After flying into Los Angeles via the Burbank airport, my first two stops didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. First up was the Old Zoo in Griffith Park. It’s kind of depressing to imagine any animal larger than a mouse feeling at home here.
The park itself was also partly roped off for construction, and absolutely overrun with bees and gnats for some reason. The carousel that served as an inspiration for Walt Disney was also closed.
Next up was the LA Central Library. I’d hoped to snag a card and get free admission to some museums in the area via Discover & Go. What I didn’t realize is there are a limited number of free passes handed out at the beginning of the month; all of which had already been claimed. Oh well, maybe next time.
The library wasn’t a total bust though as I was able to take a guided tour. The original building is a quirky mashup of Mission Revival, Art Deco, and some ancient Egyptian tossed in for good measure. The building has been largely restored after a devastating arson attack in the 1980’s.
Unfortunately the new wing added in the 90’s lacks any charm with an ill-fated attempt at bridging the past to the present. The less said about it the better.
I was happy to find there’s still an excellent coffee stand across the street in the ornate lobby of the CalEdison building, even if the proprietor has changed since my previous visit. It’s about the ambiance as much as the coffee anyway.
LA Metro Rail has improved significantly since my last visit to downtown LA with a new light rail subway extension. Three new subway stations have been added: Bunker Hill, Historic Broadway, and Little Tokyo/Arts District.
Best of all, it ties together with the other light rail lines and traditional subway lines underground at the existing 7th Street/Metro Center station. To say this makes staying downtown a more attractive option is an understatement. It’s almost good enough to make up for LA Metro’s subpar bus service.
As a side note I wound up adding too much cash to my TAP transit card. Not because I didn’t use it, but because unbeknownst to me fares were free all weekend as part of the opening of a new A line extension.
I’m not sure if this was related or not but there was an event at Union Station with historic trains on display. Thinking that might be fun to check out I made my way over — only to find an extremely long line with a sign claiming the wait was an hour. I couldn’t find a way to sneak past security on another platform or upper level of the station to even capture some photos. So that was a total bust.
Downtown LA continues to feel strangely empty, an odd contrast to all the office an apartment towers. There are two fairly obvious reasons for this:
- Many of the buildings downtown are underutilized or not used at all. It’s not uncommon to see a large building covered in plywood. There’s plenty of value in these old buildings that could be unlocked through restoration and adaptive re-use, but given the cost of construction in California these things often don’t pencil out.
- The amount of space devoted to automobile infrastructure makes it unwalkable. An urban region is mean to be experienced by walking around, but that’s difficult to do when there’s one parking lot after another between any two points on a map. Or if not a parking lot, a freeway.
It’s a shame the city hasn’t made more of an effort to address these issues as the basic layout and many of the structures from downtown LA’s glamorous past are still present. It’s not difficult to imagine the streets springing back to life on a regular basis, all it would take is a modest amount of vision and willpower.
I managed to track down the mysterious “alien church” that’s been in the news recently. Unfortunately they don’t have regular hours (or didn’t at the time anyway) so I didn’t get to check it out.
My only advice for those looking for it are to check their Instagram page for updates and to take the directions on Google Maps with a grain of salt as they lead to an alley behind the building for some reason.
I think what keeps me coming back to LA is a little more than just its history or famous locations we’ve all seen in Hollywood movies. No, it’s more than that. It feels like I’ve lived some past life there (or perhaps a future one?) but at the moment it’s in an awkward period of transition.
Personally what I find most enduring about Los Angeles is how much of it is covered in outsider art, from the Watts Towers to the Museum of Jurassic Technology it seems there’s an antithesis to the bland, corporate side of Hollywood around every corner. All of it hidden in plain view, waiting for you to stumble upon it.
