Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted around here. Been busy on other projects, you know how it goes. I figure it’s time to give this site a little love. Anyway, I went back to LA recently so I’ll post some pics from out there. Also, I’ve never mentioned this before, but I’m a map freak. I love looking at maps and wondering about what life is like at any given point. So thanks to the embed feature at Google Maps, I’ll try and link each photo to it’s general location on the map.
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…
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…
After getting into Downtown, the streets and buildings pretty much looked the same…
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. 
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.
