about this subject AND HES PROUD OF IT, heyy im casually robbing people for no other reason then my own personall gain look how cool i am, oewhh im going on a luxury vacation next month while the latest familie i suddenly demanded a coupla hundreds more from is struggling to eat....
Because people from other states wanna live in LA so bad they'll pay anything the landlords say
@@lyssanch3096 - True, it also has to do with all of the "Hollywood attractions". No matter how old or ugly a building is if it's close to any of the Hollywood attractions or studios it raises the price as well, just living near any of those.
So true!
That is likely due to location. Newer units have less square feet per unit.
I lived in a unit sort of like this for a few years. It's a single-unit standalone building over a 5-car garage for the rest of the apartment complex. Pros: no shared wall so no neighbor to worry about and I got a kick ass patio. Cons: no shared wall, so it's an oven in the summer. But for less than 2k a month for a 2 bedroom, that's pretty much all you can get in LA.
Burbank and Glendale both have many dingbat apartments. My first apartment in Burbank was a dingbat with the carport in back off of an alley. The design is iconic.
Also known as bedbug hotels
Watching this from my rent controlled dingbat apartment haha! I actually recognized several in my neighborhood. It's like track homes for apartments. True, they lack modern conveniences and can be run down, but my building is clean and my place has so much space...way more than I could afford in any modern apartment building. Plus, the small dingbats make it feel like a neighborhood, and not like I'm walking down a sprawling city block. I do prefer them over the giant expensive complexes that are sadly taking over. In general, affordable housing is an issue in LA and even renovated dingbats are becoming out of reach!
Let the developers decide what to build and where. And not the bureaucrats and NIMBYs micromanaging libre earles.
@@haylobos8261 Yeah, um, trust me, as someone who lived near Cabrini Green (see original "Candyman." It was no joke then. It was WORSE than they showed you in the movie) and another one that was more low-rise...you don't want that shite NEAR you. It's nothing but noise, crime and other issues: drugs, shootings. Prostitution, gangs, public defication/urination and worse. Vandalism. Too many people are too lazy/stupid to not have kids they can't afford or get into school or trades. Then expect handouts for doing NOTHING.
Any idiot can walk into city colleges and get FREE schooling. But people PREFER being stupid. As you'll see when anyone tells someone they have the wrong word or didn't spell a 3rd grade word right (they're/their/there, too/too/to...).
If you get permanent birth control and get education or in trades, I'm all for help. Laziness? Hell, no. With grants, that shite is FREE.
Shouldn't be given anything to give NOTHING in return. Give these people anything, and they'll be back in an hour for more, and you'll see how stupid you were. Been there, won't do it again.
You can make more bothering people for their money, than working. And you'll see them over and over for YEARS.
I love living here. I’ve always loved all the different styles, it makes driving around fun and building stand out
No
Idk how this ended up on my feed, and idk why I found this video fascinating, but take my subscription!
Good overview. Many people that live these apartments love them. They usually lack sufficient insulation, air conditioning, sound transmission control. They are usually heated by a gas wall heater or two. Most are owned by "mom and pop" owners who take pride in them and many have stayed in the family. Many have an owner's unit which was typically larger. Many of them in LA city have been retrofitted.
One thing I've never liked is that there are hardly any buildings which use - or partially use - the roof as a recreation space. LA is perfect for that. I live in one that does and love that feature.
That would be expensive as the roof (and walls below) would have to be built to hold the people and stuff they'd bring up. Current roofs are just simple lightweight truss structures that a very few can walk on (repairmen) and support some equipment (HVACs), but that's it. I worked on one in OC that had a roof deck and the roof/deck floor was literally bombproof.
I know I was surprised by that once I bought a drone and starting seeing air conditioner units where I thought would be rooftop pools on the new multimillion dollar condos here in LA, like the one at Wilshire and Western. Even the original ad back in the 2000s showed a rooftop pool when in reality it’s just a bunch of air conditioning units up there 🤷♀️
Right? In videos I've seen from Japan it seems like rooftop areas that are accessible recreational spaces are not uncommon. In the US, not just in LA, it seems like rooftops are overlooked as a usable space in building design, you just don't see it here much at all. I think that is a shame, it's such a nice feature IMHO.
The roof seems like a lot of fun until you fall thru or off of one, or even worse, get stuck up there for any length on time. They made a movie about that called The Hangover
we have that in like Playa del Rey and the South Bay
it's pretty bourgeois though
it's not something you can expect to see implemented on a large scale
Holy shit!
I live in a Dingbat!
Never heard of this. Great vid.
Me too. I never heard of this and live in a dingbat as well.
About 5 years ago I overheard a conversation on an airplane between two real estate developers. They were excited because they had just been given approval to tear down a 50 year old apartment complex in Huntington Beach and construct a new and modern replacement. How long did this approval process take? Sixteen years.
and now you know why there is a housing crisis. it is engineered by the regulatory agencies. and this is also why our nation is falling behind in development.
I lived in southern California for over 20 years and I actually resided in a few Dingbats! This was so fascinating, thank you so much for posting this. I look forward to more
6:43 lol affordable?! These places are still prices at 900$ a square foot, just like every other rental in LA.
Love our dingbat apartment! In 2013 we were lucky enough to get into a rent controlled 2bd/2ba a block from Beverly Hills for only $1650 a month! The building management is amazing too. The only way we’re moving out of here is if we win the lotto or move out of the city. 😂
Thats a deal!
That’s so cool ! I agree some people who live in similar complexes have been there for YEARS upon years never leaving the rent stays lower for them since they lived there for so long
Thanks! The rent was actually $1500 when we moved in. The $1650 is where it’s at now. The bulk of the people that live here have been here longer than us!
@@taylors5145 that’s a steal! I live in a rent controlled gem in NYC, only a 1b/1ba, but it’s slightly more expensive than yours. I’ve always admired the LA dingbat apartments, definitely an under appreciated aspect of LAs architecture 🌴
Same for me, but in Los Feliz! I joke all the time that the only way I'm leaving this rent controlled dream is if I leave LA, win the Lotto, or die!!!! 🤣
This is a video that I didn't know I needed. I grew up in the '60's and '70's in SoCal, and to say these things were everywhere is an understatement. At the time I never gave much thought about their street facing signage and design cues - I just knew them as simple boxes on the inside and that they had virtually no unit-to-unit sound insulation. Good or bad, you always knew what was going on in the neighboring unit. Many at the time had crater filled beat up asphalt driveways. I never thought about their aspirational status, but I definitely saw them as housing for couples who got married too young, and often seemed trapped in them as they had kids too soon.
I think that building codes should mandate good sound insulation between units so this is much less of an issue or outright a solved issue
@@PlaystationMasterPS3 Yes, but remember these were built 60 years ago!! They addressed the needs of the time, fast forward to now and many that were dilapidated have been gutted, retrofitted and upgraded. Except for the single carport per unit, they still meet the needs of many people today.
Yup, I know where a lot of those apts are....
We have a few scattered around Houston, primarily in the older districts hipsters moved into. I've always liked the small size and simplicity of them. I used to refer to them as duplexes, but now I will refer to them as dingbats.
This made me so nostalgic; my big sister used to live at the Acapulco (2:35) in the '60s - '70s. I had no idea they were called Dingbats. I don't remember them seeming any cheaper or substandard than the other LA apartments she lived in.
They're basically a 1950s version of the bungalow courts, which played a similar role, in LA, in the 1910s-'20s.
Never knew I owned and lived in a dingbat... In Long Beach, there are some blocks that are 80 to 90% dingbats and then a few still remaining bungalow and single family units... I was in the Villa Capri in Long Beach, just off of Broadway near downtown LB...! Dingbats were cool!
I loved the one we lived in back in 1985. It was lovely, there was a green space in between the buildings and a pool.
My grandparents owned two dingbat apartment buildings -- and they lived in one of them, 1134 10th St. in Santa Monica. I didn't know the style name until today - thanks!
The house in Los Angeles is a very nice place and also a place that has developed well in terms of scenery and economy, etc. There are many places we can go and like.
Nice, hope the fam still owns them
wonderful area you could walk to the Areo to see a movie or walk to middle school or Izzy`s Deli .
Adorable! ..and heartbreakingly poignant & nostalgic, too..🥰
Living in a brutish 6 floor housing project makes these things look nice to me lmao. I once had a tiny apartment in Pacific Beach, San Diego that was part of like 10 rows of buildings that had no street, only sidewalks. I was the 5 rows back from the ocean, so it was kinda nice. My bedroom was a fucking triangle, which was nonsensical floor planning used to cram as many apartments in the building with plumbing as possible I'm sure... My girlfriend and I had moved there from Detroit when we were 17 with $5,000 in our pocket. I was able to keep up with the $1,000 monthly rent by simply playing guitar downtown in the Gaslamp District from 5-10pm Thrusday-Sunday nights. I ended up getting sick of it though, I missed my friends, and back home I could rent a house for literally half the price :p
They can be!
Tho they have downsides if there's gates that confuse or block deliveries, like badly designed apartment buildings. Ones that lack trees or proximity to parks and stores are also frighteningly common.
Bet that apartment is $3k a month now 😅
You left SD ? No way!
The ‘lanes’ or sidewalks only often with little gardens each side in Pacific Beach/Mission Beach can be lovely with some quite nice homes/condos. Or you taking more inland down Grand ave etc?
Ha reminds me of my time in PB those were great great times...& yes AFFORDABLE if you had any basic job not just being a beach bum....I worked @ the Firehouse
Love when a place has parking on the first floor or below. Hate to see parking spaces just wasting away when someone is gone. This type of housing should be required for apartments that always have giant parking lots, given that the USA loves cars and NIMBY's hate of transit.
with the "garage" OR open and the cars make up the facade as is most of the dingbats shown
in Canada 40s era blocks would often have a row of garages in the rear and the cars park inside the garage but the "front" is grass up to the facade of the unit often with 1/2 sunken units so windows near the ground
Here's an idea. How about a reverse dingbat in a way? Parking on the roof? Put a ramp along the side of the building so the car can drive up and park on the roof, and put a covered carport with a white painted roof on top of that and it will provide more protection from the sun and reduce energy costs, and keep the car off the street.
@@samsanimationcorner3820 no hate to you but the logistics of that are a nightmare and the look would be substantially uglier if that happened, it would fit less units, need to be made of reinforced concrete and it would be very visually a parking lot on the roof at only 2-3 stories tall
@@LucasFernandez-fk8se I mean, you're probably right. I just love puzzles and brain teasers. My first instinct to any puzzle is "what happens when you flip it upside down?". I still think I'm on to something, but it needs more refinement than just "park on the roof". Of course it would probably call for a whole shake up of infrastructure, and in the bureaucratic plate of spaghetti that California keeps serving itself that, might not work.
@@samsanimationcorner3820 insanely expensive
This was such a good video and definitely scratched a design itch that I've been needing lol! Thanks for the upload
Really enjoyed this video. Born in S.M. in 1944, I grew up with vacant lots and single family homes in the area being replaced by these building. It never occurred to me that so many were built. My dad was working on the 'housing projects'. They were putting up the thousands of small three bedroom single family houses in the 1950's. They wiped out all the Walnut groves in the San Fernando Valley and small farms to build 'housing treacks' with 50 - 100 houses at a time. I grew up walking around the houses on the week ends checking for break ins, thefts, etc. That was part of his job. I knew everything east and
south to be Orange groves, dairy farms, and fields of vegetables. What is now 'the Marina' was an oily smelly slough that was filled with water with the tides. I blinked and all the Orange trees were removed and thousands of houses replaced them. California was a beautiful place but the massive growth spoiled it.
California should learn from Portugal, a similar climate where they primarily build vertically. Much more open space is preserved. Portugal has more open green space than any other country in western Europe. The tiled surfaces are a sonic nightmare though.
I loved all of the adornments and signage on the old ones! This was a fantastic video!
These are built throughout Long Beach as well. During the “shutdown “ I walked through neighborhoods never seen in my 60 years in Long Beach. I was delighted to see some of the most preserved and restored buildings add historical charm to neighborhoods. Great video.
I lived through the Northridge quake in 1994. The Northridge Meadows Apartment Complex, across the street from me, collapsed. Sixteen people died there. It was a "dingbat" style building. There's a picture of it on Wikipedia.
We can design better today than 40 years ago.
@@Kingsleyrulz "Can" and "will" are two different things. Low cost structural designs are always just good enough to comply with current code. Has the code for digbats been updated for earthquake safety? I don't know.
1:05 Looks like the location of a mission in GTA V, where you need to steal a green bike from a Latino Gang
i thought this video was about that mission😭
San Diego is full of these as well! They provide such a sense of time and place. I have a real soft spot for them. The oasis courtyards and mid century styling are so cozy. And yeah, they are among the only real adorable options in the area. It’s so interesting to examine the many ways cars have shaped SoCal. It’s so much more than the jokes about highways and parking would have you believe. Thanks for sharing your info with us!
I was today years old when I learned these were called Dingbats. Growing up in the West Hollywood area between Sunset and Santa Monica Blvd area in the 90s, these were where most of my friends lived. They were cheaper than standard apartment buildings and usually had far less units than the "standard" apartment complex.
Pretty sure we have these around coastal areas of Australia. Maybe other areas too but lets face it I only just learnt what a Dingbat was 10 minutes and 35 seconds ago
They remind me a lot of redbrick apartment complexes of 4-12 units built around Sydney (and probably other cities) in the 60s and 70s. Different materials but similar concept, and still very liveable and durable today. I used to live in one called 'Pasadena' so I expect they were California influenced!
I only been to LA once, but I was very charmed by these. If you can do an earthquake update and renovate the insides some, they seem like great options to me.
I've always used the term dingbat as an insult towards someone - I had no idea it was a term derived for an apartment. So every time I heard you say dingbat so nonchalantly, I giggled
Same here! Go figure.
"All in the Family?"
I was and is an insult. Even when applied to these apartments. That's the point. Crappy cheaply built apartments with a pretentious or overly optimistic name like "Shady Manor" of "Fiesta Village".
Hey, I enjoyed that! I get a kick out of the signage on these apartment buildings. We have a lot of that here in Seattle, mid-century construction.
Awesome video, I think they look so interesting and really love the Tiki style ones.
These are so ubiquitous in LA, I didn’t even realize they were so… LA! Wow. Great stuff.
A major part of the cost saving is that they don't need elevators. There's this awkward stage that buildings go through when they have more than three but less than six floors. At six floors or more you can justify the cost of the elevator because it serves so many floors, but at something like four floors you still have the cost of the elevator but you only need it for a few floors. At less than three floors you don't have to worry about it.
Having a $60,000+ car and a shitty apartment, the quintessential los angeles dream.
I love these dingbats! I especially love how they (almost all) look so different from each other. Cookie-cutter basic building, perhaps, but they have varying sizes, unit quantities, styles and even varying ownership levels.
You are right that they cannot be accurately replicated today; not only have the building codes and requirements changed, but so have the styles. However, I don't see why these can't be an inspirational springboard, instead of yet another McMansion or fake Spanish villa single family home 😒
Yeah, I love when these ugly things pop up in CHICAGO. Where it's cold/snows 6 months+ a year. Lol. Looks moronic.
@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 What moron is building Dingbats in Chicago?
Interesting buildings. Put a bunch of 50's cars in those driveways and you've stepped back in time. Best of all they may be similar in construction, but the facades are what make them unique. As for illegal, I'm sure they can be built to code today as well as updating the older ones. I'd invest in one of them. 😁😁
Such an iconic look for LA! Love this little doc, thank you. I see a lot of these around, especially near Beachwood Canyon, and wasn't aware of the history. I think the look is so important to LA. Of course, I've never tried to live in one, but it seems like there could be worse places to live, for sure!
I'd love to see a video on victorian mansions converted to multi-unit apartments. We have plenty of them in South Bay Area.
More evidence that parking requirements are strangling affordability in LA
What if the parking requirement limited each unit to only one car instead of demanding 1.5 parking spaces? 'Muricans love their cars too much to go without at least one spot.
@@lopoa126 what if we built no parking and good transit and walkable neighborhoods
@@AdamFaruqi
"bUt wHaT iF We BuIlT No PaRkiNg???"
Then people will park in the street and clog them up worse than they already are.
1 per unit is reasonable. 0 is stupid, and you know it.
There are so many cars in LA, every household has at least 4 cars. We need more parking.
I would rather have this than a yard I don't use and have to upkeep. I can make way more use of a garage than a yard.
As an LA apt-dweller for many decades, I vowed never to live in a Dingbat since they look like cheap student housing from the outside, and I always foud them, frankly, depressing .Instead, I've lived in everything from a 1920's Hollywood Regencey apt, to a 1930's Art Deco apt in South Pasadena, to a 1940's Streamline Moderne apt in Santa Monica, to guest houses in the Hollywood Hills with stunning views. But now, I somehow find myself living in a 1950's Dingbat since I got a great deal a stone's throw from Beverly Hills during the pandemic and I have to say, there's a lot to like on the inside. If you can somehow get past the lack of modern conveniences like air conditioning and a dishwasher (I have installed portable versions of both myself) these apartments offer a ton of space, an entire hallway of closets (I have 2 built-in linen closets and 3 large regular closets) plus the main selling point for me... cross ventiliation and windows in every room including the bathroom. Very hard to find this in any modern LA apartment and so crucial to have air flow in every single room. Plus, original hardwood floors, a dining room with crown molding and floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room for great natural light. I've learned to love the Dingbat aesthetic and the odd long and narrow rooms because for the price, I'd take a Dingbat over a soulless, stifling cookie cutter unit any day.
Some of those Dingbat streets you show look so inhospitable. Like no way would I want to walk down there in no shade with a butt ton of driveways all over the place
Yeah, the streets they're on is often the most dystopic thing, not the building or even the traffic levels. If they had narrow lanes, timed parking for visitors and delivers, actual sidewalks or multiuse paths, they'd be less upsetting.
Would be neat to see a remodeling show dedicated to remodeling the interiors.
It would be cool if the one with the lush courtyard had the facade restored. Think I'd add trellising to the exteriors of many of these to improve exterior apoearance, and add cooling, as well as adding raingardens and other rainwater harvesting features.
born and raised in La and i never thought much about these dingbats 😂 now imma look at them with a whole new light
I actually like these they give the neighborhoods that California feel we’ve all seen in movies plus ppl renovate the inside of them so they’re really not bad at all
Agree. Better than a bunch being swept away and a 20-30 story apartment block stuck on top.
Another LA design that I remember a lot is from the big Lebowski. The dudes bungalow in a multi unit lot accessible from one front gate and with only street parking.
These bungalows did not face the street, were smaller, and all were fit on a lot which would have otherwise been a moderately sized house. These small bungalows were in the middle of what looks like a street with many single family homes
We have plenty of these in San Diego. The neighborhood I grew up in (City Heights) is comprised of dingbats, or craftsman houses with ADUs/duplexes built behind them. I would walk to school, parks, stores, restaurants, and bus stops because of how dense the neighborhood was.
Are they themed as well?
@@ahuramazda980 not to LA's extent. Some of them have very generic names like "Park Gardens" or "Crestview". LA has some awesome mid century themes going on
I actually live in an apartment with a very similar kind of layout (though, made of brick instead of wood), and its 1 garage per unit, and its more than enough for the residents.
But 1.5 parking spots per unit? Good lord the city knew exactly what it was doing there. That and all of the other zoning changes they made.
I had no idea these were called Dingbats even after living in several of them around L.A. in the 60's-80's. Also lived in several Bungalows which seemed just as popular in L.A.
I had no idea either. I live in one. Built in 1964.
I didn’t realize the term “dingbat” had evolved from referring to starburst-like design motifs used for exterior decorations to meaning the entire buildings themselves.
I thought it was from Edith Bunker. Lol
I thought it was due to the back end of a car "mooning" those on the outside.
Cool, I have lived in LA for almost 30 years and never heard them called ding-bats. I even have one at the end of the street where I live. But I don't think this would be much of a solution for the housing shortage, too little too late. What we need is transit oriented housing. Within 10 minute walk of every lite rail / subway station there should be 10+ story apartment building with little to no parking and shops on the ground level.
The first place I heard them called that was in "Slums of Beverly Hills."
San Diego is cramming apartment blocks adjoining trolley stations, bringing the crime with them.
@@elultimo102 Sorry but there’s nothing to support the idea that transit oriented development brings more crime.
Agree 100%
Except that shops would require parking options for non-residents.
Growing up in the SFV, i have grown to love these apts.
“Casa Bella. Another dingbat. Dingbats…that’s what they’re called. Two-story apartment buildings featuring cheap rent and fancy names that promise the good life, but never deliver.”
-Vivian Abramowitz, Slums of Beverly Hills
Was looking for this. lol
Yep, that's where I first heard the term. At age 11, lol.
I wish more houses had carports like that, keeps the car cool in the shade while not needing to take care of a garage or garage door, and also not needing to park on the street
I only had one parking space and it was always a battle shuffling cars for guests and getting off the street when the street cleaners came. I knew no one who didn't get tickets occasionally as the parking nazees followed right behind them!! Oh well.