Photo via Sha in LA's James M. Wood Blvd. Walk on Flickr In Los Angeles, there are some important streets named for some important people. Beaudry, Wilcox, Van Nuys, Lankershim, Wilshire, Micheltorena, and hundreds of others named for leaders, developers, owners, and others. But, in Los Angeles, there are streets that have been changed in honor of an individual. Santa Barbara Avenue in South Los Angeles was changed to honor civil rights leader Dr.......

Test Your Reflex plays this month at Hotel Cafe on Wednesdays | Photo by Luke Wooden via their MySpace Despite SXSW starting up this week with 100+ Los Angeles based bands heading over there, residencies are growing stronger and more venue-diverse across the line, especially on Monday nights where the volume makes it hard to choose from. Here's to a great month of residencies, rock on. Mondays The Chapin Sisters @ The Echo (Free),......

by Debbie Long For three years I worked in the upper floors of a downtown LA skyscraper. Each day I would eagerly wait for the two 15 minute breaks and 45 minute lunch when I could leave my windowless cubicle and find somewhere outside to regroup. There was something about being around all of the glass, concrete and steel buildings that made me seek out water. Fortunately, downtown Los Angeles is filled with fountains,......

Bunnies, schmunnies. The unholy folks behind the 1947 Project are revving up their crime bus for a half-day excursion on Easter Sunday, April 16th, from noon to 5pm. This time they're calling it the Nightmares of Bunker Hill; it will tour downtown LA and tell tales, we're guessing, of nefarious activities on and around the Bunker Hill of yesteryear. Most of Bunker Hill was covered by grand old houses that got chopped up into......

Editor's note: This is the second part of the LAist Interview with the editors of the 1947 Project, a blog that posts news stories and photographs of Los Angeles in 1947. This LAist Interview is with a typical resident living in Los Angeles in 1947. Name: Johnathon Zheltov, 29 Works in the pectin department, California Fruit Growers Exchange Where are you from and what neighborhood do you live in? Johnathon Zheltov: The folks moved......

At outdoor events in downtown Los Angeles, such as the Grand Performances series that included Friday night's Ozomatli concert, or the Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival's summer performances, part of the fun is people-watching, and much of what you see people doing is turning their heads side to side and murmuring, "This is so cool. I've never seen downtown like this." California Plaza, where the Grand Performances concerts are held, can be a lovely scene......

The funny thing about reading The “Grand Avenue Plan,” preliminarily approved last week, is pondering how often in the last century developers have felt the need to shift the functions of various districts, as though downtown LA were one of those party-favor puzzles in which you slide the little tiles around the board until a picture comes into focus. Certainly something needs to be done with the area — what ought to be a......

The legal world in Los Angeles conjures up images of shiny glass Bunker Hill skyscrapers populated by Arnie Becker-type sharks shuffling around in perfectly tailored Hugo Boss suits and Gucci loafers, all the while servicing their big-money, high-profile clients. Some might also think of the sleazy Larry H. Parkers of the world who guilelessly peddle their personal injury services on daytime television. Los Angeles is also home to many of a special breed --......

Large-scale development in Downtown took a new turn yesterday when the Grand Avenue Committee announced the developer selected to undertake the massive project on oft-contested Bunker Hill. The Committee chose New York-based Related Cos. to develop the four parcels, for which design proposals are still pending. Local patron of the arts and real estate magnate Eli Broad and representatives from the City and County of Los Angeles are directing the effort. The parcels are owned......