L.A To Home Hill?

My attention this week turned to Los Angeles, ablaze with severe (out of season) bushfires, with several upscale neighbourhoods turned to nothing but ash, including Pacific Palisades and parts of Malibu.

What’s L.A got to do with the Burdekin? Well, there are more similarities than seem obvious at first glance.

I lived in L.A for 4-5 years between 2012-2016. It’s also where I met my wife, so it holds a special place in my heart. To see it go up in flames is tough, especially as we have friends and family there. My wife was also born in Hollywood, and while not a star, to me and our son, she’s the whole galaxy of stars.

So, what’s L.A have to do with the regional sugar cane town, Home Hill, which feels a million miles from the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown? More than you think.

We were in L.A for three days last year en route to Australia, and this once fantastic city is in serious decline. When I lived there, it was a fab place to be. Big, wide, clean beaches, canyons and roads that remain my fave to this day, along with the stunning Griffith Park, the biggest city park in all of the United States.

However, in recent years, once thriving strip shops are seeing very little business or worse, closed and boarded up. While the (in)famous ‘Skidrow’ – a homeless tent city so big (and getting bigger) – it could easily have its own postcode.

While on a smaller scale, the same things exist here. Shops closed, boarded up, or seeing very little custom. Homeless drifting around, though not in numbers like L.A, but rising.

In talks with locals, Home Hill used to be a thriving country town with five cafes, four butchers, two supermarkets, drapery and clothing shops and more. “A great place to live,” many long-term residents tell me.

A few decades on from its glory days, its grandeur has faded.

Will we see Home Hill rise again? I believe so but it’s going to take grit, ingenuity, and belief.

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