Star Maps & Foreclosures

According to RealtyTrac, foreclosure rates have hit a record high last month, with one in 138 California homes receiving a foreclosure notice -- up 42% from April 2008. This after several months of depressing news on the home front, making California one of the top 10 U.S. States with the most properties in foreclosure. At such a rate, people still owning their home may indeed become as envied and sought after as the stars -- as John Deering's illustration above suggests, referring to L.A.'s quintessential star maps.

Star maps are an integral part of the tourist experience in L.A. You can buy them in quiet, leafy residential streets off Sunset, where stealth vendors will tell you all sorts of stories about the stars in a hush, conspiratorial tone. You can also take a bus, boat or helicopter tour to the residences of the stars, but you won't see much except for security gates and high walls. That's assuming the stars have ever lived, or are still living there. Yet the myth prevails, enough to keep the average Joe and Jane dreaming.
illustration "Strange Brew" by John Deering via smdp.com