Los Angeles is often characterized as an horizontal city, spread as it is across an area that could contain Boston, Cleveland, Manhattan, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, St. Louis, and several interchangeable college towns. Dodger Stadium's parking lot alone is larger than some principalities. Less often acknowledged is the fact that no city on Earth is as vertical either, stretching as … Continue reading High Rising — Visiting the Hotel Figueroa
Tag: downtown los angeles
California Fool’s Gold’s Guide to Los Angeles’s Revival Cinemas
No city on Earth is more closely associated with motion pictures than Los Angeles. 10% of all movie theaters in the entire country are located in California and Los Angeles County is home to over 100 of them. Although most of Los Angeles's theaters, like those throughout the country, showcase only the latest Hollywood product, … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold’s Guide to Los Angeles’s Revival Cinemas
Nobody Drives in LA — Exploring the Regional Connector Transit Corridor
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. There are five Metro rail projects currently under construction in Los Angeles: the Crenshaw Line, the Expo Line, the Gold Line, the Purple Line, and the Regional … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Exploring the Regional Connector Transit Corridor
No Enclave — Exploring the Remains of Los Angeles’s Little Italy
Los Angeles and Orange counties are home to many official and unofficial (but widely recognized) ethnic enclaves, including Cambodia Town, Chinatown, Filipinotown, Koreatown, Little Armenia, Little Arabia, Little Bangladesh, Little Brazil, Little Ethiopia, Little India, Little Osaka, Little Russia, Little Saigon, Little Seoul, Little Tokyo, Oaxacatown, Tehrangeles, and Thai Town. Attempting to gain official recognition are … Continue reading No Enclave — Exploring the Remains of Los Angeles’s Little Italy
Nobody Drives in LA — Exploring Downtown’s Calvin S. Hamilton Pedway
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. If you've been downtown there's a good chance that you've noticed the concrete overpasses above the streets, but probably never thought much about them. My curiosity was only sufficiently … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Exploring Downtown’s Calvin S. Hamilton Pedway
The Cooper Do-nuts Uprising
Cooper Do-nuts sign (image source: Stephen Seemayer and Pamela Wilson's film, Young Turks (1982) May 1959: Seven years before Silver Lake's Black Cat Riot and ten before New York's Stonewall riots, a group of drag queens, trans women, and hustlers clashed with LAPD officers at a location of the local Cooper Do-nuts (also known as Cooper's Donut Depot, Cooper's Doughnuts … Continue reading The Cooper Do-nuts Uprising
California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Dogtown
Pendersleigh & Sons' Cartography's map of Dogtown INTRODUCTION Dogtown (or as the city would rather you refer to it -- the "North Industrial District") is both one of Los Angeles’s oldest and most obscure neighborhoods. It’s also occasionally referred to as either Naud Junction or Mission Junction, after two area junctions of the Southern Pacific Railroad, the … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Dogtown
Nobody Drives in LA — Get Out of the Car: Walking CicLAvia No. 5
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. ***** Los Angeles, like many cities, is experiencing a new level of connectedness. The opening of new train lines, an increase in bicycling events and trails, kayak tours of … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Get Out of the Car: Walking CicLAvia No. 5
Urban Rambles: Walking South Central to Silver Lake
The other day I found myself visiting the northernmost corner of South Central on business. When I was done I decided not to hop on the next bus home, but rather to walk for at least a little bit. The rest of my day was wide open and it was pleasantly warm and sunny. I … Continue reading Urban Rambles: Walking South Central to Silver Lake
California Fool’s Gold — A Downtown Los Angeles Primer
BEAT CITY DOWNTOWN As regular (and probably irregular) readers of Eric's Blog know, I'm a bit of a Southern California wonk and a big part of my focus is writing about the culture, character and history of the many diverse communities of Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Although so far there have been around 800 votes … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — A Downtown Los Angeles Primer

