This week's post is about Kazakh Los Angeles. Since it is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the primary focus is on ethnically Kazakh Angelenos. However, as Kazakhstan is a multi-ethnic society, a few "white" Angelenos with roots in Kazakstan are included too. INTRODUCTION I first became aware of Kazakhstan (Қазақстан) as a child when I … Continue reading No Enclave — Kazakh Los Angeles
Tag: Los Angeles
Nobody Drives in LA — The Great Metrolink Four Counties Ride
Last Friday was Earth Day. In honor of the day, Metro, Metrolink, (and doubtless many other local mass transit agencies) offered unlimited fare-free rides. I've read a couple of articles in the past in which the authors stated that they were riding every Metro line (although in both cases they meant Metro train lines, not … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — The Great Metrolink Four Counties Ride
Cannabis Los Angeles
I have always been an explorer and when I was about eight years old, I became aware of and interested in drugs. In second grade, my main subject of interest was dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were a gateway to Pleistocene megafauna. After Pleistocene megafauna, I began innocently experimenting with legal substances. I started drinking coffee (with lots … Continue reading Cannabis Los Angeles
Nobody Drives in LA — Bicycling in Los Angeles
INTRODUCTION I don't know about you but I'm feeling "pain at the pump." You see, I've had a slow leak in the front tire of my bike, Cream Soda, for months. So I have to inflate it once a week and when doing so, there's a slight burning in my triceps. Of course, I could … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Bicycling in Los Angeles
Nobody Drives in LA — Silver Lake Stairs – Street View
In the 1920s, Los Angeles boomed. At the beginning of the decade, Los Angeles had a population of 576,673. By the end of the decade, it had more than doubled to 1,238,048. Basically, it went from the size of modern-day Milwaukee to modern-day San Diego in just ten years. Somewhere during that decade, Los Angeles's … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Silver Lake Stairs – Street View
Foods Invented in Los Angeles
What you are about to read could probably be considered, if you're uncharitable, a "listicle." "But wait," you say, "you hate listicles!" You are correct, and yet here I am, offering you the lowest form of clickbait -- the sort of trash one expects to read in respectable, click-driven mainstream media outlets, not this fair … Continue reading Foods Invented in Los Angeles
California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Larchmont Village
INTRODUCTION Pendersleigh & Sons Cartography's map of Larchmont Village, available in art prints and on a variety of merchandise This edition of California Fool's Gold is about Larchmont Village. It was nominated by readers who let me know which communities they'd like me to explore in the comment section. Larchmont Village is not, despite what … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Larchmont Village
Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Early Houses
Say what you will about Los Angeles but it's unlikely that anyone has ever described it in earnest as a "city that never sleeps." It is not, in other words, Barcelona, New York City, New Orleans, or Las Vegas. There are 24-hour businesses in Los Angeles, of course, mostly restaurants. When I was younger, I … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Early Houses
Los Angeles’s Corner Drugstores & Independent Pharmacies
The corner drug store isn't what it used to be, although I'm not sure when it stopped. Probably quite a few years before I was born... although there are still a few hanging 'round. I'm talking about the drugstores that Norman Rockwell celebrated in his characteristic manner and Edward Hopper naturally managed to make seem … Continue reading Los Angeles’s Corner Drugstores & Independent Pharmacies
Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Oldest Bars
INTRODUCTION In 2018, I made a map of Los Angeles's oldest restaurants and wrote a bit about them. It proved relatively easy because there was lots already written on the subject. When I started writing about Los Angeles's oldest bars, it proved much more difficult. Not only could I find no serious effort to draw … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Oldest Bars
Eric Brightwell 