Alissa Walker

Five People Making L.A. a Better Place

This year's People issue celebrates the 56 Angelenos we find most intriguing. But some of the people in this year's issue aren't just interesting -- they're downright inspiring! Check out all of our 2013 People Issue profiles From Dr. Coley King, who's working to treat Venice's homeless community, ... More >>

Margot Ocanas: A Voice for Pedestrians

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here. When she arrived in Los Angeles as a new mom 11 years ago, Margot Ocañas joked that she got bedsores from driving so much. "I just hated being so reliant on my Thomas Gu ... More >>

Bobak Ferdowsi: The JPL Mohawk Guy

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here. Last year's Mars landing by the NASA rover Curiosity was a nail-biter broadcast live from the control room at the Jet Propulsion Lab in La Cañada Flintridge. Yet as the r ... More >>

Arts District Blowback: Readers Criticize Our Cover Story

A Diary of the Getty's Big, New Exploration of L.A. Architecture

"The San Andreas is not Los Angeles' only fault," cracked architectural historian Thomas Hines at the kickoff to Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A.. Hines didn't really mean it -- he was quoting a joke that people from, say, San Francisco might make -- but the quip hit just ... More >>

Barbara Kruger Created the Billboards and Buses For the Best Ad Campaign in the City Right Now

A Silver Lake billboard that recently hawked Avion tequila took on a very different tone last month. "SUPPORT PUBLIC EDUCATION OR FACE CATASTROPHE!" read the near-apocalyptic message in stark black type. On Santa Monica Boulevard, the wisdom of Robert Frost crept by in the same foot-tall, all-caps c ... More >>

Why Are Angelenos So Good at Designing Human-Powered Transportation?

The streets of Venice Beach whir with the crunchy hum of skateboards, the utterly '80s rhythm of Rollerblades, the impossible physics of a surfer pedaling a beach cruiser barefoot, one arm slung around a board. A new design exhibition on Abbot Kinney that focuses on human-powered movement is almost ... More >>

Grand Park Is Not L.A.'s Central Park, But It Could Become Downtown's Backyard: Our Review

See also: *5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week *Our Best of L.A. issue and our Best of L.A. app *Fugly Buildings: Our Series on the Most Hideous Buildings in L.A. During our recent run of 95-degree autumn days -- can we be done with those? -- the last place one would think to seek relief is in ... More >>

L.A.'s First Official Bike-Friendly Street: Our Review

Six years ago, when I decided to abandon my car for a multi-modal cocktail of walking, biking and bus-riding, I lived in Hollywood. The pedestrian and transit parts came easy in my super-dense neighborhood, but biking terrified me -- rolling out of my driveway I was confronted with three routes, eac ... More >>

Can a Penny Pressing Time Machine Save L.A. Architecture?

Los Angeles specializes in its own brand of architectural amnesia. We like to level Craftsman neighborhoods in favor of freeways and bulldoze stately Victorians in the name of "urban redevelopment." But artist Diane Meyer wants to restore the city's collective memory of our built environment -- and ... More >>

Expo Line Design: The L.A. Weekly Review

A forecast of insultingly high gas prices, paired with a buoyant burst of car-free optimism (including an ambitious bike-share program just announced by the city), make the timing perfect for L.A.'s newest rail line to debut. Starting April 28, the Expo Line will travel the eight miles from downtown ... More >>

How to Enjoy L.A. Arts and Culture Without a Car

When someone asks me if they have to rent a car when visiting L.A., I really, really, really, really want to say no. Of course you can experience L.A. without a car. I do it every day. But for me to explain all the quirks of navigating our transit-nascent city to a wide-eyed visitor, I'd pretty much ... More >>

Sunset Triangle, Silver Lake's New Pedestrian Plaza, Sounds Like a Great Idea. So Why Do People Have Problems With It?

When I got a message from a friend that a car had plowed into Sunset Triangle, I ran the few blocks from my house. No one was hurt; it had happened early in the morning when the plaza was empty. But the damage to the new pedestrian-only thoroughfare was extensive. Giant planters had toppled and roll ... More >>

Could This License Plate Save California's Arts Funding Crisis?

You've likely noticed this sun setting behind an iconic row of palms as it darted in front of you on the 405. But unless you've got one of these specialty plates screwed on your own Prius, it's unlikely you knew that it supports the state's art funding. "I had lived in California my whole life, and ... More >>

Alleys Suck? Not Anymore: Hollywood's New East Cahuenga 'EaCa' Alley

Quick, let's play urban planning Jeopardy!. For $100: These places in our cities are most likely to be called "dirty," "dark," and "dangerous." How about for $200: All the bad stuff happens here, from drug deals to prostitution to murders where dismembered arms are found dangling out of dumpsters. I ... More >>

I'm on a Boat: Why So Many Places in Koreatown Have Nautical and Pirate Designs

At the center of the city, there is a 100-foot-long ocean liner dry-docked in a parking lot. It would seem out of place in many if not most L.A. neighborhoods. Except here. Landlocked Koreatown is bobbing with nautical-themed restaurants, and you can't walk the length of a plank without stumbling in ... More >>

L.A.'s New Bus Benches Look Better, But Still Don't Serve Riders

Weary transit riders undoubtedly have noticed an improvement to the Los Angeles streetscape in the past few weeks. New bus benches -- a shiny green metal model that wouldn't look too out of place in a local park -- are cropping up on sidewalks. Six thousand new benches are, thank goodness, slowly ... More >>

The Wall That Everyone in Silver Lake Is Talking About (and Why It's Too High)

Alissa Walker​ The wall seemed to materialize overnight. Where once there was the pleasantly twee boutique, its offerings of Navajo blankets and denim shorts carefully staged like an anthropological survey of Silver Lake, now there was a cinder block bunker. A sheet of paper taped to the wi ... More >>

Public Spectacle: Our New Name for L.A. Weekly's Arts & Culture Blog

L.A. photographers The Imps of Marge and Fletch​It's a bitch, picking a name, as anyone who's had a baby, a pet or a particular infatuation with their motor vehicle will tell you. Named for the British '80s band, Style Council, this blog began in 2005 with a focus on fashion and eventually br ... More >>

Southern California's First 'Parklet' Asks the Question: What Is a Park, Really?

When is a parking space not a parking space? When it's a park, of course. Last week, Southern California's first "parklet" opened quietly in Long Beach, recasting that space between the painted lines as -- yes -- a tiny rectangle of curb-adjacent public space. It's not as suicidal as it sounds. In ... More >>

Metropolis II at LACMA: Will a Sculpture Made of 1,100 Hot Wheels Predict L.A.'s Future?

Alissa WalkerCould this be L.A.'s transportation future?​ Where once art originated from the front seat of a freewheeling Los Angeles vehicle -- Ed Ruscha's Every Building on the Sunset Strip photography series, Dennis Hopper's Double Standard photograph of a gas station -- our kill-me-now tr ... More >>

Dodgers Ownership: Top 5 Rich Guys You Wouldn't Want to See Take Over Team (or Maybe You Would)

Thanksgiving is upon us, so it's time to bow our heads and be thankful that at least somebody in the family has a job, medical marijuana is still around (for now) and a bloody presidential election is still nearly a year away. And, after the dreaded Frank McCourt vowed to sell the Dodgers, we shoul ... More >>

Sticky Notes: Top 5 Salted Caramel Sweets

R. BrownHuckleberry Cafe & Bakery's salted caramel bar​ Something about salted caramel has always seemed hardwired into the oh my god receptors of our brains. And, it turns out, for good reason: The effects of the sweet and salty combination may actually be a chemical one. Pin-up nerd Jonah Le ... More >>

AOL Patch Plagiarizes Content From L.A. Blogger Alissa Walker, No Apology

​Corrected, with note after the jump. This was bound to happen: AOL Patch, the series of hyper-local news sites in Los Angeles and across the land, has been caught ripping off content. If that's not bad enough, the regional editor didn't apologize to the pilfered author directly, instead asking f ... More >>

Goodbye, John Chase: West Hollywood Urban Designer Dies

Photo via Gelato Baby​West Hollywood's urban designer John Chase died of an apparent heart attack the morning of this past Friday the 13th. Editors Alissa Walker of Gelato Baby, and Marissa Gluck and Josh Williams of Curbed remember Chase's flamboyant, passionate, maximalist life and times. He ... More >>

Home Decor Voyeurs: DesignSponge on Why We Like Looking Into Other Peoples' Houses

All photos via DesignSponge "Sneak Peeks" gallery. This one is a close up of artist Sophie Blackall's, um, baby doll parts and stuff.​Grace Bonney is the 28-year old Brooklyn-based blogger behind DesignSponge. The "Sneak Peeks" section on her blog is one of the web's most popular places to lur ... More >>

Best of L.A.: Places

Best of L.A.: Recreation and Self-Improvement

Best of L.A.: Shopping

Best of L.A.: Nightlife

Pupu Platters and Flaming Cocktails with a Side of Design History: de LaB's Tiki Trek

Design East of La Brea, (AKA de LaB) once again finds a cool way explore surprising corners of the city where food, fun and aesthetics merge. The Tiki Trek on Thursday, July 23 takes a close look at the trend that's found a recent nostalgic resurgence in L.A., with new incarnations of Luau and Trade ... More >>