One Square Mile: Remembering Fox Hills

"I've been over here my whole life, and it's really evolved," Fox Hills resident Michelle Hollie said.

Since its acquisition by Culver City in 1964, evolution has seemed to define the "Fox Hills" area. It's gone from an undeveloped piece of land to a neighborhood full of luxury condos and a popular shopping center, and from a majority white neighborhood to a true ethnic melting pot.

Fox Hills' residents who have lived in the area for many years recently reflected back on how it's changed, how it's improved, and how the various changes and transitions have impacted their lives.

"When I first came here, it was a very interesting place, because the communities were changing," recalled Michael Coulter, who is a former football coach at UCLA and moved to the area 30 years ago. "It used to be really exclusive, because the studios had control over the area. Now it's a lot more accessible."

Michelle Hollie, who was a set director for films such as Friday, remembers Fox Hills before they had even built the mall. "This whole area was a golf course," she explained. "I was sorry to see the golf course go, because it was beautiful."

Hollie shared several memories of the Fox Hills Country Club, which housed the golf course. "I was a sweetheart for the Alpha fraternity, and we had one of our balls up here at the Fox Hills Country Club, and it was very nice," she recalled.

"Also, when I was little, my cousin's mother and my aunts were some of the first black ladies playing golf at the club," she added. "It was four of them: Aunt Pep, Aunt Helen, Aunt Tinsey and Aunt Callie."

While Hollie misses the golf course, the mall that took over that land was the basis for other residents' Fox Hills memories.

"I am 50 years old now, and working here was my first job here at Fox Hills," said Terry McKinney, who worked at the Limited Express in the late '80s. She reminisced about meeting a few celebrities during her time working there. "I met Magic Johnson. He actually came in my store and gave me his autograph."

The mall's recent renovation also provided fodder for memories. "My fondest memory is just seeing this place being rebuilt," said Domingo Gutierrez, who has been living in the area his whole life.

"It's beautiful, with the work that they've done with it. The other side has just been expanded, [and] ou can tell the growth."

Darcy Snyder, an LAUSD teacher who has been living in the area for 12 years, says she's also been positively affected by the mall's renovation into the .

"Watching the mall transform into what it is today, and being able to shop in such a nice area, and just having it close by, that's been a memory for me," she said.

"When I first moved here, you had to leave the area to do anything," said Liliana Pineda, who grew up in Venice and moved to Fox Hills eight years ago. "Now there's a lot more restaurants and cultural options. Everything has changed and expanded."

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[This article was previously published on OneSquareMile.uscannenberg.org.]