Murals in the Golden State Mutual Building

The West Adams Historical Association is sponsoring a tour this Saturday of the Golden State Mutual Building and its interior murals. A chance for my students and readers in the LA area to learn more about the wonderful history of the communities surrounding the University of Southern California.

From the website:

As part of our ongoing efforts at preservation advocacy, WAHA has been working hard to bring greater attention to these threatened historic landmarks.

In conjunction with the opportunity to view the murals, we are putting the final touches on an extensive 40+ page publication that documents the cultural,
business, and architectural contributions of the African American community that abound throughout the Historic West Adams district. A copy of this publication
is included in the ticket price. Just click on the image below to learn more about the tour, and to make tour reservations on our WAHA website.
On site parking is available – entrance on Hobart, just north of West Adams Blvd.

We thank you for your continued support, and look forward to you joining us next Saturday!


NewImage

A station for Leimert Park – Do the Right Thing

Today at the LA MTA Board meeting, the Board will take action on a couple of really important issues. One I covered earlier–the extension of the Bus Rapid Transit into West Los Angeles–and the other is the addition of a station for historic Leimert Park on Crenshaw Line.

Leimert Park is a beautiful community in mid-Los Angeles, a place with lovely homes, walkable streets, and a long, understudied history. It was designed by the Olmstead brothers, for all you urban planning geeks out there.

African Americans in Los Angeles have been loyal MTA customers for decades. The money we spend on stations in southern-middle communities tends to pay back in riders because these areas have riders already.

Transit advocates are fond of telling me that costs don’t matter, or at least costs don’t matter as much as poopyhead economists think costs matter. If that’s true when it comes to everybody else’s pet projects, it needs to be true of investing in black communities in LA, too.

Go, Mark Ridley Thomas, Go. And then run for mayor. And then governor, and then president. Because you have been great at your job.

2010 0301 lagc neighborhood watch programs lead to new view of lapd in leimert park 1 580x290