Now that Summer's pretty much over, fall's gonna go by fast -- and before you know it, it's gonna be the holidays again. For the last three years, we've kicked off the holiday season by throwing our annual Great Los Angeles Walk on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
It's the perfect day to do it: The temps are cool, but not too cool; there are few other events going on that day; and everyone's looking to burn a few calories in preparation for the Thanksgiving gorge-fest they're about to embark on. So this year, count on the fourth annual Great L.A. Walk to take place on Saturday, November 21.
Mark your calendars. In the meantime, help us pick another street to hold this year's hike. As you know, we marched down Wilshire Blvd. in year one (2006), Pico in year two (2007) and Santa Monica Blvd. (with a touch of Sunset) in year three (2008).
All great streets. The best streets for the Great L.A. Walk include some interesting architecture and a lively environment. It gets a little harder from here: Olympic, for example, has long stretches of dull residential. Ditto Venice.
Eventually, we might consider altering the geography of the walk. But for now, I'd still like to stick to our 14-16 mile theme: Start in Downtown and work our way to the ocean.
So what are some of your suggestions? Sell me on Olympic. Dazzle me with why Venice or Washington make sense. Perhaps this is the year for a North-South street? All recommendations gladly taken.
7 comments:
tricky indeed, I'd almost nominate a Sunset Blvd. stretch but 1) it'll be over 23 miles 2) it's hilly 3) no easy public transportation back to start point from Malibu and 4) did I mention OVER 23 miles?
that being said, if you're game for something NOT entirely new, maybe the entire Melrose Ave. stretch and corporate portions of the Sunset/Santa Monica/Pico walks to connect Union to the Ocean?
In any case, my calendar is marked -- see you there!
Hello, Mike:
Picking a route gets tougher each year. Actually, since the streets don't change much over a few years, in year one you could evaluate all the possible routes meeting your criteria and determine that there are really only five or six "great walks." What happens in year seven? Either you start re-walking (Wilshire Blvd!) or change the selection criteria resulting perhaps in lesser than great walks.
That said, for a real criteria departure, why not walk a preview of the new L.A. Marathon route: Dodger Stadium to the sea? The route is not yet set but may firm up by November or we could design our own proposed route. The finish could be four miles along San Vicente Blvd to Ocean Avenue. The length would be less than a marathon as we would travel more directly.
According to Google Maps, there are three walking routes which we could modify: 1) Using predominately Beverly Blvd (17.9 miles); 2) Using predominately Melrose Ave (18.2); or 3) Using
predominately Third Street (18.3). Maybe the Dodgers might be a Great Walk co-sponsor.
Otherwise, Olympic Blvd is my choice but not starting from the Rio Hondo in Montebello.
Best of Luck
--David Johnson
Having done the Western Avenue Walk last year, I like to recommend we head south, rather than west. There is so much of the city that is unexplored in that direction.
One southern route that I'd like to someday walk was a bike ride in 2007 called 'Atlantic to The Pacific.' We could start at Atlantic and Huntington Drive in Alhambra, and walk 25 miles to Victory Park at the Pacific Ocean in downtown Long Beach.
That would easily take 10 hours and all the daylight to do. OR we could just walk the extent of Powers Place again?
Hi, I'd second the Adams & Washington route people were talking about on the Franklin avenue post if only because the bus routes are more convenient for most people on a downtown-to-the-ocean route.
The great thing about doing this type of urban walk is being able to hop on a bus back for anybody who doesn't have the physical ability to do the whole route (18 miles maybe, 23 to 25 are a definitive no for me). Plus stopping along (mom and pop rather than chains) eateries is pretty cool.
I also know I wouldn't want to do a Alhambra to Long Beach walk.Too long, too complicated for me to get back home.
But I'd go along with H.C Melrose suggestion or David idea to re-do a previous route.
A friend and I did the Route 66 walk last Sunday (canceled but we did it anyway) and one definitive minus was the lack of sidewalks toward the end, and the fact that very long stretches had pretty bland architecture and mostly chain cafés or restaurants. We were lucky someone picked us up to bring us back home.
Here's my suggestion:
Park at the Aviation/LAX green line station. Aviation north>Century west>Sepulveda north>Lincoln north>Manchester west to ocean>bike path to Ballona Creek bridge>walk path on Marina channel...circumnavigate the Marina>Washington west>Dell over the Venice Canals>Washington Place west to Venice boardwalk> boardwalk north to Santa Monica Pier.
About 13 miles. People can take the SM Blue Bus #3 back to the Aviation station. Route takes us past LAX/jets landing over your head, hotel row, Westchester, one mile along the ocean, along the marina channel past shoreline village over Venice Canals, the crazies of Venice to SM. Lots of architectural, social, dining diversity with easy parking and bus transport. Cool route. I've walked it many times and can lead.
I vote for redoing the ones that have been done. I know some have done all the walks, but as long as it's not the same every year, I think it's fine. First, you will always discover new things - either things you didn't notice before or things that have changed in the time since you last walked that street. Second, I personally just found out about this event this year, so I haven't seen any of the previous walks. I bet I'm not alone. And I bet there are people that missed a year or two as well. Third, Great Walks are always Great Walks... if nothing is popping out as a great new one, use the old standbys.
Looking forward to walking at least some of this year's event. May not be up for doing the whole thing, but I'm in for at least a few miles.
I know you've already picked your route, but you guys should consider a Downtown LA/Downtown Long Beach route. I'd suggest going down Alameda and ending up on Long Beach Boulevard. Or basically follow the Blue line, or maybe the LA River.
So many people completely ignore this large swath of LA.
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