Wednesday, January 20, 2010

reader request: 6th street + park view street


Thanks to the insightful Herbie Huff of Meek Adjustments (lots of very nice writing there) for the location request.

This corner of Macarthur Park embodies that classic Los Angeles paradox: you've got these gorgeous historical buildings that have all but turned their backs to streets below, whose pedestrians have been driven away by the nonstop exhaust + dirt of traffic. Despite their civic expressiveness, they have no real function beyond providing weekday office space. What's left is a prop cityscape that looks like a hotspot of commerce but is in reality a series of long dead zones, an illusion that reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode where a couple discovers they're trapped in the empty dummy-world dollhouse. It's a shame, because there is real grandeur here, and real community, too — the two just haven't been integrated properly into what could be a kind of Rockerfeller Square for LA. See it narrowed!
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About the Photographer

Los Angeles, CA, United States
Writer, designer, and urban planning geek.

Got a location idea or photo submission? Send it to hello@davidyoon.com. I'll post it to the blog or even run out to shoot it myself.

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