I have a soft spot for this view. When I first moved to Los Angeles I lived across the street from Pan Pacific Park, and during my first run in the park I turned a corner on a path and…
Author: Mark Berman
Eichler Tract in Granada Hills
I recently ventured into the Valley (for a former New Yorker, that’s like going to New Jersey!) to check out the Joseph Eichler tract of houses in Granada Hills. Eichler was a developer who had a taste for modern architecture.…
Barren Landscape Around LACMA Rock
While people debate the merits of LACMA’s giant “Levitated Mass” rock (Is it art? It sits on metal shelves — it’s not levitating at all! $10 million for this?), I will throw one more question into the equation — why…
Photos & Video: LACMA Rock Open!
Decades in the making (apparently), the giant rock at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is now open to the public. Dozens of people were walking under the suspended 340-ton boulder at about noon Sunday, an hour after it…
Sync the Damn Traffic Lights, L.A.!
It is rare that I am in rush hour traffic, but I found myself driving back from Santa Monica at about 3:30 one recent afternoon. The 10 was already jammed when I tried to get on at Lincoln, so I…
Great L.A. Views: Windsor Blvd
I don’t care what anybody says — Los Angeles is a beautiful city. Critics say there are too many billboards and too many parking lots, but we know the truth about our town. Because the city has elevation in places,…
Fairfax & 3rd Trader Joe’s
The Trader Joe’s/Mendocino Farms complex on Fairfax and 3rd opened a few weeks ago. They did a really nice job. But… Let’s get to the positives first. They are really nice buildings — kind of mid century looking, the colors…
“High Cost of Free Parking” Review
While writing about parking issues in the past I have quoted excerpts I found online from the book “The High Cost of Free Parking” by Donald Shoup, disagreeing with virtually everything he has to say. Shoup seems to think free…
Monorail Supporter Ray Bradbury Dies
Longtime Los Angeles resident and legendary science fiction writer Ray Bradbury died Tuesday night at his home in the city. He was 91. Bradbury moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1934 when he was 13 years old, and…
Ugliest Building in Los Angeles?
I nominate this building as the ugliest building in Los Angeles. This monstrosity sits on Wilshire Blvd., just west of Fairfax. If features lovely black permanent scaffolding. I guess they assumed the building would always need constant work. Then there…