6 February 08: On El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula

There's something to be said for watching the sun set over water on the distant horizon. The closest thing we have to that in Philadelphia is at Presque Isle State Park, eight hours away in Erie. Then again the argument could be made that a Jersey shore sunrise over the Atlantic is more rewarding, especially the drugs-are-wearing-off epiphany variety. The differences between the concepts of Philly and LA are very different, but you never really feel that far away.

This trip was purely pleasure -- no business allowed (email was strictly avoided) -- for my baby's big 3-0. Five days is just about the ideal duration for testing out LA. While there's enough to keep you busy and entertained for weeks, a timeline keeps you focused, and the decentralized nature of the place wears on you after a while . . . unless, I guess, you live there.

That's the major difference: it's not just that the car is king, it's that it has to be. The LA region goes on forever and ever; its sprawl stops for no mountain. The funny thing is that its decentralized nodes -- Burbank, Anaheim, Huntington, Santa Monica -- exist largely thanks to the early days of California's streetcars and railroads like Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe before the post-WWII auto-freeway-suburban rush that happened across the country really happened in LA and its impressive, complex freeway system was built.



It seems the region has finally admitted the problems of car dependency, gridlock and smog: former Mayor Tom Bradley pushed for development of LA's subway and light rail system, which is looking to expand the five lines it already has, and LA's bus system employs the largest fleet of compressed natural gas buses in the country. They're ecologically AND aesthetically friendly!



LA's built environment is interesting. It answers to its geography, between the hills and the ocean and the freeways. The sidewalks are surprisingly busy, but no one is jaywalking; everyone obeys the crosswalk lights. It's understood that you, the pedestrian, will stop for the car and not the other way around. But, there are indeed many pleasant, non-car, walkable areas like Santa Monica and Venice, Burbank (where there is a "town center" built directly next to a bona fide downtown), West Hollywood, even once-dead downtown LA. It's just that you usually have to drive to get to them.

Architecturally speaking, LA is surprisingly rich, from early 20th century Victorian homes and low lying bungalows to the modernist Capitol Records tower and LAX Theme Building to the landmark masterpieces by hometown architects Richard Meier (the Getty Center) and Frank Gehry (Disney Concert Hall). LA's downtown skyline, like Philly's, is mostly new thanks to a pre-existing height limit that had more to do with the technology of handling earthquakes than some sacred fellow's hat.

Its tallest building, the US Bank Library Tower, was designed by I.M.Pei partner Henry Cobb, who also designed our Commerce Square towers and the National Constitution Center. At 1,018 feet, the building completed in 1989 is the tallest west of the Mississippi. Unfortunately, like many of LA's skyscrapers, its crown is marred by an ill-placed corporate logo. When US Bank bought the Library Tower in 2002, it insisted on installing its "US Bank" sign on the crown of the building, joining Deloitte & Touche, Citibank, Ernst & Young, Wells Fargo and others whose neon names detract from otherwise handsome structures.

* * *

But again, for as far out and different as LA is than Philly, there were constant reminders of home, from the obvious:





. . . to the not-so-obvious:



Wraps? Come on now. Ain't nobody coming to Philly for the fish tacos, so I'm not about to get a "cheesesteak" that comes on a plain white roll and has tomatoes on it.

Anyway, this trip full of homegrown Doors, Guns & Roses and Dr Dre was happily bookended by a Jill Scott soundtrack, with "Gettin' in the Way" on the radio in the rented Prius (which used $9 of gas over 200+ miles) as we left the airport and the new album playing at the sushi restaurant in fascinating Little Tokyo our last night in town.



Los Angeles is certainly beautiful with its sunny skies and ocean and mountains and pretty people. But it's also a weird place, and not just because of the gridlock and smog. The entertainment industry really weighs on that town. It's noticeable everywhere: enormous low-lying studio lots, billboards and more billboards for movies, traffic interchanges named for celebrities like Gene Autry and Will Rogers, big chested blonde haired anchorwomen, plastic surgery ads throughout LA Weekly . . . For all the movies and music we -- the country and the entire world -- digest, it's a small fraction of what's actually produced, or at least attempted, there. Lots of dreams are seen and a lot more are broken and hung off that big Hollywood sign.

It's a nice place to visit, but man, I would not want to live there. It's good to be home.

It's really hard to focus through two layers of commercial airline glass from 10,000 feet (if anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear 'em -- a wide aperture and focus on infinity doesn't even work for me), but hey, here's a big ol' Philly Skyline Aerial Skyline for ye.



–B Love