My trip to SoCal

[ChiefJoJo]

I had a great time, although it was a bit colder than I'd anticipated (everyone was going nuts over it out there). I visited Santa Barbara, Malibu, "the valley," LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills (during the Golen Globes ), Venice, Santa Monica, Griffith Park, Pasadena, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, and San Diego (for the Chargers game and a night out at "JBar" & "Altitude" )...

One thing that really surprised me was how urban LA is for the most part in terms of being relatively walkable depite simultaneously being very auto oriented. There are freeways everywhere, but the buildings are pushed up to the sidewalks and the streets are laid out in an easy-to-follow grid pattern (with the exception of the hills and mtns). It's sort of a weird combination, but I guess it works OK. Don't hate me for this, but Downtown LA reminds me slightly of bigger version of Charlotte in how it has scattered street level retail and housing, but lots of tall skyscrapers to look at. Maybe Charlotte has more nightlife currently? When the topic of going out came up, nobody wanted to go out in DT LA... it was always Hollywood, Venice, or Pasadena. I think the city is trying to change that. Anyway, here's a few urban pics....

Downtown LA:

Wells Fargo Tower:

US Bank Tower:

sculpture at museum of modern art:

LA Performing Arts Center--two views:

LA panoramic from Griffith Park:

San Fernando Valley from Mullholland Drive:

Santa Barbara from the old Courthouse:

[colin]

Beautiful stuff. Mulholland is always a must for me every time I go there. Love those views.

I've always been amoret of the streetscapes in LA also: large street with parallel parking, sidewalk, businesses. No parking lots, landscaping or other BS that keeps it off the street. It creates a much more walkable environment. And many parts of LA have this, even in the Valley.

[ChiefJoJo]

The view from Mulholland is great, but I can't imagine much better than the Griffith Park view of DT LA!

[dgreco]

great pictures thanks for posting, hopefully you enjoyed the trip.