Hey, neighbor!

Virginia Woolf once wrote, “All the months are crude experiments out of which the perfect September is made.”

Which is lovely.

Torrance, meanwhile, spent part of this September in the 90s.

But after last week’s record heat, I’m ready to believe her. Fall officially arrives Tuesday, and there are signs: cooler mornings, apples at the farmers’ market, Halloween decorations appearing on porches. Target, of course, has been insisting it’s autumn for approximately six weeks.

So maybe we’re really almost there.

Until then: pumpkin drinks over ice.

Here’s your weekly wave.

In this issue:
​🌊 Could the Roadium someday become housing? Plus, what's next for TUSD's hottest classrooms
🌊 Meet the woman who found the small-town feeling she wanted in Torrance, then helped build more of it
🌊 Smogtoberfest, a star party, speed puzzling + approximately 47 other reasons to get out there

💌 P.S. A tiny Tide experiment: You told me The Current and Locals Only are the sections you look forward to most, so I moved them up this week. Tell me what you think of the new flow.

🏗️ Torrance is moving ahead with its Japanese American incarceration monument
​City Council voted Tuesday to continue with the Columbia Park monument as designed, despite an estimated $7.1 million to $8 million funding gap. The city has $5 million in state grant funding and had previously committed $5 million for the project, which will memorialize Japanese Americans incarcerated without due process during World War II. A community fundraising effort is now underway.

🌡️ An update on those hot TUSD classrooms
​After last week’s heat wave renewed attention on classrooms without air conditioning, TUSD says it’s creating a Heat Mitigation Task Force to identify the hottest rooms and develop a districtwide cooling plan. The district is also exploring a “weather day” option that could mean a day off or virtual learning during extreme heat. Cooling zones are available at all but three schools, with new ones planned at Fern, Adams and Hull by next summer.

🏃 Nike’s After Dark half marathon is coming through Torrance
​Nike’s After Dark Tour will run through the South Bay Oct. 24, with the half marathon traveling through Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Torrance. The route includes Paseo de la Playa, Camino de la Costa and Palos Verdes Boulevard. Nike will contribute $25,000 to the city and another $25,000 for local youth sports, plus provide 100 race entries for Torrance residents and 16 for North High students through Student Run LA.

🏘️ Could the Roadium someday become housing?
​A new South Bay study exploring where built-out cities could add housing used the 15-acre Roadium Open Air Market as one example. Researchers looked at whether a large commercial site like this could potentially accommodate housing in the future. To be clear: There is no proposal to redevelop the Roadium, and the market remains open. But its inclusion offers an interesting glimpse at where the region is looking for room to build.

🏠 Torrance rents are bucking the county trend
​While rents fell across most of the L.A. County cities tracked by Apartment List, Torrance went the other direction: up 1.6% over the past year through August. Across the 15 cities analyzed, rents fell an average 1.6%, with declines in 12 of them. Torrance had the largest increase of the group.

🐺 Torrance is scaling back coyote trapping
​After reported coyote activity declined over the past year, Torrance is reducing its coyote abatement services. Sightings fell from 436 to 387 year over year, while captures dropped from 28 to 23. The city will continue education, reporting and monitoring, with trapping still available based on activity and need.

🏥 Harbor-UCLA’s new $548 million clinic opens next week
​A new six-story outpatient center opens just outside Torrance at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on Sept. 22, bringing pediatrics, maternity, cardiology, radiology, pharmacy and other services under one roof. It replaces World War II-era Army barracks used for patient care for about 80 years and is part of a larger $1.8 billion overhaul of the campus.

What happens when a kid gets to stop watching and start making? That's the idea behind Steamoji, a new STEM maker academy on Hawthorne Boulevard for kids ages 5–14. Kids learn by building, tinkering and figuring things out, with projects spanning robotics, coding, 3D printing and engineering. This Saturday, they're opening the doors for a free Grand Opening from 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Kids can try hands-on robotics, 3D pens and 3D printing, plus free face painting. My boys constantly ask to buy a 3D printer, so I'm excited to have somewhere they can try it out instead. Complete all the activities and there's free ice cream waiting at the end. (A pretty solid reason to keep tinkering.) The bigger idea is giving kids room to try something, get stuck, try again and eventually get to say, “I built this.” ​RSVP to come build →​

Meet Laurie Porter, who found the small-town feeling she was looking for in Torrance.

When Laurie Porter and her husband, Jonathan, were looking for a permanent home for Smog City Brewing Co., they knew the kind of place they wanted.

Both grew up in small towns on the East Coast. “We like to know our neighbors and we like to know the businesses,” Laurie said. “We like our kids to go to school in the same city that we live in.”

As they searched across the South Bay, another brewer finally told Laurie: “You don’t need to look any further. Torrance is the place for you.”

Then she found a building on Del Amo Boulevard. She rolled up its two big doors, felt the ocean breeze blow through and thought: This is obviously it.

Smog City opened its Torrance brewery and taproom in 2013. Today, it has added taprooms in West Torrance, Long Beach, Glendora and Culver City. But the original brewery is still where Laurie sees most clearly what she and Jonathan hoped to build.

At anniversary parties, especially, it hits her.

“I always describe our anniversary parties like a wedding reception,” she said.

Customers hug them, congratulate them and tell them they're proud of what Smog City has become.

“They feel like family, and they treat us like family,” Laurie said.

She sees it on ordinary days, too. When someone new stands at the bar studying the beer list, regulars often jump in before the staff does:

This is my favorite.
What are you interested in?

“And then a friendship is formed,” Laurie said.

That community eventually reached beyond the taproom. In 2017, Smog City joined 1% for the Planet, committing 1% of gross sales to environmental nonprofits, including South Coast Botanic Garden, where Laurie had taken her son since he was little.

“We wanted to be able to give back to the people that are supporting Smog,” she said.

That relationship with the Garden continues this fall, when Smog City again sponsors its Dogtoberfest celebration.

And after more than a decade here, Laurie has become an enthusiastic student of Torrance herself. She loves its Japanese and Korean food, museums, airport, beach and the little places people might overlook.

“There is so much more than meets the eye when you come here,” she said.

But ask what people would miss if Smog City disappeared tomorrow, and Laurie doesn't say the beer.

“The staff,” she said.

She hopes people would miss having a place where they felt welcome and connected.

Which sounds a lot like what Laurie and Jonathan were looking for when they came to Torrance in the first place.

THREE MORE THINGS
The Smogtoberfest tradition Laurie refuses to skip:​
Dressing up. Lederhosen and dirndls encouraged.

The beer she’d give someone who says, “I’m not really a beer person”:
​Coffee Porter.

Laurie’s favorite kind of night at the Torrance brewery:
​“A night where we have a packed house and music playing.”

Find Laurie at Smogtoberfest this weekend and next at the original Smog City taproom in Torrance.

Next week, meet the coach leading Torrance High football on Friday nights.

PASS THE TIDE 🌊 Know someone who’d like a little more Torrance in their inbox? Hit forward + invite a neighbor.

🍽️ Must Try Bruster’s | Apple Dumpling | A warm apple dumpling topped with cinnamon ice cream and cinnamon sauce. If we’re going to pretend it’s fall in Torrance, we might as well commit. ​The Find →

🎶 On Repeat “September Grass” by James Taylor | For these last warm evenings before summer officially hands things over. ​Hit Play →​

🏡 Eye Catching 5106 Paseo Del Pavon | This Upper Riviera home had us at the private, tree-filled courtyard tucked right into the middle of the house. Add vaulted ceilings, city-light views and a four-car garage? We'll take the keys. ​Let's Go →

🌅 Watch the light change. With the autumnal equinox almost here, this lovely little sun clock tracks sunrise, sunset, golden hour and all the stages of daylight in between.

🦷 A dentist my kids are asking to go back to. I took all three boys to Pacific Coast Pediatric Dentistry to see Dr. Elite Mekel, and somehow the dentist became a highlight of their week. Their names were on the welcome board, they left with personalized canvas bags and a prize from a truly epic display, and I could grab a coffee while all three were seen at once. Then a handwritten thank-you note arrived with stickers for each kid. I've since been asked at least three times when we're going back. I'm not sure there's a stronger pediatric dentist endorsement than that.

💙 A Torrance neighbor doing good on a bigger stage. Catherine Paour has spent more than 20 years advocating for families affected by Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma after her own child survived such an injury as an infant. Now she’s taking that work national, joining the Advisory Council of The Shaken Baby Alliance and representing the organization at a conference in Nashville next week.

🎃 Scare Down needs trunks! The 10th annual Scare Down in Downtown returns Oct. 3, and organizers are looking for more neighbors and local groups to decorate a trunk and hand out treats. And yes, The Tide will have a trunk there, too. More on that soon.

​
​Found something delightfully Torrance this week? Hit reply and send it our way!

​Feature your event. | Suggest an event.​

The Los Angeles International Ukulele Festival turns 10 this weekend at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center, with three days devoted to four strings.

Friday kicks things off with a concert from Taiwanese ukulele phenom Feng E. Saturday is the big festival day, with performances, workshops and jam sessions, plus a free marketplace with food, shave ice, an open mic and beginner ukulele classes. Sunday wraps it all up with a festival brunch and a concert from the acclaimed Langley Ukulele Ensemble.

Even if you don't own a ukulele, Saturday's free outdoor portion makes this an easy one to wander into and see what all the strumming is about.

Torrance Cultural Arts Center | Sept. 18-20 | Free + Ticketed

Friday, September 18
​Nearby: Dignity Health Sports Park – Monster Energy SMX World Championship Playoffs at 4 p.m. The world’s top SuperMotocross riders hit Carson for Playoff 2, with double points on the line and big-air jumps, technical rhythm sections and plenty of speed. FanFest runs 9 a.m.–3 p.m. with qualifying, rider meet-and-greets and a look at the bikes, followed by opening ceremonies at 3:30 and the gate drop at 4 p.m.

Katy Geissert Library – Lotería at 4:30 p.m. Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a few rounds of the traditional Mexican picture-card game, plus prizes and library swag.

North, South and West fields – Varsity Football at 7 p.m. Another pick-your-home-team kind of Friday: North hosts Carson, South takes on Adelanto and West faces Peninsula. Bonus at North: the Jr. Cheer Clinic kids will join the Saxons for the first two quarters and take the field for a halftime performance.

Saturday, September 19
​Torrance Beach – Coastal Cleanup Day at 9 a.m. Give our little stretch of coastline some love by joining volunteers to pick up trash and debris along Torrance Beach. Meet at Miramar Park.

Torrance High – Music & Mufflers Car Show at 9 a.m. Classic cars roll into Torrance High for a morning of music, tacos, raffles and trophies, all to support the school’s band and color guard programs.

Western Museum of Flight – Doug Shane Celebrity Lecture at 11 a.m. Test pilot Doug Shane shares what it’s like to fly the unusual, innovative and never-before-seen.

Walteria Library – Throwback Storytime at 11 a.m. This one is for the kids and their nostalgic parents: Gen Xers and millennials can revisit the storytime classics with old-school songs, interactive stories and musical fun.

El Retiro Library – Folklórico 101 at 11 a.m. Dancer Angela Ambrosio introduces the history, costumes and traditions of folklórico, then gets everyone up to try a few steps themselves.

Southeast Library – John Coltrane Centennial at 1 p.m. Celebrate 100 years of John Coltrane with an afternoon of jazz. DJ Teetop spins Coltrane classics from the library’s own vinyl collection, followed by live sax and drums from Anthony Vogel and Jonathan B. Saxon.

North Torrance Library – Speed Puzzling at 2 p.m. Apparently leisurely jigsaw puzzling can, in fact, become a competitive sport. Race other puzzlers to finish first, where every piece (and second) counts.

Torrance Art Museum – Fall Exhibitions Opening Reception at 6 p.m. TAM reopens with a Saturday night reception for Baker’s Dozen, its annual survey of 13 contemporary artists who caught the curators’ attention, and B-LA-M, an international artist-run exchange connecting Berlin, Los Angeles and Mexico City.

Madrona Marsh – Star Party at 7 p.m. Look up with the Riverside Astronomical Society for a free night under the stars. Start with a talk about what’s overhead, then head to the telescopes to spot Venus, Saturn and a 9-day-old moon.

Sunday, September 20
​The Enclave – SoCal Etsy Guild Market at 12 p.m. Shop local artists and makers at this pop-up market with handmade goods, food, giveaways, live art and more.

Stellar Art Gallery – Stellar Sunday Gathering at 1 p.m. Drop in for an afternoon of hand-blown glass by Paul Lasman, plus photography, ceramics and other work from local artists. Meet the artists, look around and stay for light refreshments.

James Armstrong Theatre – Langley Ukulele Ensemble at 2 p.m. See what happens when the ukulele gets the full concert treatment. This acclaimed Canadian youth ensemble plays everything from classical and jazz to folk and contemporary favorites, with bass, percussion and vocals joining the strings.

All Weekend
​Smog City – Smogtoberfest. The Torrance taproom goes full beer hall for the first of two Oktoberfest weekends, with Festival Lager, food trucks and live music. Saturday brings a steinholding competition at 2:30 p.m. and costume contest at 3 p.m.

Weather Forecast? No 80s in sight.
⛅ Fri 66°/76° Partly Cloudy
☀️ Sat 67°/76° Mostly Sunny
⛅ Sun 66°/74° AM Clouds / PM Sun

How’d you like The Tide’s new order? 👍 Keep it this way 🌊 I liked the old order better 🤷 Honestly didn’t notice

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