VRA LA 2019: Car-free Los Angeles
Allan Kohl, John Trendler, and Krystal Boehlert at the Bradbury Building
Like a lot of big cities, Los Angeles can seem daunting, especially if this is your first visit. But we want to reassure you that this is a city you can safely navigate with ease.
Little Tokyo, our conference hotel neighborhood, is approximately one square mile of restaurants, cafes, bars and quick-bite stops; shops of all varieties; banks and other services; and museums and other cultural highlights. It is lively, even very late at night, and populated with locals and visitors alike.
Surrounding neighborhoods are also accessible on foot. Many iconic sites are an easy 5-10 minute walk, such as the Bradbury Building, Central Market, and the grand old movie houses on Broadway.
A 10-15 minute walk northwest will get you to the Broad Museum, LA MOCA, Disney Hall, and the Music Center.
In 20 minutes you can walk to the wonderful LA Central Library (and be sure to cut through the Biltmore Hotel across the street for a peek – it was home to the first Academy Awards and there’s a terrific photo of the event in the lobby).
The Arts District covers many blocks, and there are numerous galleriesand murals 5 to 30 minutes from our conference hotel.
Of course as you walk around downtown you will want to stop for a bite or drink – and you will not be disappointed in the variety of options! (More emails to come on this topic!)
If you’re up for venturing further, Chinatown is about 25-30 minutes on foot, and you can visit the beautiful Union Station and historic Olvera Street en route.
To the south is the Fashion District, home to hundreds of fabric stores, vendors selling knock-offs, and the Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing Museum. [Note that it is on the other side of Skid Row, an area you may not be comfortable walking through – but if you take Main Street you can avoid this area.]
There are also many great self-guided walking tours of the city (in addition to the terrific VRA-organized tours on offer), such as this onegeared to photographers.
And when you are going farther than walking distance, or it’s late and you’re tired, we have a comprehensive list of transportation options for you: public transit trains and buses, ride-shares and taxis, and for the truly adventurous, bike or scooter shares! This link to the Metro public transportation system, for example, will help you calculate the best method to get anywhere. (And if you do decide to rent a car to go further afield, it’s not as bad as you think – your phone’s GPS (Google Maps or Waze) is your friend to help you find the most efficient route, and there are always parking lots nearby.)
We hope you all venture out and explore this exciting, rich city, and please ask any of the VRA LA locals for advice, suggestions or directions!
Contributor:
Jackie Spafford
Local Planning Committee Member, VRA LA 2019
Image Resources Curator, History of Art and Architecture, University of California/Santa Barbara