After hanging out at my friend’s place on 7th st., I met up with another old High School friend who’s living downtown too. He stays over on 7th and Spring St, which is only a few blocks away from my other buddy’s place…and also happens to be right in the Art Walk.

I’d never heard of the Downtown Art Walk when I used to live in LA, and my friends say it’s a recent thing. That area never was a mellow place to hang out on the streets after dark…at least not since I’ve been alive. It’s also only a few blocks from the good old Skid Row part of downtown: home to one of the largest populations of homeless in the United States.

But now that the area’s getting fancy, you’ll see quite a few people of all ages showing up to cruise the streets for this event. Basically, there are just a bunch of galleries in that area of downtown which open up their doors on the second Thursday of every month. Here’s a rough outline of the borders of the walk which I highlighted in blue below:

View in a larger map

So we met up with a few more friends and walked around for a bit. I’m not really an art buff, but there were some interesting displays. Some galleries were selling beer and wine inside so you could get your drink on.

Most of the galleries looked like that. Bright lights, people hanging around chatting. It was alright for something free to do, and probably would’ve been more fun for me if I was big on art. One thing that tripped me out though was seeing so many people on the street at night down there. Also, as we walked around, I saw nice little restaurants, cafes, and bars, and the place felt as safe as strolling down any street in Tokyo. The place is completely different from how I remember it.

Anyway, around 9pm the galleries started closing up, but there were still plenty of people hanging around on the street. There was a band playing on one corner, some dude playing some drums on another. But of course, the cops walked by and shut that down real quick. Can’t let anyone have fun without the proper permits. You know how it goes.

By now we were already up by 2nd St, so we headed back south to 7th…

On the way, we stumbled upon a gallery which was still open, and unlike any of the others. The space was pretty big, had a nice crowd, good lighting, and a guy whipping up some good beats for the crowd. If I remember correctly, the spot was on 4th and Spring St., so definitely check it out if you’re ever down there for the Art Walk.

You can check this website for for more information on the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk.

It was a good trip. Haven’t been back to America in about two years, so figured I’d get a little culture shock. But it didn’t happen. Anyway, here’s a photo of Downtown LA taken while driving in the carpool lane of the 110 North…

View on Map

One thing that hasn’t changed is the crappy traffic. LA is consistently rated as having the worst traffic in the country. But depending what time of day you’re driving, it’s not so bad. The 110 is my favorite freeway in LA though. Guess it has a little nostalgia for me cause that’s my hometown freeway used since I was a kid. It also kicks ass with 6 lanes: 2 for carpool, 4 regular.

Even with 6 lanes, the 110 can get brutal as hell. But you go at the right times of day, and it’s smooth sailing. Case in point, the shot below. This is where the carpool becomes two lanes, and the 110 N passes through Gardena (west) and Compton (east), heading into South Central…

View on map

After getting into Downtown, the streets and buildings pretty much looked the same…

View on map

View on map

Yet the place has seriously changed. It used to be that Downtown was basically a ghost town after sunset. Now, the place is really picking up. They’re converting all these old buildings into loft apartments and renting them out left and right. One of my friends who was renting a loft there has decided to move out cause it’s too pricey now. His building was once a furniture factory located at Los Angeles St and 7th St. Now it’s high priced housing. This is a crappy pic, but it’s the inside of his place…and yes, that’s a swimming pool you see on the roof of the building next door.

View on map

It’s actually three buildings all connected to each other, with a food court and a convenience store downstairs. We went down there and ordered some good Peruvian food, picked up some beers, and headed back up to his place to eat. Some other friends told us about an “Art Walk” going on there that night, so we decided to check it out after sunset. Anyway, more on the artwalk in another post.