New blog about LA's urban history

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That’s interesting! I had no idea that the city enlisted the aid of a 1,000-foot-tall man to build City Hall.

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What is this, a city for ants?

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Gee, I guess you guys have never been here. We are, indeed, all tiny humans in Los Angeles. This is why Hollywood loves to do its shooting here. Short commutes and tiny budgets go a long way in this town. Plus, up until about 1960 the entire town was black and white and mostly dark. Handy for creating an atmosphere of mystery where none exists.

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Yes! :slight_smile:

This venture looks somewhat promising, but like Boing Boing, this Southland blog already seems to have trouble writing good, appealing headlines…

“The La Brea Tar Pits Remind Us That Los Angeles Is an Ancient City”

It’s certainly a mouthful, but…the tar pits? Ancient city? Reminds?? Whaaa!!!

And then we have the catchy:
“The Ace Hotel’s Founder Left Behind a Legacy of Building Neighborhoods”

Man, that’s a headline that really sucks you in!
I mean, the study of architecture and city planning is dry enough as it is. It is possible to write informative headlines without being dull or overly descriptive. A headline should TEASE, not fully satisfy.

BTW - I was in downtown LA today, and I wonder if the editors of Southland will ever do an analysis of the Skid Row area near the old garment district, or if Southland will do an analysis of the scores of homeless who use the beautiful and shiny Union Station waiting room as sleeping quarters. At this point in time, it seems much more pertinent and important to address the dire situation of the homeless, rather than promote LA as some sort of mystical lost city of hidden beauty. LA hasn’t been a beautiful city since about 1932, though tiny parts of it resonate beauty (ie; LA Public Library, which has a great exhibit going on now of old sheet music from the turn of the last century.)

That’s just the cover story. He was actually there to defend the western U.S. from giant Japanese monsters.

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That image looks like the scale model that the WPA built in the 30’s. A piece of the model is on display at the Natural History Museum right now, in a show about the history of California. http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/permanent-exhibits/california-history.

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