The boundary between Long Beach and Signal Hill runs right down the center of the Pacific Coast Highway at the intersection with Orizaba street. Facing off like sentries, the Long Beach Inn and the Signal Hill Motel mark their respective sides of the line. As part of California State Route #1, the Pacific Coast Highway still shows the hallmarks of the automobile age: billboards, service stations, used car lots and motels.
The Catalina View Motel (there is just enough elevation to make that possible on a clear day) and neighboring Colorado Motel, with its sign promising Color TV, are well maintained and painted cheerfully bright. They look cozy and nostalgic, perfect subjects for photography.
It is the dead used car lot next store to the Catalina View that draws me in though with questions.
How long ago did it close? Why is it vacant when others nearby thrive. Why were the light hoods painted black? Who spray painted USA on the ground?
And are the Aragon attached townhouses really coming soon?
