My 'hood.

When historians look back on 2009 I think they'll be intrigued by the fact that did that we did not rebel. The 10% unemployment rate is farcically low, and everyone knows it. The belief that Wall Street is actively working to drain wealth from the middle class is now widespread. Portions of the country are in what amounts to collapse. 50 million went hungry at some point this year. Interest rates can't defy common sense much longer.

Yet, to observe the stock market and listen to financial news it seems we've turned the corner. Happy days are - almost - here again...

I see no reason to trust the media or those buying into the market revival. Or, for that matter, 90% of the economists yapping on TV. Their track records are appalling. I don't take advice from dairy farmers on brain surgery either. Though, dairy farmers probably have guessed the trajectory of the economy better than most alleged economists. In fact, I'm sure they would have.

With propaganda overwhelming the news on the economy - I decided to observe what I could, where I could.

Things are observably grimmer in my urban neighborhood than they were a year ago. The homeless outpost along side the local library has tripled in size. Panhandlers are much more prevalent. The house across the street has a sign that has almost comically gone from for sale, to for lease, to for rent - it's still a tomb. The empty, reposed house around the corner has trash piling up. Most of my neighborhood is built around apartment buildings. For rent signs are on nearly every one. The population of Koreatown has not noticeably declined - the only explanation is that people have doubled and tripled up. The person I know in the area has gone back to her native - very poor - country to make some money. A stunning penthouse apartment across the street is empty along with a portion of the rest of the building. The police presence has ratcheted up - with good reason. Petty crime is back with a vengeance.

All of this in a city of astounding, conspicuous wealth. In fact, like so many other LA neighborhoods, in mine poverty exists directly adjacent to wealth. Even the wealth is showing stress. My walks down a section of Wilshire , Blvd., that only a few years ago was infused with piles of money from Korea, has lost its least sustainable businesses. Now there are empty art galleries and failed high end coffee houses. The gorgeous condo skyscraper completed in 2008 on top of the nearby Metro station is empty, even after the sale prices were slashed 50%. The parking structure for presumed tenants is now open as a park and ride for subway riders. My neighborhood was gentrifying rapidly just a year and a half ago. Now it's in full retreat.

And everyone I know has reigned in their spending. Everyone.

My little slice is just that: little. Yet, how can it be in such stark contrast to what's blaring across the media? If we are in a "recovery" - it's a use of the word I do not comprehend.