Daily News: For The 'Love of the City,’ Take A Walk Through Los Angeles to The Beach

Thanks to the Los Angeles Daily News and writer Richard Guzman for Sunday's write-up of the Great Los Angeles Walk:

As they’ve done for more than a decade now, hundreds of people are expected to gather in the morning at a downtown L.A. park on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

They will be there for the same reason, but it’s not a for a political cause, or to protest or to raise money for something or even to do some pre-emptive calorie burning before Thanksgiving.

They’ll be there just to go for a walk, albeit a 14.5 mile walk through Pico Boulevard where they’ll stroll out of downtown, down to the edge of Koreatown and pass by landmarks like Powers Place, the city’s shortest street.

They’ll also walk by the old homes of Alvarado Terrance and myriad small mom-and-pop restaurants as they make their way to the ocean all as part of the 11th annual Great Los Angeles Walk.

Read more here.

Saturday's Weather Forecast: Warm and Sunny

Looks like another great day for a walk! According to the Saturday forecast, it will be a pleasant day for The Great Los Angeles Walk, with a high of 77 degrees. It will be sunny, however, so bring a hat and sunscreen! Check out our Frequently Asked Questions for more info!

The Great Los Angeles Walk 2016 Press Release

THE 11th ANNUAL GREAT LOS ANGELES WALK RETURNS TO HIKE PICO BOULEVARD FROM DOWNTOWN TO THE OCEAN ON NOV. 19

LOS ANGELES (Nov. 10, 2016) -- Hundreds of Angelenos will hit the sidewalks on Saturday, November 19 for The Great Los Angeles Walk 2016 – the annual event that dispels the myth that “nobody walks in L.A.”

This year, for the eleventh edition, the Great Los Angeles Walk (http://www.greatlawalk.com) is returning to once again eat its way down one of the city's iconic boulevards: Pico!

The Great LA Walk last hiked down Pico in 2007 (the Walk's second year). Pico is a favorite for many reasons, including the fact that Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathan Gold once famously ate his way down the street. (Now, Great LA Walkers will have the opportunity to do the same thing – or at least, some of it.)

Participants will meet at downtown Los Angeles' Grand Hope Park (next to FIDM, at the corner of 9th Street and Hope Street) at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19.

From there, Walkers will pass through downtown, the Convention Center (home to the Auto Show); the Central American-dominated Byzantine-Latino Quarter; the city's shortest street (Powers Place); the beautiful old homes of Alvarado Terrace; a slice of Koreatown; gut-busting food spots like Oki-Dog and Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles; Mid-City; Jewish shops and restaurants west of Fairfax; the Fox lot; the Rancho Park golf course; and Santa Monica.

The Great Los Angeles Walk will conclude with an after party in Santa Monica at a location to be announced later. Walkers will be encouraged to utilize Metro's Expo Line, which offers public transportation at the start and finish of the walk.

L.A. journalist and blogger Michael Schneider launched the Great Los Angeles Walk in 2006 as a way to celebrate his tenth year in Los Angeles. Inspired by the book “Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles,” by Kevin Roderick (with research by J. Eric Lynxwiler), he decided to walk the street’s entire length.

In 2007, for an encore, he chose another downtown-to-the-ocean route: Pico Boulevard. The 2008 Walk took on Santa Monica Blvd. In 2009, the event kicked off in the historic West Adams district and walked to Venice Beach via Adams and Washington. In 2010, for its fifth edition, the Great Los Angeles Walk reprised its original Wilshire journey. In 2011, participants marched to the ocean via Hollywood Boulevard. In 2012, the Walk traveled across Melrose Avenue; in 2013, Sunset Boulevard; in 2014, the Walk traveled across the San Fernando Valley via Ventura Boulevard; and in 2015, the Walk took on Olympic Boulevard.

The Great Los Angeles Walk grew from dozens of participants to hundreds, and continues to expand each year as more Angelenos join in to explore their city on foot. The Los Angeles Times is a media marketing partner.

As always, the Walk is completely free. It is up to the participants to decide how much or how little of the walk they want to do. The Great Los Angeles Walk has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, the L.A. Weekly, KABC-Channel 7, LAist.com and KNBC.com. In 2012, the LA Weekly recognized The Great Los Angeles Walk in its "Best of L.A." issue.

The official hashtag of The Great Los Angeles Walk is #glaw. Social media users can follow along all day on the walk's official Twitter feed, @greatlawalk, as we continually post our location.

The Great Los Angeles Walk 2016 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Create Routes or Search for a route from millions at MapMyWalk

"Wait, you're doing what?"

"Is walking 14 miles even humanly possible?"

"Can I bike it? (Yes!) Take the Metro (Yes! Thanks to the Expo Line this year!) Bring a dog? (Sure!) Quit half way through? (Whatever you want!) Are you personally driving me back to my car? (Well, except for that one.)"

Here it is, the unofficial Frequently Asked Questions roundup for the GREAT LOS ANGELES WALK 2016! (This will be updated with new information as it comes available!)

1. WHEN/WHERE? Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016 -- the Saturday before Thanksgiving, like we do every year. We're meeting at GRAND HOPE PARK in Downtown Los Angeles (corner of 9th and Hope). Under the clock tower. NOTE: Pets are not allowed in the park, but no worries: We'll be right at the edge of the park, so you can simply stand with your dog on the other side of the fence.

Feel free to get there early and grab breakfast (there's a Ralphs right across the street). At 9 am we'll gather for a pep talk andsome info about the day. Then, we're off, some time after 9 am! THE WALK HAPPENS, RAIN OR SHINE! (We had light rain one year, but it cleared up by mid day.)

2. WHO? We're expecting 300 or so urban hikers this year. We're taking RSVPs at greatlawalk(at)mail(dot)com (yes, "mail," not "gmail") and on Facebook, but RSVPs are not necessary. We'll take anyone who shows up too!

3. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? C'mon, it's completely free! But you're on your own when it comes to lunch, dinner, water, etc. So don't forget to plan accordingly.

4. WHAT'S THE PATH? From Grand Hope Park, we'll make our way down Hope to Pico. And then we'll head down Pico, and keep walking west to the ocean!

After hitting the ocean and taking celebratory photos, we'll then celebrate nearby at an after party (Location TBD).

5. WHAT IF I CAN'T GET THERE THAT EARLY, OR DON'T WANT TO START THAT FAR WEST? Just wait for us somewhere on the path and join in once we pass by. Several hikers will be Twittering as well -- including us, at @greatlawalk. Check one of those Twitter accounts to figure out where we are.

6. WHAT DO WE DO ALONG THE WAY? Pico is the famed street that Pulitzer Prize-winning food writer Jonathan Gold once ate his way down. We're going to follow Gold's lead. Stop and eat along the way at some of his favorite spots. You'll also take your time and look at some of the other sites along the way: the Convention Center (at that point, home to the Auto Show); the Central American-dominated Byzantine-Latino Quarter; the city's shortest street (Powers Place); the beautiful old homes of Alvarado Terrace; a slice of Koreatown; the gut-busting food of spots like Oki-Dog and Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles; the closed (for the Sabbath) Jewish shops and restaurants west of Fairfax; the Fox lot; the Rancho Park golf course; the cool ocean breeze once we hit Santa Monica; and much more.

6. HOW LONG IS THE HIKE? Around 14 and a half miles. This is the shortest Great Los Angeles Walk we've ever done, but there's a reason for it: We want folks to STOP and enjoy some of the food and sites that the Walk has to offer.

IMPORTANT: This is not a race. Sure, you can sprint all the way to the end, but where's the fun in that? There's no prize for who gets there first. Instead, take a breath, and join the bulk of us as we leisurely stroll toward the end and stop frequently to take in the sights.

7. WHEN WILL WE GET TO THE END? With so many hikers, people will eventually start to space out. Impatient, faster walkers might get there soon after lunch. But the bulk of the walkers will get there around 4.

8. CAN WE BIKE IT? BRING KIDS? PETS? Because you're walking on your own accord -- remember, this is an unofficial gathering of passionate Angelenos walking the streets of their favorite city -- you can do whatever you want. Use your best judgement, of course. We're not responsible for you.

9. WHAT ABOUT INJURIES? Again, there is no infrastructure to our Walk, so you need to take care of yourself just like you would whenever you walk anywhere. Be careful, stay safe and stick with a group of walkers!

10. WHAT ABOUT LUNCH? We'll be taking a lunch break -- probably around an hour or so -- around the halfway point. 

11. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE WALK IS DONE? We'll take group photos at the end... and then celebrate at an after party between 4 and 8 pm at a location TBD.

12. HOW DO I GET THERE, OR GET HOME? Quite simple this year: THE METRO EXPO LINE! We've been waiting a decade for the downtown-to-the-ocean train, and now you'll never again have to worry about how to get back and forth!

Also, if the train's not your thang, check out LA Metro for bus times!

13. WHAT SHOULD I WEAR/BRING? Loose, comfy clothing. I'd wear shorts, a t-shirt (and perhaps a sweatshirt, depending on the temperature). Also, tennis shoes... sunglasses... a hat... sunscreen... extra socks... a blister kit (optional, of course -- I haven't brought one, although Band-Aids  are a good idea)... and most importantly, a camera! We'll all be documenting it and posting pics later.

14. HOW CAN I GET A T-SHIRT? T-shirts are now for sale at http://greatlawalk.spreadshirt.com (we don't make any money off of these). But order fast, in order get the shirts in time for the Walk.

15. HOW SHOULD I TRAIN FOR THIS? It's not a marathon, so training isn't really necessary. I suppose you could walk around your neighborhood in the days before hand... but I'd avoid any big gym routine the day before, so you're not sore the day you're hiking. But other than that... I didn't train at all for any of the previous nine walks, and have turned out just fine.

16. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? Why not? There's no special reason, no charity, no protest, no issue we're promoting -- other than a passion for Los Angeles. In 2006, I organized our walk down Wilshire to mark my 10th anniversary in Los Angeles. But it was so much fun, and it was a chance to meet so many new people, that we did it again in 2007, down Pico; in 2008, via Sunset and Santa Monica Blvd.; and in 2009, we hit West Adams as we walked down Adams and Washington to Venice Beach. In 2010, we returned to Wilshire for the fifth walk; in 2011, we hit Hollywood; in 2012, it was Melrose's turn; in 2013, it was all about Sunset Boulevard; in 2014, we hit the Valley via Ventura Boulevard; and in 2015, it was Olympic Boulevard.

It's the Saturday before Thanksgiving as well, so somehow I don't feel as bad gorging on sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie a few days later. And hey, it'll be a cool conversation piece at your holiday party.

17. CAN I SEND IN PHOTOS? READ A RECAP LATER? Of course! We'll have an official GREAT LOS ANGELES WALK 2016 page on Flickr for you to upload your pics. And check out www.greatlawalk.com the Monday after the Walk to read a full recap! Send us links to your own recaps, YouTube videos, etc.

18. IMPORTANT: You are walking on your own volition. The Great Los Angeles Walk is just a casual opportunity to walk with other Angelenos through the city. It's not an official organization of any sort -- and is therefore not responsible for your conduct or anything that may happen during your hike. Be careful, and be respectful of others and of your city.

We've Got a Meeting Spot: Grand Hope Park!

(Photo by Rex/Shutterstock)

We have a starting point for this year's Great Los Angeles Walk! And just like past walks, we're meeting at a scenic location:

Grand Hope Park!

Don't confuse it with the Civic Center's Grand Park. This is GRAND HOPE PARK, located next to FIDM, at the corner of 9th Street and Hope. We'll meet under the clock tower (as seen in the photo above).

Blogdowntown wrote a great primer about Grand Hope Park in 2008; here's an excerpt:

While grand plans for South Park's titular park may not have developed, the neighborhood does have a great little pocket of green space in the 2.5 acre Grand Hope Park, located on the block bounded by 9th, Olympic, Hope and Grand.

The park, which shares its block with FIDM and Renaissance Towers, has quite the interesting development history. Though owned and built by the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), the space is operated by a non-profit and not the city's Department of Recreation and Parks.

Groundbreaking was first held in 1987, and the park officially opened in 1993. Because it's not operated by the city, there is a strict "no pets allowed" policy. Therefore, if you're bringing your dog on the walk, you can still join us under the clock tower -- but on the other side of the fence.

There's street parking nearby, and it's also a quick 10 minute walk from the Pico station of the Metro Expo Line, in case you're using public transportation. Here's the map:

Get there early, and grab breakfast at a nearby shop (there's also a Ralphs grocery store right across the street.) We'll see you there on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 9 a.m.

More to come! And don't forget to buy a T-shirt if you want one!

L.A. Times: The Great Los Angeles Walk is a "Health Happening"

Thanks to the Los Angeles Times, which is also a marketing partner of this year's walk, for this writeup in their "Health Happenings" column! Kavita Daswani writes:

Pencil in Nov. 19 for the 11th pre-Thanksgiving Great Los Angeles Walk. Some 400 people are expected to participate in the low-key, no pressure trek from downtown to the beach, traversing 16 miles along Pico Avenue. Organizer Mike Schneider says that the walk can be "as long or as short" as people want, although with breaks, the exercise usually takes about eight hours. Walkers can opt out at any time. The walk is returning to Pico Avenue for the first time since 2007. The new Metro Expo Line runs between the start and end points.

More news on Monday as we announce the start point of this year's walk!

The Great Los Angeles Walk 2016 T-Shirts Are Now Available!

Get your shirt now in order for it to arrive before this year's Walk! Wear it proudly on November 19 -- and show everyone that, yep, you spent all day walking down Pico Boulevard! Click below for the T-shirts... which this year comes in a sharp forest green color!

We've just posted a whole bunch of t-shirts at Spreadshirt, including choices for men, women and kids. (The men's T is actually unisex -- I like the forest green on that one.) We don't make any money on these; it's just to get everyone in the spirit. Go here: greatlawalk.spreadshirt.com.

Meanwhile, keep up with info about this year's GREAT LOS ANGELES WALK down Pico via our website (www.greatlawalk.com) or our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/greatlawalk). And RSVP at our email (greatlawalk@mail.com)!