Downtown Los Angeles is a glamorous, dirty, downtrodden, intriguing place. If you have a couple of days, you can stay there, eat there, have a lot of fun there, without ever getting in your car. Everything here is in walking distance, and you can explore the faded and possibly returning beauty of downtown Los Angeles. The architecture is stunning. Gentrification, always a tricky project, is slowly but surely making the neighborhood more walkable and liveable. |
I wouldn’t advise a visit to Skid Row. I’ve been there, and I was overwhelmed by the sight of humans just like me, with arms and legs, living in deplorable conditions. The smells of urine and weed choked me. I had to step around the people lying on the sidewalk, and I wondered how much shelter those tarps over the shopping carts really provided. Their eyes haunted me for days. Their shouting scared me. The heavy police presence did not comfort me, because I realized that 5,000 desperate homeless people in one square mile could easily overtake a police officer. Or two. When I saw that they had no cooking facilities, I looked around and saw that the missions and panhandling are their only source of food. I wondered where they get drinking water, where they go to the bathroom. I wondered how cold it gets at night, and if their many layers of clothing keep them warm enough. I thought of my abundance of water at the Hotel Figueroa, and my soft bed, and my nice breakfast. I wondered how the city could let this happen. I wondered where the homeless people’s families are, how they got here, if they ever lived a normal life.
Don’t go there.
Because if you do, it will change you. I didn’t ask myself why they don’t just get jobs, because I saw that they are filthy and nobody hires filthy people. I didn’t ask myself why they don’t go find their relatives, because I remembered my cousins's crazy ex-brother-in-law that nobody has heard from in a long time, and I wondered if I’d take him in if he looked like this. I asked myself why they don’t go to a shelter, then realized there are plenty of vacant lots right here, and nobody has built shelters on them. I wondered why the city doesn’t clear them out and hose off the sidewalks and make a no-camping ordinance, then realized I don’t want them in my neighborhood either. Then I felt really bad.
Don’t go there.
Instead, look at these pictures.
If you go to Skid Row, in the daytime, you’ll probably be safe. You’ll probably get shouted at, stared at, but there probably won’t be any violence while you’re there. At least, there wasn’t when I’ve been there. You’ll probably be oddly silent for a while afterward. Then you’ll go to lunch. But while you’re eating, if you’re a decent human being, you’ll wonder what you can do about Skid Row. Or about that homeless guy you pass on your way to the grocery store. I’m not saying you have to feed everybody or put yourself at risk. Just take a look.
Before sunset, haul yourself (or take Uber) back across downtown to the BonaVista Lounge on the 34th floor of the Bonaventure Hotel. The whole floor rotates. Get a table overlooking the view, and the floor will rotate to show you the sunset. I recommend a sidecar and the baked brie. Oh my word. |
There are lots of other things to do in downtown LA, such as concerts and sports at Staples Center, movies at LA Live, concerts at Disney Concert Hall. Also, you can go to IHOP in the middle of the night and find a bug on your chest. It’s very different from my suburban life, so maybe it’s a nice change for you, too. My top picks of the weekend are:
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