Tales of disappearing water, secession movements, hypergentrification, strip clubs, and more Are you looking for something good to read right now or even later" You?ve come to the right place. This year, Curbed launched its West Coast features program, and over 2016 we traveled from Portland down to the desert near the Mexican border to bring you tales of disappearing water, controversial architecture, secession movements, hypergentrification, strange weather, strip clubs, and more. These are 10 of our favorite Western longreads.

The incredible leaning flip of West Oakland by Susie Cagle
?If I didn?t know that house so well I?d feel sorry for it,? says Gabe Santos, who lived for five years at 2523 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in West Oakland. ?I?d be like, ?poor little house, no one wants you.?? Of course, someone did want 2523, and the profits from flipping what was once a dilapidated, graffiti-covered squat, foreclosed after its owner was convicted of mortgage fraud and money laundering. There?s no trace of the little house?s former life, except for a characteristic that does not make the listing: The house is leaning, pitched several degrees sideways, and not in an endearing way.

Susie Cagle

The naked city by Kate Losse
In areas like Downtown LA, whose transformation is occurring in part because of the appeal of the gritty industries that once occupied these neighborhoods, is it possible that the grittier establishments can adapt to a ne...