All that stood between us and the completion of our 25-mile odyssey throughout Sundown Boulevard was one final crosswalk.
After an interminable wait, the sign on the intersection of Sundown and the Pacific Coast Freeway lastly flashed inexperienced. Our legs spent however our spirits strengthened, three buddies and I wordlessly plodded the ultimate steps of the undulating journey we started 10 hours earlier.
We walked from the shadow of the 110 Freeway to the shadow of a lifeguard tower. We walked via 10 Los Angeles neighborhoods and two extra cities, and we got here a crosswalk away from a few others. As we glimpsed pocket after pocket of our huge metropolis, the enduring road equipped us with unrelenting reminders of our lives right here.
This August will mark 15 years since I moved right here for school from my hometown of Santa Clarita. Tens of millions of Angelenos, together with one among my companions on this expedition, have me beat by a long time. However in that point, I’ve grow to be acquainted with Sundown by automobile, and now additionally by foot. Strolling your complete boulevard reminded us all of non-public experiences we had lengthy forgotten, recollections we’ll always remember and historical past we had solely examine. We remembered what we love about our metropolis and what we don’t.
We walked by the erstwhile areas of outdated stamping grounds Sundown Beer Co. and the ArcLight Hollywood. We walked by the Black Cat, the place a plaque commemorates its function as the location of a 1967 LGBTQ civil rights demonstration. We walked by the third-floor window at Kaiser Permanente, throughout from L. Ron Hubbard Method, the place I anxiously appeared out as my mother underwent emergency surgical procedure. To the north, the Griffith Observatory rose out of the day’s fog to greet us. Later, we walked by Paul Revere Constitution Center Faculty, the place O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown had attended their daughter’s dance recital on June 12, 1994, hours earlier than she was killed.
As we handed the chain’s unique L.A. location, the uninitiated acquired an abridged model of the Zankou Hen murders. We realized in regards to the peculiar rock ‘n’ roll Ralphs, with which most of us had been by some means unfamiliar however one among us had frequented. The shop earned its once-unofficial moniker due to its proximity to music shops, and it has leaned into it lately with cheesy graphics.
We realized that one member of our group discovered the beloved Northern Thai Meals Membership overrated. He mentioned the khao soi was skinny, prompting a rebuttal and subsequent squabble. He graciously agreed to revisit it collectively, I believe to close me up. We strolled by the location of the loudest present I ever attended, Swedish DJ Sebastian Ingrosso’s set on the Palladium, once I was in school. The audio system had been so deafening I can’t neglect it once I’m deciding whether or not to carry earplugs for live shows right this moment.
We handed eating places serving greater than a dozen nations’ cuisines — and that was simply throughout our first 5 miles. Later, the meals and resident variety thinned. We handed so many fancy houses, most of them shrouded in shrubbery, and so many personal faculties, most of them advertising and marketing themselves to passersby.
Census knowledge reveals that, with few exceptions, the road will get each whiter and wealthier with every step west. The census tract the place we started was 16% white, in keeping with 2020 figures, with median family revenue of a little bit greater than $60,000. As we waited to cross PCH, we stood in a tract that was 80% white, with greater than 4 occasions the median revenue. In fact, that phenomenon is just not distinctive to Sundown amongst Los Angeles’ main streets. In 2015, I walked a piece of Olympic Boulevard, from Broadway to Fairfax Avenue, as a part of the Nice Los Angeles Stroll, and seen the identical development.
Some years later, I discovered a replica of Kevin Roderick’s e-book “Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles” on the library, recruited just a few intrepid buddies, and set off from One Wilshire to stroll your complete 16-mile thoroughfare. After we reached the water, a few of us fell asleep on the Expo Line trip again downtown, equally thrilled and drained.
That was February 2022. This yr, we aimed to construct on that feat, setting our date for Sunday, March 12. We started at Aquarela Espresso, a stunning Brazilian store on Figueroa Road, just a few hundred ft north of Sundown’s terminus. After the barista wished us luck, we stashed some pão de queijo, a cheese bread constituted of cassava flour, for later and embarked.
As a result of I lack a powerful sense of route and our metropolis lacks a complete grid system, strolling the identical road all day is oddly enjoyable. If I’m strolling greater than two miles in L.A., I’m usually checking a navigation app each flip or two. On today, we solely wanted to make use of our telephones to see how far we had been from the closest public restroom.
Normally that was fairly far. In Beverly Hills, Will Rogers Memorial Park and its restrooms, made well-known by George Michael’s lewd conduct, had been a welcome sight amid extravagant wealth and pedestrian-unfriendly streets. Quickly the sidewalks disappeared and makeshift trails emerged. Sizable Metro buses and rushing sports activities automobiles threatened just a few ft away. We noticed extra motorcyclists than cyclists and extra mushrooms sprouting under us than fellow walkers.
General, navigation apps tracked our trek at about 55,000 steps and about 1,300 ft of elevation acquire. One member of our group, trooper that he’s, accomplished this whereas carrying a pair of Cole Haan sneakers that appeared quite a bit like costume sneakers. We ate and stretched for about an hour however moved for the opposite 9. On a zoomed-out map, our route seems to be haphazard: We started by meandering northwest for practically 4 miles, then made a 115-degree flip and headed precisely west for nearly 5 miles. For the remaining 16-plus miles, we zigged and zagged at no discernible angle till we reached the ocean. That’s Sundown’s path, courting again to its days as a cattle path.
We spent surprisingly little time ready to cross streets and an excessive amount of time nervous about close by automobiles. A number of honks appeared aimed our manner, although we couldn’t ensure they had been exasperated in nature. At occasions, strolling this metropolis looks like disobeying its well-orchestrated needs. Wouldn’t this place be quite a bit higher if it had been a little bit simpler to expertise on foot?
A pal from Boyle Heights met us on the sand and graciously dropped us off on his manner dwelling. By no means has a twilight drive from the seaside to Chinatown felt quicker. In 28 minutes, we had been again the place we began. And, no, we didn’t take Sundown again, although our pal’s route dwelling took him alongside what was, till 1994, additionally Sundown Boulevard, now Cesar Chavez Avenue.
The objective is to finish an identical long-distance stroll yearly. Subsequent yr, perhaps we’ll do Ventura Boulevard. Or perhaps we’ll go north-south and do Figueroa. I’ve been impressed these days by Chris Arnade’s “Strolling the World” Substack and Cody Hofmockel’s TikTok feed, the place he chronicled his stroll from close to San Bernardino to Las Vegas, and the buddies who walked 50 miles throughout L.A. final yr. I’m additionally a hiker, as are the opposite members of our group. Scaling Southern California’s tallest peaks gives a purer rush than perambulating its most well-known streets, however the streets follow you.
Fusing the pursuits might be ultimate. For a few years, I’ve dreamed of ambling out my Northeast L.A. entrance door onto the close by Arroyo Seco bike path, carrying that to Decrease Arroyo Park, the Rose Bowl and Higher Arroyo Park, and connecting via Hahamongna Watershed Park to succeed in the Gabrielino Path.
From there, I envision touring all 28.8 miles of path to Chantry Flat, then marching the 15 miles again dwelling. At roughly 52 miles, it’d make for some weekend. Wish to be a part of?
