{"id":1335,"date":"2010-04-10T20:43:23","date_gmt":"2010-04-10T19:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/?p=1335"},"modified":"2026-07-16T22:13:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T21:13:41","slug":"los-angeles-roads-sun-and-telephone-wires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/los-angeles-roads-sun-and-telephone-wires\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles: roads, sun and telephone wires"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Los<\/p>\n

I can always tell if I’ve made a connection with a city by the number of photos I’ve taken during my stay.<\/p>\n

Every time I fly over to New York, I’m constantly snapping street scenes, signs, architecture and people, and it’s the same story for most towns and cities I visit.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

But I couldn’t get on with Los Angeles. For starters, the relentless, stifling, overwhelming heat put me in a bad mood. I like weather<\/em>, not endless blue skies punctuated by a thick layer of hovering, yellow-brown smog.<\/p>\n

I like to walk everywhere too, and I quickly realised that anyone not driving around in car in LA is either seen as being desperately poor or a bit unhinged.<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

My hotel was about a mile and a half from the office. Each day they’d ring up and tell me they’d be sending a car over shortly, and each day I’d cancel it.<\/p>\n

Despite the walk to work being through an entirely suburban district, I was the only person navigating the pavement which was so narrow that it looked like it may have been designed for polecats.<\/p>\n

Occasionally, a passing car would shout something at me, or perhaps they were hollering encouragement and sympathy at someone being so cruely forced to use their legs.<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

I’m sure there’s some delightful architecture to be found in LA, but I felt uninspired the whole time and rarely took out my camera.<\/p>\n

Mind you, it would have been great if I was mustard keen on taking pictures of cars because they were everywhere. And roads.<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

The view from my office. Roads, cars, concrete, smog and blue skies.<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Another view from the office. It’s all a bit flat.<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

I managed to persuade the staff of the company I was working for to do something crazy and come out with me for some beers in Santa Monica. Apparently it was the first time they’d all been to a bar together.<\/p>\n

This is the view as we drove along Pico Boulevard.<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

There wasn’t much going on in Santa Monica. We passed a bar where some band was knocking out covers of Bon Jovi, which was every bit as bad as it sounds.<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Walking to work next day. The sign was so big that pedestrians (or should that be the one<\/em> pedestrian – me) had to walk into the road to get past it.<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

I was staying in a hotel near off\u00a0 Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks, LA. It wasn’t the greatest area.<\/p>\n

Sorry, LA folks!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, I figure there might be a few LA residents a little unhappy at my less than glowing review of their city, so accept my apologies.<\/p>\n

I was only there for three days and I really tried to like the place, but it just didn’t gel with me. Too hot. Too many cars. Too many roads. No cafe culture. No people on the streets!<\/p>\n

And the bottom line is this: in all the time I was there, I only managed to take a grand total of 20 photos.<\/p>\n

I’d take more on a wet Sunday at Barry island<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UPDATE!<\/h4>\n

\"On<\/p>\n

Many years later, I got to return to LA when I was on the road with The Monochrome Set, and this time I had a much better experience!<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

Here’s some of what I saw:<\/p>\n