For decades since the introduction of the automobile to Los Angeles, the trend was to accommodate them more and more. Sidewalks were shaved away to all for more cars. Beautiful historic buildings were leveled and replace with surface parking lots. Interstate freeways were allowed not just to connect states but to slice through working class … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Los Angeles’s Open Streets
With bicycles, buses, ferries, planes, rideshares, sidewalks, subways, taxis, and trains at Angelenos’ disposal, why would any sane person choose car-dependency? Nobody Drives in LA celebrates sense and sensibility in transportation. ***** A couple of weeks ago I visited Garden Grove to preview that city’s upcoming open streets event, which I wrote would be the first of its kind in … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Previewing Santa Ana’s SOMOS (Sunday On Main Open Streets)
It’s the tenth anniversary of Silver Lake’s Sunset Triangle Plaza. In its first decade, Silver Lake’s first (and thus far, only) street-to-plaza conversion has truly emerged as one of the primary hubs of the community. That’s no small feet when the actual center of the neighborhood is a giant, fenced-off reservoir and none of the … Continue reading Greater Streets — Visiting Silver Lake’s Sunset Triangle Plaza
About a month ago, following the introduction of a car-free section of Griffith Park Drive in Griffith Park, I wrote a piece celebrating ten Los Angeles streets that have been reclaimed from automobiles over the past century. After that, I wrote about open streets events, like CicLAvia, that have for 20 years provided tantalizing if … Continue reading Greater Streets — Street Vacations: When Streets Get Taken Away
GRIFFITH PARK DRIVE CLOSURE IN GRIFFITH PARK On 27 June, a small stretch of Griffith Park Drive is being closed to cars as part of a pilot program [UPDATE: It’s permanent now]. Inevitably, there were the NIMPS (Not In My Parking Spaces) who cried that they and people like them would no longer be able … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Re-Claiming Los Angeles’s Streets from Cars
Los Angeles was built around the walker. During the Last Glacial Period, the first humans arrived in Southern California, almost certainly by foot. As the glaciers receded, both these stone-age Paleoamericans and their non-human neighbors carved and shared trails through the green woodland, wetland, grassland, desert, and chaparral landscapes. Some 10,000 years later, the Tongva arrived … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Public Stairways, Stair Streets, and Walk Streets of Los Angeles
If you ever walk, bicycle, or take public transit in Los Angeles, you’ve no doubt noticed those nearly ubiquitous tan or beige-colored signs with brown lettering, a City of Los Angeles seal, and text designating an intersection or section of road a “square.” If you’re a motorist, you may’ very well have missed them, because … Continue reading Greater Streets — Los Angeles Squares, or When is a Square Not a Square?
INTRODUCTION Normally when I write an account of one of my explorations, it’s after I’ve concluded it. Sometimes I work on them for months and when I can’t stand thinking about it anymore, I just publish it and figure I’ll correct the typos later. However, I began exploring and writing about Valley Boulevard more than a … Continue reading Greater Streets — Exploring Valley Boulevard
INTRODUCTION Although it continues to attract millions of tourists every year, there are few places in Los Angeles that locals avoid as deliberately as Downtown Hollywood‘s Walk of Fame. To put it bluntly, most Angelenos that I know would rather jostle with the crowded sidewalks along Alvarado in Westlake or spend a night on Skid … Continue reading Greater Streets: Exploring the Walk of Fame — Heart of Hollywood
Close readings of Los Angeles’s greatest public asset. If there’s a particular street or stretch of road you’d like me to explore, please let me know in the comments. Pop-Up Broadway: Exploring Los Angeles’s Original Great Street Exploring the Walk of Fame – Heart of Hollywood Exploring Valley Boulevard (in progress) Exploring Yosemite Drive Los … Continue reading Greater Streets
Eric Brightwell 