Today is the birthday of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. It is celebrated, in some places, as Johnny Appleseed Day. Other locales celebrated it on 11 March. I'm not sure how the March date was chosen. It's exactly one week before Johnny Appleseed died -- which seems like an odd thing the celebrate … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Cider Scene on Johnny Appleseed Day
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No Enclave — Peruvian Los Angeles
Peru (Spanish: Perú; Quechua and Aymara: Piruw) is a country in South America. It is considered a "megadiverse' country, the habitats of which include the arid planes of the Pacific coast, the alpine peaks of the Andes, and the tropical Amazon basin. It is also home to a highly diverse human population of about 34 … Continue reading No Enclave — Peruvian Los Angeles
Southland Parks — Los Angeles’s State Society Picnics
From the 1900s through the 1970s, large numbers of migrants to Los Angeles gathered in themed picnics organized around their states of origin known as State Society Picnics or just State Picnics (although that sounds confusingly to me like an outdoor state banquet). They were known as "State Society Picnics." The phenomenon was huge. One … Continue reading Southland Parks — Los Angeles’s State Society Picnics
Happy 909, or, Pomona Valley Day!
INTRODUCTION Snapshot of the Communities of the Pomona Valley Readers are apparently loving these area code/valley posts. Last year's 818/San Fernando Valley Day post was my most-read piece in 2021. That unexpected response inspired me to write this year's 626/San Gabriel Valley Day post, which -- two month's after its publication -- has already climbed … Continue reading Happy 909, or, Pomona Valley Day!
California Fool’s Golds — The Best of Los Angeles
Last year, I think, I made a map of some of my favorite places -- and places I've still yet to visit but am eager to -- in Metro Los Angeles. I don't remember what the occasion was -- or even whether or not there was one. I think that I just wanted to visualize … Continue reading California Fool’s Golds — The Best of Los Angeles
Those Useless Trees — The Southern California Black Walnut
One of the most iconic trees of Southern California is the Juglans californica, commonly known as the Southern California black walnut. As trees go, it is fairly small, usually reaching a height and radius that tops out around fifteen meters. It could, alternately, be described as a large shrub -- as many specimens have up … Continue reading Those Useless Trees — The Southern California Black Walnut
Greater Streets — Visiting Silver Lake’s Sunset Triangle Plaza
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
Homes Fit for Heroes — Motel-Style Apartments
Metro Los Angeles boasts numerous varieties of apartments and other multi-tenant housing types. Bungalow courts and garden apartments all have always enjoyed a healthy following. I'm sure I'm not the only Angeleno who loves a nice courtyard apartment or those hotel-style mid-rises topped with neon signs that are found throughout Midtown and Westlake. Even the … Continue reading Homes Fit for Heroes — Motel-Style Apartments
Swinging Doors — Los Angeles Mead and Meaderies
Happy Mead Day! Yes, 6 August is Mead Day -- not that I expect anyone to know that. Nor did I know it until I searched up "mead day" a couple of weeks ago and discovered that it was already coming up. Why this date? I don't know. There are certainly other days more associated … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Los Angeles Mead and Meaderies
Greater Streets — Street Vacations: When Streets Get Taken Away
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
Eric Brightwell 