You’re obviously free to defend libertad’s comment as valid and pertinent. Perhaps if he or she had been a bit more diplomatic and pointed the comment at a broader base rather than at me personally I wouldn’t have taken it as an assumptive slight founded on a ridiculous premise that screamed for a rebuttal you found so over the top. But then I’m weird like that when I get picked on.

And speaking of weird, you may qualify my reaction to Evan’s statement as such but it seems as if you’re extrapolating it out to be some sort of judgment of him. I may not have made it clear that I thought he was a fine fellow and I did appreciate his willingness to talk as well as his enthusiasm for the space. If my not leaping for joy at his designs for it is odd to you, then odd I be.

Your second to last paragraph is spot-on and I appreciate your endorsement of my bike shop dream. Alas, unless I win the lottery tomorrow the place is Evan’s to do with as he so chooses and one I hope appeals to the community.

However, a lot of these changes aren’t vicious spirals downward in the available culture the perceived demographic wants to feel surrounded by. I think your ‘lament’ might be a bit premature, maybe melodramatic. If a Pinkberry does move in then we can all wave the flags of despair, but why assume that every time a storefront puts up a vacant sign it’s going to be filled by a mega-chain? Especially if the vacancy sign is going up on a ’storefront’, a business that you enjoyed the look of as you road past but not a business that provided you a frequent and necessary service.

Yes, Eat Well is gone, but Flore opened a few doors down.

I felt your reaction to Evan was weird. "Well, at least it’s not a Starbucks"? I’d think you’d be thrilled that an independent proprietor is looking to use that space to open a gathering place that caters to the perceived demographic of the neighborhood. I mean, you met the guy because he happened to be patronizing the restaurant next door, not to mention the sort of guy who goes out of his way to strike up a conversation with a stranger who appears to share an interest in the neighborhood’s evolution. I’d think this would score pretty high on your graph of ideal new local business-owners.

Sometimes I get the feeling that when a local store closes the only business some locals will consider an acceptable replacement for it is a nostalgia shop that specializes in the kitsch of the previous tenant’s business. Change is not necessarily loss. But that is especially true from the perspective of the real majority demographic of the neighborhood who haven’t had a connection to but a tiny fraction of the storefronts in this neighborhood in decades. You think they care whether that storefront is filled by an antique shop, a wine bar, or a CA-style diner? Nah, they’ll never step foot inside regardless. Some might be happy to see another Lucy’s Laundromat open up a few blocks closer to their home, otherwise it’s just another storefront that sells trinkets or expensive foreign meals.

I’m sorry that there’s no rumors floating around of a bike shop moving into any of these newly vacant spaces. No one is more passionate about biking than you, maybe this is your calling. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing a boutique bicycle salon near Sunset Junction. I’d consider it a welcome new Silver Lake color and interesting storefront for me to walk by every day. If such a business could succeed anywhere in LA I’d think it would be in Silver Lake.

The old Bungalow space is being split up inside– part of it will be private (for a recording studio) but the bulk of it will be gift shop called Mercado run by two chicks. My friend knows the man who owns the space and record company so this info is a lot more accurate that what’s floating around out there.

The level of my support of "the local color" is what it is and I resent your presumptive implication that it’s somehow lacking. If you feel there’s some threshold level that needs achieving in order to be allowed to bemoan the current glut of empty storefronts and the changing retail landscape of Silver Lake, well that’s just an odd argument. Did Den go out of business because I only wandered through it a few times and didn’t buy anything? No. Is Bungalow still around even though my wife and I furnished our living room and office with their stuff? No.

Apparently I don’t have the required proofs of purchase to suit you so I’m to just STFU and welcome the next Pinkberry through gritted teeth? Please.

I prayed for a little boutique or salon, but alas it was to become a wine bar! UGH.

The word "bracing" does not mean what you seem to think it means, Fred. Dictionary.com can be a valuable resource when it comes to things like this. Next time, use it *before* you post.

i’m wondering did you ever actually BUY anything at Den of Antiquity? because it reads like you’re one of those locals who want the local color but don’t actually support the local color.