Last Days: Los Angeles

Well, that's the road trip done and just a couple of days in LA to kill. There were no photos from the road yesterday, as it was simply a drive along interminable freeways and a taxi ride to the hotel.

The hotel we are staying in is in downtown LA. We are here for an afternoon plus a full day and my original plan had been to walk around this part of town in the afternoon, and spend the day catching the bus to Santa Monica and back. That's about the best that LA's transit system allows: one and a half hours each way between the CBD and the suburbs.

An afternoon wandering around the civic district along Grand Avenue revealed the interesting but sterile public buildings on Bunker Hill. The Disney theater complex, the LASO and a few other vacant-feeling blocks had me lose interest fast, and so I headed back to the hotel early for a nap. I hoped for something more interesting the following day.

However, Venice Beach was not to be. Waking up to real overcast and even a bit of rain, I decided against the long bus ride to a vacant and alien beach, and decided to give downtown a chance for the full day.

I'm very glad I did. While hardly a place I would like to stay in, or even visit again... downtown and Broadway was really interesting.

I walked down Broadway to Chinatown, crossing freeways and a bleak concrete landscape devoted to the private automobile. Chinatown was a disappointment, so I caught a bus straight back to the centre (yes, buses do run here, as I discovered). In this circuit, I had lunch at a really good urban marketplace, explored a fantastic bookshop and had gelati in the revamped KRKD building arcade.

Walking along Broadway is fascinating; over a kilometer of splendid old buildings, hotels and former theaters of the former glitter strip, now all boarded up with junk shops in the street fronts. Sad an depressing on one level... but on another quite interesting to see up close. Through the cracks and decay, vibrant patches are sprouting up.

Strangled by freeways and with no river, bay or other natural feature to define the place, its almost as though the old hulks of the city's glory days have become the terrain on which a new story is being written. Among the rooming houses and squats, it was a nice surprise to see some discretely re-developed apartments, and even some brand new blocks with new residents... right here in the downtown section, rather than the vast suburbs beyond the freeway. They weren't concrete and glass pedestal blocks either.

If the tide of shitty, sterile concrete and glass developments rolling down from Grand Avenue can be held back and the process of gentrification doesn't bleach the place of its colour, this might be an interesting place to watch to see what happens.

Thank you, DTLA, for the fascinating and thoroughly worthwhile diversion.

But... that's the finale for the blog. Thanks for watching:).

Disney Theater: trying to make it look interesting. 

The LA Concert Hall: I think. I had to put the chair there to make it more interesting.

Broadway Markets: these are great... during the day, they are packed. They have enormous variety and a great atmosphere.

Broadway, North: footpath dining, amazingly enough. I think these may have been bikeways at some point.

Gratuitous Freeway Shot: One of the freeways that circles downtown. I originally intended not to mention freeways at all when discussing LA, but really...

Bus from China Town to Broadway: I did manage to catch a bus. These small transit services were a bit of a surprise. They are cheap, frequent and convenient. And you can still pay cash to get on them.

Mural: a common sight.

A Love Chapel: for all you romantics. this place handles weddings and divorces. A one stop shop, so to speak. Like a novated car lease, I suppose.

The Bradbury: as featured in Bladerunner. I remembered my inner Bladerunner nerd too late, but I did get to see this... all boarded up except for the Subway outlet on the ground floor. Down this part of town I could, barely, catch glimpses of the that 1982 vision of Los Angeles 2017...

Regrowth: there is evidence of a bit of a downtown renaissance going on. But the march of glass, concrete and brushed aluminium rubbish from up on Grand Avenue may have down town LA looking like Brisbane yet...