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This is a photo of a commericial building in Wellesley Island, NY.
Compare this to: the corner of Vanowen and Sepulveda in Van Nuys!
This structure is not disfigured by ugly signs. It does not sit back from the street, surrounded by a parking lot. It comes right up to the sidewalk and communicates with its surroundings. You might come here for a cup of coffee, or drop off your kids in a day care center, and you would do so in a building that is open and friendly.
It is also a self-policing structure. Dozens of windows keep an “eye” on the street, discouraging criminal activity. Pedestrians are encouraged to walk here.
It is also a pleasing looking building with classical geometric lines.
Finally, it is not an expensive looking place. It is not tarted up with fake cornices and pillars, ignorantly applied, such as one sees in Tarzana and Encino. It’s not covered with iron bars and roll down steel shutters. It is not vandalized in aerosol spray can creaciones artísticas .
It is plain spoken and entirely American and worthy of replication here in the Southland.
Here in Van Nuys 
The building seems to crowd the street.
It looks like you have to walk in the street to access the place…I don’t even see a sidewalk out front.
The only visible parking appears to be in the private-looking garages.
There’s no signage to suggest that inside are shops that are open to the public.
It looks like a dingy, uninviting seven-unit apartment house.
The wires hanging out front look familiar, though.
What’s to like about this oversize, uninviting box?
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Look around you. What exactly is a “California Building”? Have you ever visited San Francisco and Berkeley? They have lots of buildings constructed of wood and many look just like the one in the photo.
Last time I checked, they also have seismic events as does Washington State and Oregon which also have many wooden and brick structures.
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I don’t know how long you’ve lived here, but wood and brick buildings tend to not fare too well during seismic events.
Also, neo-Colonial style buildings tend to stick out among other California-style buildings.
It’s pretty, though.
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