2017 marks the tenth anniversary of my explorations of the neighborhoods and communities of Los Angeles and Southern California. In the past decade, I managed, although not planned, to explore and write about exactly 100 communities for my California Fool’s Gold series. When I began writing about Los Angeles neighborhoods, there were a few others … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — The 10th Anniversary
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Mapping the Geography and History of South Los Angeles
Attempting map of South Los Angeles is bound to be contentious, but I've gone ahead and had a go at it anyway. No matter what anyone tells you there are no official borders of South Los Angeles and it would be hard to find two Angelenos in absolute agreement. The Los Angeles Times regards it as a 51.08 … Continue reading Mapping the Geography and History of South Los Angeles
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Office Park Life — Visiting Park DTLA
Although the earliest office parks first appeared in the 1950s, their golden age was the 1980s, when they sprang up like boxy, shiny, fairy rings in the liminal spaces between cities and suburbs; drawn beyond the edges of cities by baby boomers who'd discovered in fleeing to the suburbs, they'd created for themselves a fresh hell in … Continue reading Office Park Life — Visiting Park DTLA
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Los Angeles Linguistics Part 1 — A Tale of Two Neighborhoods
There is a casualness and imprecision practically intrinsic to Los Angeles. It's only in this city that I've encountered people who aren't sure what neighborhood they live in. What's more, they seem undisturbed, it's all "Los Angeles," after all, an abstract city where many residents are seemingly less concerned with where they actually live than where they park their cars. Business … Continue reading Los Angeles Linguistics Part 1 — A Tale of Two Neighborhoods
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Southland Parks — Visiting Granada Park
A week ago I visited O’Melveny Park, often said to be Los Angeles’s second largest park — but actually its fifth. A few days later I visited the actual second largest park, albeit of Alhambra, not Los Angeles. That community’s Granada Park is a pleasant community park second in size only to Almansor Park. ***** … Continue reading Southland Parks — Visiting Granada Park
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Swinging Doors — A Guide to Winter Warmers
Though technically still autumn, it’s now felt like winter for over a week here in Los Angeles. The days are very short and on the long cold nights it’s been dipping into the single digits. We’ve been blessed with a little bit of rain here and there and the Santa Ana Winds have been whipping up leaves and … Continue reading Swinging Doors — A Guide to Winter Warmers
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Southland Parks — Visiting O’Melveny Park
I’d wanted to visit O’Melveny Park since first getting wind of its existence several years ago and seeing repeated references to its being the second largest park in Los Angeles (after much better known Griffith Park). However, whereas I can easily walk or ride my bicycle to Griffith Park, O’Melveny is about fifty kilometers from Pendersleigh and public … Continue reading Southland Parks — Visiting O’Melveny Park
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California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Palms
Palms is a neighborhood that founded as an agricultural and vacation community in 1886. Today it’s mostly comprised of apartment buildings, crisscrossed with commercial corridors, and the most densely populated community on the Westside. It’s also home to many of my favorite Westside establishments so the reality that I found exploring the actual neighborhood somewhat unpleasant … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Palms
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No Enclave — Exploring Islamic Los Angeles
I’m not religious. I am curious about my fellow humans, however, and the various ways in which we attempt to understand our world. I suppose it's partly for that reason that I’ve always been fascinated by mythology and religion. My curiosity has led me to read a few religious texts, including the Bhagavad Gita, Bible, Gospel of Thomas, Hagakure, Phrases and Philosophies … Continue reading No Enclave — Exploring Islamic Los Angeles
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Swinging Doors — Visiting The Verdugo
Verdugo Bar is located in the Glassell Park neighborhood of Northeast Los Angeles at 3408 Verdugo Road. Verdugo Road (along with Verdugo Canyon, Verdugo City, the Verdugo Hills, Verdugo Park, and the Verdugos region) is named after José María Verdugo, Spanish soldier and landowner to whom Rancho San Rafael was granted in 1784. Andrew Glassell … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Visiting The Verdugo
Eric Brightwell 