Four Fun Facts About the Famous Hollywood Sign

Many people have images of their favorite cities; from the pinnacles of the Space Needle in Seattle to the trusses of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to the majestic steps of the Capitol Building in Washington to the epic heights and sweeping vistas from the Empire State Building in New York City; people have images which signify to them the city they reside in. One of the most surefire ways to know that you are in Hollywood is to be able to look up into the Hollywood Hills and see the Hollywood Sign. When you are about to touch down in LAX, you can see the Hollywood Sign; when you are spelunking down into the many landmark spots on Sunset, you can see the Hollywood Sign; when you're crossing the world famous intersection of Hollywood and Vine...well, you can't really see the Hollywood Sign but that's because you're too close. If you'd back up ever so slightly you would be able to clearly see this epic landmark. It was recently revealed to me on public access TV a number of interesting factoids about this stoic sign

1) Location: We all know that the Hollywood sign is in the "Hollywood Hills," and many people wonder why they don't let tourists up close and personal with the sign. Well, for one thing the terrain up there has not really been altered so getting up to the sign itself is quite dangerous. Also the area of the sign is a "brush fire district;" one carelessly discarded cigarette could send the whole area up in flame. Also there are many nice, expensive homes just down from the spot where the sign sits; if tourists were up there, clicking their cameras, hooting and hollering, it would severely depreciate the value of the land and make it disagreeable to live there.

2) Residents: In the cooler months, the only danger would be from second amendment, tycoon residents below. But in the summer months there are rattlesnakes that live in the brush. You don't want to run into those guys!