May 11th, 2010

Sights seen while not writing

As I noted last week, I don’t just write:

May 4th, 2010

I don't just write

May 3rd, 2010

In Transit

Last Spring, I wrote a commentary about my personal experiences with transit in Los Angeles. An assignment for a class, it was something of a companion to the reporting I’d done for my master’s project, the work that became “R We There Yet.” I was proud of the final piece that emerged, as I [...]

February 24th, 2010

LA to PDX: The Back Way

Follow the Map | See the full photo collection

Choose Your Own Adventure:

The Mother Lode

Nobody Knows Where You Are

Waking Darkness

Theroux and Friends

A Sort of Homecoming

Hello/Goodbye

Why don’t I just write the story? Why didn’t I just report each day’s journey? Why [...]

December 23rd, 2009

R We There Yet? Re-evaluating Los Angeles's Transit Future

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A story still in transit

A story still in transit

Though much has happened in Los Angeles’ transportation scene since this story was completed last Spring, the central challenges discussed here largely remain the same. Some light edits have been made to the text to reflect some of the changes. More [...]

November 2nd, 2009

Koreatown's sign language

This afternoon I ran an errand a couple Purple line stops away. It was such a beautiful day that instead of taking the subway I decided to meander home on foot. Fortunately, before I left the house I thought to grab my camera. I took the opportunity to look around a bit and capture some [...]

October 14th, 2009

What it's like - In Transit in L.A.

A brief note: if you haven’t looked around the site lately please take some time to look at my updated, categorized portfolio page. More updates to come soon.

After an evening in Pasadena I board the Gold line at Fillmore Station. I complete a phone call as the train heads southwest, [...]

September 21st, 2009

Los Angeles in Your Eyes

I’ve been wondering this for months, as I’ve also been wondering what it would be like to share this place with friends and loved ones from out of town. How would I do it? What would I show them? In what order would I show it to them? How could I even begin, knowing what I must be leaving out? How would you give a tour of Los Angeles with only a short time to do so? What would you show? Why? What do you think is quintessential L.A.? What can be ignored? Do you have a universal trip you’d share with every visitor or are there certain ones you’d reserve for certain people? Would there be a specific flow to your tour? Would you use the strict geographical boundaries of the city, or would yours be more a tour of Southern California with Los Angeles as its center of gravity? If you’ve had visitors, tell some stories of the tours you’ve taken them on. List a few places that have to be visited. Give a sense of the route you’d take, of how one might move between landmarks and why you’d go that direction, why you’d take that path. If you’re not from Los Angeles, what would you want to see here if you only had a few days to do so? What is this place to you? Why would you want to visit? What type of tour would you want? [...]

June 10th, 2009

McCourts Keep Dodging the Trolley

I have to admit Streetsblog beat me to posting a picture depicting this sign (others may have as well), although I took this picture May 29.

Back when I was editor of the Ventura County Reporter and still penning (or is it “keying”) the Fir & Main blog, I wrote enthusiastically about the possibility [...]

June 9th, 2009

What’s Next and Marathon Love

New posts coming this week:

– Posts on production and consumption versus conservation; – Environmental critiques of train travel; – The ultimate (if not particularly green) multi-modal vacation; – Dodger Stadium gets even less accessible; – Privacy, chatting and (in)visibility.

To keep you sated, I’ve been meaning to post some of my photographs from my [...]