Charles Phoenix at Union Station Walking through the Broadway Arcade mall near the Jewelry District, Charles Phoenix rued the changing face of Downtown. The mall, built in 1922 and billed as Los Angeles's oldest shopping center, was the fourth stop on what could be Phoenix's last tour of some of the oldest and grandest sites in a city long accused of lacking history. But it was in the mall, where naked upper floors could......

While the feathers were flying in Pershing Square, just a few miles north, feathers of a different kind were being blessed at Olvera Street. A tradition since 1930, it has to be seen to be believed. The crowd is an interesting mix of religious folk and what looks like extras from a John Waters film.......

Legend says that Echo Park got its name from workers building the original reservoir said their voices echoed off the canyon walls. However... After years of searching, LAist has found the “echo” of Echo Park. And wouldn’t you know, it wasn’t even in that neighborhood. No, Echo Park’s “echo” has been trapped at the birthplace of Los Angeles: at Olvera Street. In the plaza there, inside the only bandstand in the City, an echo lives......

From 'Real Time With Bill Maher' on March 7, 2008 Bill visits Olvera Street to take the "temperature of the Latino vote." Skip ahead to 5:00 minutes for the interviews.......

The Los Angeles Fire Department is reporting a five-car pileup on the 101 north freeway at Barham over the Cahuenga Pass. Luckily, the three injuries are minor, but that means three blocked lanes and a Sigalert. Earlier this morning during the 5:00 a.m. hour near Olvera Street and Union Station, a woman was hit and killed by a Metro bus. The crash is still under investigation and details are pending. This is the third major......

Increasingly free of gang violence, it may be getting safer to walk the streets of Watts, the Daily News reports. Homicides in the area have dropped from 24 in 2006 to just 11 last year and many residents are pinning hopes for further neighborhood revitalization on economic opportunities. Hey Magic Johnson, that's your cue! A man died last night after sliding down an escalator at the Hollywood Highland shopping pit of hell today. Apparently......

There is a common misconception that we don't have seasons in Los Angeles. We know when the seasons are changing. There are two distinct events that herald the coming winter: the Christmas displays replace the Halloween merchandise, and the lunch trucks start selling champurrado. Champurrado is a type of atole, which is a hot drink popular in the winter. There are a variety of atoles, but chapurrado is probably the most popular. It is......

Many people think of Olvera street as nothing more than a tourist trap. There are touristy elements, such as roaming mariachis and margaritas bigger than your head. But Olvera street is more than that. Not only does Olvera street host a number of cultural events throughout the year, it also has its own church with a close-knit congregation, and a community that is centered around the old square. Las Posadas, like Dia de los......

TOYS FOR TOTS Everyone has that one special moment when it really starts to feel like Christmas. It might be shopping Thanksgiving weekend, baking cookies or buying the tree. For me, it is that magical moment while stuck in traffic when I am taken unawares by a phalanx of motorcycles zooming by carrying giant stuffed bears on the back. That is truly the spirit of Christmas. The bikers are part of an annual Toys for......

There I was, minding my own on the Red Line, screeching along toward Hollywood and Western, reading the ad copy on the walls. I'd seen the cross-promotional Metro-Wicked ads before, but I noticed something different this time: the witch is reading a copy of the Los Angeles Tribune. (Hed: "Metro Named America's Best Transportation Agency.") Two questions: First, why isn't she reading the Times? It's probably because Metro's marketing department wanted badly to include......

Olvera Street's Novenario has all of the pageantry and all of the colorful calaveras characters as similar Dia de los Muertos events, but there is something more. Something sacred. The rituals honoring the dead combine Catholic and indigenous blessings, bringing a solemnity to the occasion. The traditional pre-Columbian Novenaria (nine-night) procession is a traditional ceremony to remember deceased loved ones. It is a moving experience, even more poignant this year because the merchants lost......

8th Annual Festival de los Gente Saturday the 27th 11am - 10pm and Sunday the 28th 11am - 8pm On the streets of LA at the historic 6th street bridge Festival de la Gente is a community-based Event in a Historic Venue featuring Live Entertainment, Arts and Crafts altars, in a carnivale-like atmosphere for families with children. The event will feature live music, art exhibits, teatro performances, storytelling, arts and crafts demonstrations and traditional latin-American......

See the 1995 60 Minutes segment about the horrendous Red Line subway construction. Apparently, in democracy you cannot run against your boss' political allies without getting fired. That's what happened when city councilman Ed Reyes fired his office manager after she lost the 2005 election to Jose Huizar. She sued. She won. All the Wilshire Blvd. bus lane info you could want. The Zaca wildfire has been going for a month and now Governor......

Yes, like Ventura's split from its original name (San Buenaventura) or San Diego's true Spanish meaning (a whale's vagina), Los Angeles comes from a much larger city name - El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula (The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels on the River Porciúncula). And like other rare departments in the landscape of city government (Port of Los Angeles or Neighborhood......

While we were driving around the country we noticed that people rarely take tours of their own city. When we were in Chicago we had a hard time finding a local who had been up the Sears Tower, when we were in NYC we didn't meet anyone who had been up the Statue of Liberty, however when we were in Memphis we couldn't find anyone who hadn't been in Graceland. If one were to......

The week began on 9/11 and we remembered Howard Stern's 2001 broadcast of that day. There were many choices of visual stimuli. Among those were Loose Change, Dateline in Long Beach, Path to 9/11 or Football. While we watched Castaic burn, we felt the need to be a little more green and looked into Griffith Park planning, e-waste, coastal cleaning and Eastside reservoirs. Speaking of e-waste, one of our writers got his computer stolen......

UPDATE: LAObserved links, and the one-and-only Jonathan Gold responds! Olvera Street is known as the birthplace of Los Angeles. Located near the corner of Cesar Chavez and Alameda streets downtown, it’s kind of like a Latin version of the Farmer's Market on Fairfax with a lot more trinkets and a lot less fruit. LAist likes to walk Olvera every now and then for the pure kitsch factor (Lucha Libre masks abound, and are usually......

La America Tropical, the once-controversial, then painted over mural is coming back to Olvera Street thanks to the city and The Getty: The mural, one of three done during Siquieros' six-month stay in Los Angeles, depicts an Indian being crucified on a double cross topped by an American eagle. The piece, depicting the struggle against imperialism, was considered so controversial at the time that it was painted over shortly after it was finished. Here......

Don't be alarmed if women are walking around downtown with tiaras and sashes over the next few weeks. They're probably with the 55th Annual Miss Universe pageant, which is making the Wilshire Grand downtown its official headquarters until the contest airs from the Shrine Auditorium on July 23. (Does anyone still watch this stuff anyway?) So if you spot one of the 80 international contestants hanging out on Olvera Street or at the Golden......

Franklin Avenue noticed that 2006 is LA's 225th year. They asked City Council President Eric Garcetti "where's the party?" — and he answered: We certainly will be doing our usual celebration on Labor Day, when we re-enact the Walk of the Pobladores from the Mission in San Gabriel to Olvera Street. We always have a party there afterwards. I'll check with Tom LaBonge to see if there is anything beyond that scheduled, but a......

Mayor V: A Q&A with Mayor Villaraigosa on immigration. He's definitely politic when speaking with the LA Times: My role, you know, my focus, is on the city that I was elected to serve, but I will continue to advocate for a sensible, bipartisan immigration reform. students: While we're on immigration, students plan another demonstration today starting at 10am in downtown LA, meeting at Olympic and Broadway and proceeding to City Hall. puppies and......

For 76 years, Los Angeles has held a Blessing of the Animals on Olvera Street at the north end of downtown Los Angeles. Back in the 1930s it was mostly about donkeys and chickens, but now people show up with their household pets. From mice to snakes, parrots to kitties, chihuahuas to iguanas, llamas to labradors, all animals are welcome — but a cow still gets to lead the procession. Cardinal Mahoney will officiate.......

While many people have been celebrating this year's Dia de los Muertos since earlier last week, today and tomorrow are the days when Olvera Street calls all spirits, living and dead, for the sights and sounds of this hallowed ritual. And at the end of this spooky first week of Novemeber, one more local happening celebrates Dia de Los Muertos with a free family festival. Here are the details: Día de los Muertos on......

The San Jose Mercury News day-trips down to downtown and finds a safe, bustling community much different from when the reporter lived here ten years ago. It reminds us that we really want to check out Checkers Hotel bar one of these days and that maybe we should visit downtown one week day and just walk and spend the entire day into night. LAist has done Olvera Street but we should take it all......

We have yet to find the details on the LA City Council website but according to ABC 7, Olvera Street has been granted up to 12 million dollars for improvements. Among the work that is likely to be done includes construction of the transportation museum, new restrooms and infrastructure repairs (sewers, electrical and streets). The on-going preservation of many of the murals (several of which are quite old now) will also continue. Just a......

LAist knows there is nothing new in the least about Olvera Street, as it happens to be one of the absolutely oldest parts of town. But we're hedging our bets that maybe it's been some time since you took a stroll down its cobbled street, or maybe you've never been at all. These days are full of long hours of sun, and energy that's just about the perfect level for something as leisurely as......

LAist got out of the house today and attended the 75th La Benedicion de los Animales/Blessing of the Animals at Olvera Street. An annual event held on the Saturday before Easter Sunday, this year attracted a large crowd. Since unexpected (and expensive) dental surgery sidelined our feline companion, we didn't participate in this year's procession and blessing. Instead, we stood on the sidelines and took pictures. However, we found a canine correspondent, and LA......

The feast day of Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th in western Christian tradition, an event considered the culimation of the Christmas season. Tonight from 6 PM to 8:30 PM, Olvera Street will be hosting a reenactment of the journey of the Three Kings to celebrate. Anyway, the date has triggered an epiphany of our own--exactly when can we reasonably expect Angelenos to take down all the holiday lights, trees and geegaws? So far......