STEWART COPELAND

We have very high winds and a now a wild fire is burning out of control in the hills around The Getty Center and The Sacred Grove area. This is a very hilly and densely populated area, where streets tend to be narrow, and it's typical of Southern California's dry, brushy terrain. Several evacuation orders in effect. I hope Stew's house is ok. All that history....

Can I get an explanation of why people settled there in the first place?

I mean.......... surely there was a less fire prone are in the state of CA...

lol It would be hard to explain the allure of Southern California topography, but it's a rare geographical area where you can go from surfing at the beach to skiing in the mountains in a couple of hours (more or less). You can live in "rural" areas where you can hike or ride horses but still are close enough to partake in the "city" life of L.A. or Hollywood. I hiked to the Hollywood sign - a heavily traversed trail with nothing of note to see - until you reach the sign and look out at the sprawling humanity of the L.A. basin. It's breath taking to see Downtown LA all the way to the beach and then simply turn around and look the other way and see the San Fernando Valley, as you're standing at the top of a mountain in Griffith Park, which is like an oasis if you will. A bit like NY's Central Park only much larger. Tons of green in the middle of a cement and steel city. We enjoy the diversity. I loved visiting Manhattan to see the final Police gig, but I couldn't see myself living there. I think my eyes would get bored. They never do in So Cali. Stewart lives in a pretty typical Southern California neighborhood. Outside of the fact that the homes are extremely expensive in his neck of the woods, there's plenty of wooded areas, lots of hills and the streets tend to be without sidewalks in a lot of these types of neighborhoods. And these neighborhoods are the prime example of the So Cali lifestyle.

Sounds like the place for the elites.