I have, but I’ve also met some LA natives that have never heard the term. It is a real thing, but it’s not universal for everybody.
People who know LA architecture & RE history do call them that ;)
Born and raised in Los Angeles, lived there for 40+ years, had family in Korea Town and lived in Hollywood off of Cahuenga. I'm very familiar with these structures, I've never heard them referred to as dingbats, ever.
Same. Never heard this term before, but the article showed the pink flamingo and I instantly understood what they were talking about.
The second I saw it, I knew it too, and then I immediately started getting anxiety about parking.
3rd generation LA native here - my family has never called them anything except dingbats as far back as I can remember. Plenty of other people I've talked to who are from LA used that term as well (or were familiar with it), so I don't think it's a regional LA thing either.