& etc.
This is a blog about maps.
View LA Stuff in a larger map
It is also, incidentally, a blog about leisure, urban hikes, fringe subcultures, theatre, music, architecture, politics, literature, and food. Or at least, you know, whatever I get around to. Like so many of my fine brethren, I have joined the rat race of the blogosphere, and though there are countless sites out there about the strange phenomenon that is Los Angeles, this is the only one by a guy named Tristan.
This is my first map about Los Angeles. It wasn't made as an aide to tourists or a cute guide to the best of the city. It was simply created as a list of the things I wanted to do when I got back to LA, when I found myself removed from Southern California in the name of higher education. Some of the places were my favorite parks, museums, restaurants that I felt genuinely nostalgic for and wanted to ensure got another visit. Some where things I had long heard about and felt that I should definitely see. Some were even places that came up offhand in overheard conversations or lists in other sources like the LA Weekly, which I added out of curiosity. Eventually I added descriptions so I wouldn't forget why a place had ended up on the list, and then hours and cross streets so I wouldn't end up hunting endlessly, only to find the place closed when I arrived, and I arranged the places into clusters of areas. Soon the list extended over 100 entries and dozens of printed pages (and 2 digital pages, make sure to click to the next page at the bottom of the list).
At this point I decided to share it, only with a couple of friends who I thought might want to accompany me on my adventures. Some of them told their friends, shared it with coworkers, and somehow, a list I thought of no relevance to anyone but myself hidden away in Google Maps garnered over 5000 views, which I thought was kind of neat, unless one of my friends is secretly OCD.
At any rate, this is a list, and there are more to come. It's very eclectic - parks, restaurants, theaters, landmarks, buildings, drives, pretty much a conglomerate of my favorite and most prospectively interesting LA activities. There are a few big resources used here, one of which is LA Weekly's Best Of, and another, Stairway Walks in Los Angeles, by Adah Bakalinsky and Larry Gordon.
Though there are several books out there about LA hikes and walking tours, most are catered to the visor and New Balance set, or worse, they take a passive, tourist friendly view of the city and its features, while constantly bearing down on the novelty of walking in LA, as if strangeness is the only thing that particular mode of transport has going for it. Bakalinsky gets true joy out of walking and being in the space between the natural and built environment, and her tour points don't come from the triple A book or the tourism bureau, but from actually talking with the residents. Her strange sense of humor and earnestness, combined with the challenge of interpreting her not-to-scale handdrawn maps and bizarre produce based rating system, make this one of the best books out there for discovering the city.Well, enough of my sales pitch. This is a list, use it at will, use that as well. And hey, I make no guarantees, warranties, claims, or representations bout this sexy thang - info changes often, and with how many places are on here, though I'll try to keep it up to date, there's a chance hours could change, stores could close, you might even have... a bad time! Adventure at your own risk, I guess is what I'm saying.
