Whole Pay Check - I Mean, Whole Foods Market - is Finally Coming to Downtown

Courtesy of Carmel Partners via Downtown News
After 87 incorrect rumors, rumor 88 was correct!  Whole Foods Market is coming to 8th & Grand in 2015. Details in the Downtown News.  Now as far as the Trader's Joe's coming to DTLA rumors - they are still all incorrect.

Explore the Secret Histories of Historic Downtown Los Angeles The Next 4 Saturdays from 10:30 - 12:30 PM

The Last Bookstore (and a  2nd floor with 100,000 books at ONE DOLLAR each!)  Presents  10:30 Summer START TIME FOR 2 hour walking tours of the The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles - Just Endorsed By - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE!

I am continuing the  HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 101  2 hour walking tour this August  3rd at 10:30 AM  (with the temperature predicted to be in the mid-70's - and the following Saturdays, August 10th, August 17th & August 24th also with the NEW start time of 10:30 AM and an ending time of 12:30 PM; one-half earlier in both cases.   And there will also be tours on other upcoming weekends.  And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring and they are still only $15 per person.

And  besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule.  With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose.  These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION  - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater built,  the place where Babe Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton,  actor Ryan Gosling and more.  And you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral.  At this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.

You will also see where the first new lofts were opened, the places where Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned to Downtown.  You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.

Tickets for either tour are only $15 per person - free for children under 8 - and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com.  All credit card orders will be processed  at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of the tour.   All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the study of the history of the neighborhood.  

Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets, sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.

We expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.

LA OBSERVED Links to CityWatch Post on How Difficult Metro Makes It to Buy a TAP Card

Kevin Roderick over at LA OBSERVED linked (it is the 4th post from the top) to a City Watch article I commented on yesterday explaining how difficult it is to use the fare machines at subway and light rail stations; and the article also addressed  how difficult Metro makes it to buy a TAP card anywhere.  First, here's the start of of the CityWatch story and then go to the link to read the rest of it.

The TAP Card, Discouraging Mass Transit One Card at a Time

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Written by Matthew Hetz

29 Jul 2013

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The TAP card (Transit Access Card) is now mandatory to ride light rail and subway on the Metro system. The card works by swiping it across a reader to deduct fare. It is also used at the farebox on buses for Metro, Culver City, Santa Clarita, Foothill and other bus lines, but not all. Santa Monica Bus does not accept the TAP card. Here the TAP card is superior to fumbling for change or a dollar bill for bus fare.  

At subway and light rail stations, the card is either swiped at a turnstile or at a free standing, short column, and when authorized, a readout gives the “Go” to proceed to the station waiting platform. The fare is deduction similar to a debit card. When the card works, it a system which is does what is expected. But when it’s bad, it’s very bad, and it is bad far too often. 

There are too many unneeded difficulties in using the card, and they are very large and very annoying. Two of most glaring are the purchase of the TAP card, and later adding more money to the card. My latest travails of a TAP card started when it was suddenly no longer accepted on Culver City buses. Thinking it could be their mistake or computer glitch, I tried to use the card on a Metro Bus, but it was also denied.  

I later learned that the cards are active for a limited time. Once the time is up, to the surprise of the transit rider, they are not accepted. There was no advance notice of this when purchased, nor later towards the expiration time. 

With an invalid TAP card, I attempted to purchase a new one. My first attempt was to go to the TAP website, something I had done many times to put more money on the card in exercised in frustration.  

The website for TAP is one of the most user unfriendly sites I’ve ever used. It is more than unfriendly, it is hostile in how little information is stated up front, how confusing and difficult it is to navigate within the website, and its overall amateurism. It looks and works like a beta version website for a high high school project, and that may be unkind to high school students. 

The site is a jumble of instructions which lead back upon themselves. For example, when I needed to put more money onto a card I already owned I would click on the “Replenish Your Tap” link, and I would just remain on the page, which has instructions on how to replenish the card: “Replenish Online Visit our secure Web site (I am already on your secure website.) and follow the simple check out process under Fare Products to reload a monthly pass or zone pass using your credit or debit card.”  

But I am already on the TAP website page to replenish the card, and each click to replenish leaves me on the same page. Why was I not immediately directed to a page to add money to the card? At the bottom of this text is a button, “Purchase Pass.” When replenishing a TAP card, the user already owns a pass. There is no need to purchase a new one.  

And that was just the beginning of his problems.  The rest of the story is here.  So I then commented about my experiences with the TAP card. 

The TAP machines in the subway stations are so badly physically designed (the buttons you push do not line up with their descriptions) and so confusingly worded it took me forever to be able to correctly add my monthly fare. And then - without warning- three times - my card had no more money on it - even though it was a week, 4 days and 3 days before the month I paid for was up.

That was then followed up by a number of other comments on-line - but starting this morning, I got far  more comments by direct email to me - all from transit advocates who didn't want to publicly criticize Metro on this issue - but who all of whom agreed that the machines are a nightmare until you finally figure out how to use them.

Downtown Los Angeles School of Visual & Performing Arts Finally Lands Its Principal

The Downtown Los Angeles School of Visual & Performing Arts - after FOUR years - finally has a principal both qualified and equipped to turn it into a major arts educational facility.

The prior obstacle has been forces within the LAUSD determined that the LAUSD's first high school built for the arts would NOT be allowed to be an arts school and that the most qualified students from the district would NOT be attend the school.

Because of that, no one capable of running an arts oriented school wanted the job.  But - finally - four years after she was first offered the job - which she twice rejected in the past - Kim Bruno of the world famous LaGuardia High School in New York has accepted the job. And, yes, that is the high school that both the movie and the TV series 'Fame' were based upon. Here is part of the story from the Downtown News:

 Ryan Vaillancourt, Staff Writer 

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Kim Bruno, the longtime leader of a high-profile arts high school in New York, has agreed to become the new principal of the Ramon C. Cortines School for Visual and Performing Arts in Downtown.

As the former principal of the lauded LaGuardia High School of Music, Art and Performing Arts in New York City, Bruno represents the kind of high-profile arts administrator that local officials have sought but failed to lure to the school since it opened in 2009.

The school has cycled through four principals in its first four years (not including an interim administrator who helmed the school for part of fall 2011).

The rest of the article is on the Downtown New website. 

The Medallion Project at Historic 4th & Main Keeps Getting Better & Better!

All renderings courtesy of Kevin Tsai Architecture. via DTLA RISING
Besides all the new restaurants already going into the first phase of Medallion, and the negotiations for the potential 24,000 Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and a 25,000 foot park  on top of that - there will now be four 13 story residential buildings and a possible boutique hotel added to the project.  All the details are on Brigham Yen's site DOWNTOWN LA RISING.

And what makes this all the more amazing is that until the neighborhood and Mayor's Hahn's go to person on development, Hamid Behdad, had gotten involved with this project - it was going to all be one huge tilt up concrete warehouse space with parking on the roof.  

If You Missed This Weekend's Opening of the Downtown LA Flea Marked - Racked LA Didn't

Above is one of 25 photos Racked LA has on it's site for last week's first monthly DOWNTOWN FLEA flea market. It's the next best thing to having actually been there. The next event should be late August and   for more information, contact dflea.com.

Downtown LA Fashion BID Renewed For Five More Years

Downtown News photo of Kent Smith by Gary Leonard

Congratulations to Fashion BID Executive Director Kent Smith and Managing  Director Lynn Myers on getting 83% yes votes to renew the Fashion District Business Improvement District. Even with the demise of the Toy District BID due to a lack of support from several key property owners and the canceling of the Arts District BID by a judge due to a lawsuit by a number of disaffected property owners (though a new BID is now in the process of forming in that area), both the just renewed Historic and the Fashion BID's have had much easier renewals than in the past.

Here are some of the details in the Downtown News story:

Eighty-three percent of the property owners in the 100-block area, who pay dues to the BID for street cleaning, public safety and economic development efforts for the neighborhood, voted in favor of renewal, said BID Executive Director Kent Smith. The organization, which was formed in 1996, is projected to spend about $18 million on neighborhood services over the next five years, he said. In addition to the clean and safe services, the BID trims 750 trees every two years and conducts a social media campaign for the district. Plans also call for a focus on new initiatives to attract more shoppers to the area and to improve the streetscape for pedestrians. “We’re going to be looking at more and more ways to get information out to our public,” Smith said. According to a Fashion District statement, more than 1,000 property owners and 4,000 business owners benefit from the BID’s services.

And the rest of the story is at the Downtown News website.

UPDATE! See New Photo! Huge Steam Locomotive in Local Museum to be Restored and Put Back in Service by Union Pacific

Here is a photo of Big Boy at Pomona - complete with special affects smoke - just before his departure from Pomona.

Big Boy as it Looks at the Pomona

I didn't even know there was a railroad museum in Pomona until the story broke they are giving back one of their treasures to the Union Pacific so it can be restored - and put back in service.  Here is the opening of the story on the Trains.com website

Union Pacific confirms plans to restore Big Boy steam locomotive

Published: July 23, 2013

No. 4014 at Pomona Photo by David Lustig OMAHA, Neb. – Union Pacific confirms today it will purchase and restore a 4-8-8-4 Big Boy steam locomotive. The railroad has reached an agreement with the Southern California Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona, Calif., to transfer ownership of No. 4014 back to Union Pacific. The railroad plans to relocate the locomotive to Cheyenne, Wyo., where its Heritage Fleet Operations team will work to restore it to operating condition. Details regarding those efforts will be made public at a later date. Union Pacific donated No. 4014 to the historical society Dec. 7, 1961. The locomotive arrived Jan. 8, 1962, at its current display location at the Rail Giants Train Museum in Pomona.

The rest of the story is at the Trains.com site and here you can learn more about the Rail Giants Museum in Pomona.

Not Only is Nashville the Fastest Growing Music City in the County - But...

According to Richard Florida's post in Atlantic Cities - (link fixed)

 Nashville's growth as a music center, according to my own accounting, has been explosive; since 1970 it accounts for almost all the growth in the music sector in the United States. Its resiliency and depth have undoubtedly contributed to the region's impressive job growth over the past several years. 

And while Los Angeles is still number one when it comes to jobs and income in the music business, Nashville is far stronger on a per capita level - and is gaining on all fronts.

Nashville has the deepest concentration of the music industry in the country. The chart below from the report compares music industry cluster jobs for Nashville and other leading U.S. music centers. Nashville has 7.8 music industry cluster jobs per 1,000 people compared to 2.8 for LA, 2.6 for Austin and 2.0 for New York.

There is a lot more data and information in the article, and it shows how much better LA needs to get to keep its cultural industries from leaving.  And that brings us to the one fact the article does not mention.

The reason  the real growth started to take off in 1970 is that was when the Country/Western and folk music culture and industry finally left - or was driven out of -  its long time home of Los Angeles.

Yes, in the 1930' - and particularly in the 1940's and the  1950's-  and even partly into the 1960's - LA was the place to record and perform country and county-western music music.

But... more on that later....

Gold Line Celebrates 10 Years Connecting Downtown LA With Pasadena - And Also East LA

Curbed LA has the good news about the 13.7 mile Pasadena branch of Gold Line at it hits its 10th B-Day.  Trip boardings have gone up from 14,000 on opening day to 44,000 today - with only 30% of that increase coming from the extension to Bole Heights and East LA - and trip time from the Pasadena end of the line - the Sierra Madre Station in East Pasadena - has actually dropped by 7 minutes to 29 minutes.  The wait for train at nights has also dropped to 10  minutes on weekdays until midnight and the next extension of the line will be 11.5 miles to Azusa with future extensions planned that could reach all the way out to Ontario Airport.  More details can also be found at Metro's blog, The Source.

The Man Who Built Los Angeles - John Parkinson - Finally Gets a Book Written About Him

Anyone interested in either Los Angeles - or architecture -  and particularly Downtown Los Angeles architecture - should be excited to know that there is finally a book about the life and career of LA's leading architect of the first third of the last century - John Parkinson; the one architect who most helped shape LA when it first became a major city. Above is a postcard of his Braly Building - now the Continental- at 4th & Spring.  And here is the story on today's Sunday LA Times.

And here is a link to where you can buy the book ...

Iconic Vision:
John Parkinson, Architect of Los Angeles
 written by Stephen Gee and published by Angel City Press.

Why Leaving Downtown Los Angeles Out of the Master Plan for the LA River Is Good for Downtown

One of the most important projects in the city's history - the restoration of a critical part of the Los Angeles River is about to take a giant step forward.  Yesterday's story in CurbedLA has the details.  And whichever plan is approved, will have a major impact on Downtown even though the project starts just north of the heart of Downtown.

The main reason the plan skips Downtown is that the river's channel in Downtown is narrow and steep and will require a much different plan.  And that's ... good news.

Because now we can starting talking about what is really needed to re-imagine and rebuild the LA River between Union Station and Vernon.  And to do that, we need a plan that is far more radical and far-sighted than any of the current proposals - and it will need to have a built-in business plan to pay for it.

The good news is our new Mayor, Eric Garcetti, is exactly the type of person who can get this type of project done. And soon - he will have a proposal on his desk on how to do it.

Has Anyone Ever Seen This Supposed 1850's Photo of Los Angeles Taken from a Balloon Before? UPDATE! SECOND UPDATE!!

I'll reveal the source after I hear if anyone knows about this photo .UPDATE!  It now... appears.... as this is a photo of a model of 1850 Los Angeles and NOT a real photograph,

And here is the text that accompanies the photo:
1850's - This is one of the earliest photos of Los Angeles, taken from a balloon. Looking northeast, the layout of the new city can clearly be seen with the Los Angeles Plaza located in the lower left-center. The large white structure to the left of the Plaza is the Old Plaza Church. The two streets running from bottom of photo to the Plaza are Main Street on the left and Los Angeles Street on the right. Alameda Street runs from the lower right corner diagonally toward the lower center of photo. The L.A. River can be seen running from the lower-right diagonally to the center of the photo, turns left and disappears behind the mountain. At that point the Arroyo Seco can be seen at its confluence with the LA River. The tall majestic San Gabriel Mountains stand in the far background. Vineyards blanket the area between the City and the L.A. River (lower right). The large dark spot in the lower-right of the photo is El Aliso, the historic landmark of the indigenous Tongva people who once lived in the Indian Village of Yangna at that location, adjacent to the L.A. River.

And don't forget my Saturday morning walking tours of historic Downtown Los Angeles!  http://lacowboy.blogspot.com/2013/07/mid-70s-predicted-for-this-saturdays-2_23.html

And the excellent LA History photo site I found this is here.   It is the third photo down on this page which is one of many,many pages of Los Angeles photos on the Water and Power Associates website. And scrol down for the LA History pages on their menu.

And here is the link to the site that says this is  photograph of a model of 1850 Los Angeles - and not a real photo of LA.  And here is a link to the overall site at USC.  And here is another site that says the same thing.

And I became suspicious from the start since the houses lined up on Los Angeles Street were just too uniformly lined up - unlike any photo I have ever seen - plus there were not enough structures that were NOT on Main and LA Streets.

UPDATE - Does photo in this new post help explain this mysterious photo?

Official Press Release on Jeffrey Deitch's Resignation as Museum Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, July 24, 2013 Media Contact: Lyn Winter Director of Communications The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) Email: lwinter@moca.org / T: (213)633-5390

Board of Trustees Announces Leadership Changes at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA)

Jeffrey Deitch to Step Down as Museum Director

Fred Sands Elected President of the Board; Eugenio Lopez, Lillian Lovelace and Maurice Marciano Elected Vice Chairs

LOS ANGELES—The Board of Trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) announced that Jeffrey Deitch will be stepping down from his role as Museum Director after three years of leadership. Deitch informed the Board of his decision at its July 24th meeting and confirmed he will stay on to ensure a smooth transition and the successful completion of MOCA’s $100 million dollar endowment campaign, expected to close this Fall.

An executive search committee has been formed to appoint a new Museum Director and will be led by Co-Chairs Maria Bell and David Johnson, along with Joel Wachs, a former trustee and President of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Key accomplishments of Deitch’s tenure include:

• Developing the museum’s Board with the addition of 16 new trustees;
• Completing the acquisition of more than 500 works to the museum's permanent collection;
• Spearheading the creation of MOCAtv, an award-winning digital extension of the museum’s education and exhibition program. In less than one year, it has generated more than 4 million views across its unique content platforms and is among the most cutting-edge fusions of music, dance, film and fashion to reach a broad, international audience of contemporary art enthusiasts;
• Being the visionary behind Art in The Streets, which attracted the highest number of attendees in the museum's history and diversified the museum’s audience;
• Arranging more than twenty exhibitions and programs that have brought some of the world’s most important contemporary artists to Los Angeles, including:
• The first major solo museum exhibition in the United States for Ryan Trecartin
• The first West Coast solo museum show for Theaster Gates
• The first West Coast solo show for Cai Guo-Qiang
• The Painting Factory: Abstraction After Warhol
• George Herms: Xenophilia (Love of the Unknown)
• Kenneth Anger: Icons
• Naked Hollywood: Weegee in Los Angeles
• Amanda Ross-Ho: TEENY TINY WOMAN
• The first comprehensive museum retrospective of the work of Urs Fischer now on view at MOCA Grand Avenue and The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.

“As colleagues, friends and great admirers of Jeffrey’s talent, we respect his decision and thank him for his tremendous dedication to the museum and all those who value MOCA,” said David G. Johnson, Co-Chair of The Museum of Contemporary Art’s Board of Trustees. “His efforts have helped to solidify MOCA’s financial stability while changing the way Angelenos, and those around the world, engage with contemporary art.”

“With one of the most important collections of contemporary art in the world, and a tradition of unparalleled excellence in contemporary exhibitions, we have worked passionately to protect MOCA's place in the cultural landscape,” said Maria Arena Bell, Co-Chair of The Museum of Contemporary Art’s Board of Trustees. “We thank Jeffrey for his continued support and look ahead with great enthusiasm, confident that new leadership will build on this momentum and usher MOCA into a new era of prominence as the museum for the 21st century.”

The Board also announced the election of Fred Sands as President and Eugenio Lopez, Lillian Lovelace and Maurice Marciano as Vice Chairs. Prior to the election, Sands served as Vice Chair of the Board, Lopez, Lovelace and Marciano served as trustees. Outgoing President Jeffrey Soros will remain on the Board and retain the title President Emeritus.

FRED SANDS
Fred Sands has been involved with MOCA since 1984 having joined the board in 2002. He was elected as a Vice Chair in 2009 and is currently the Chairman of MOCA's Investment Committee. Mr. Sands has a world-class collection of modern and contemporary art with works from Calder to Mark Rothko. He was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President's Advisory Committee on the Arts and liaison to the Kennedy Center and to the California Arts Council by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In addition, Mr. Sands is the Chairman of The United Way's Million Dollar Roundtable. He also serves on the Boards of the Los Angeles Opera and the Los Angeles Police Foundation.

EUGENIO LOPEZ
Eugenio Lopez joined the MOCA board in April 2005 and has been a generous supporter of the museum’s exhibition program, making significant contributions to exhibitions, donating numerous important works to the MOCA collection and supporting the museum’s major fundraising initiatives. In 2001 Lopez founded the Fundación/Colección Jumex, the largest private art collection in Latin America, which works to generate innovative research and curatorial proposals to stimulate reflection about contemporary art worldwide and encourage the creation of new institutional models for the support of arts and culture. Lopez is one of the most important contemporary art collectors today with a collection of 2000 pieces by notable international, Mexican and Latin American artists. In November this year, Lopez will open the Museo La Coleccion Jumex, which will be the largest private contemporary art space in Latin America

LILLIAN LOVELACE
Lillian Lovelace is a Charter Founder and became a MOCA Trustee in 1995. She also has served as a member of the Acquisition and Collection Committee since 1996, and the Photography Committee since 2006. Mr. and Mrs. Lovelace established the Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Building at UCLA and the Jon B. Lovelace Student Aid Fund at Princeton. Mrs. Lovelace has also served on the Boards of the following: Antioch University Board of Governors (1989-2002), Trustee Emeritus (2002-present); the UCSB Foundation; the Brain Mapping Medical Research Organization at UCLA; Idyllwild Arts Foundation and Academy; and the Capital Group Art Foundation. Mrs. Lovelace is a Life Honorary Trustee at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

MAURICE MARCIANO
Maurice Marciano has served on the MOCA board since October 2012, and was previously a trustee in 2008. Mr. Marciano served on the Board of Trustees of the Buckley School for thirteen years until 2010, and currently sits on the board of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Through his career, he has supported a number of non-profit organizations in the fields of education, health, art and Jewish organizations through the Maurice Marciano Family Foundation..

THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, LOS ANGELES (MOCA)
Founded in 1979, MOCA’s mission is to be the defining museum of contemporary art. The institution has achieved astonishing growth in its brief history with three Los Angeles locations of architectural renown; more than 10,000 members; a world-class permanent collection of nearly 6,700 works international in scope and among the finest in the nation; hallmark education programs that are widely emulated; award-winning publications that present original scholarship; and groundbreaking monographic, touring, and thematic exhibitions of international repute that survey the art of our time. MOCA is a private not-for-profit institution supported by its members, corporate and foundation support, government grants, and admission revenues. MOCA Grand Avenue and The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA are open 11am to 5pm on Monday and Friday; 11am to 8pm on Thursday; 11am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday; and closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. General admission is $12 for adults; $7 for students with I.D. and seniors (65+); and free for MOCA members, children under 12, and everyone on Thursdays from 5pm to 8pm, courtesy of Wells Fargo. MOCA Pacific Design Center is open 11am to 5pm, Tuesday through Friday; 11am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday; and closed on Monday. Admission to MOCA Pacific Design Center is always free. For 24-hour information on current exhibitions, education programs, and special events, call 213 626 6222 or access MOCA online at moca.org.

Mid 70's Predicted for this Saturday's 2 Hour Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday July 27h, and on Saturday August 3rd and August 10th

The Last Bookstore (and a  2nd floor with 100,000 books at ONE DOLLAR each!)  Presents  10:30 Summer START TIME FOR 2 hour walking tours of the The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles - Just Endorsed By - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE!

I am continuing the  HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 101  2 hour walking tour this Saturday July 20th at 10:30 AM  (with the temperature predicted to be in the mid-70's - and the following Saturdays, July 27th and August 3rd also with the NEW start time of 10:30 AM and an ending time of 12:30 PM; one-half earlier in both cases.   And there will also be tours on other upcoming weekends.  And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring and they are still only $15 per person.

And  besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule.  With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose.  These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION  - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater built,  the place where Babe Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton,  actor Ryan Gosling and more.  And you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral.  At this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.

You will also see where the first new lofts were opened, the places where Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned to Downtown.  You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.

Tickets for either tour are only $15 per person - free for children under 8 - and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com.  All credit card orders will be processed  at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of the tour.   All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the study of the history of the neighborhood.  

Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets, sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.

We expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.

Mid 70's Predicted for this Saturday's 2 Hour Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday July 20th, July 27th and August 3rd

The Last Bookstore (and a  2nd floor with 100,000 books at ONE DOLLAR each!)  Presents  10:30 Summer START TIME FOR 2 hour walking tours of the The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles - Just Endorsed By - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE!

I am continuing the  HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 101  2 hour walking tour this Saturday July 20th at 10:30 AM  (with the temperature predicted to be in the mid-70's - and the following Saturdays, July 27th and August 3rd also with the NEW start time of 10:30 AM and an ending time of 12:30 PM; one-half earlier in both cases.   And there will also be tours on other upcoming weekends.  And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring and they are still only $15 per person.

And  besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule.  With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose.  These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION  - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater built,  the place where Babe Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton,  actor Ryan Gosling and more.  And you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral.  At this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.

You will also see where the first new lofts were opened, the places where Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned to Downtown.  You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.

Tickets for either tour are only $15 per person - free for children under 8 - and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com.  All credit card orders will be processed  at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of the tour.   All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the study of the history of the neighborhood.  

Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets, sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.

We expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.