Since billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad has funded Los Angeles institutions such as LACMA's BCAM and UCLA's Stem Cell Institute, Curbed LA asked its readers what he should spend his money on next if it were to be a civic project. The "Subway to the Sea" won with overwhelming results....

Photo of the now destroyed Mann National courtesy of Los Angeles Times photographic archive, UCLA Library. Copyright Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library. Is Westwood making a comeback? The LA Times thinks so, in today's article on the burgeoning real estate development in UCLA's backyard. But isn't this a story we've heard a million times before? It goes something like this: Westwood used to be a great pedestrian area, then it fell......

Photo by pink_fish13 via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr For over a year now, the plan to make both Olympic and Pico one-way(ish) streets has been thought and fought, presented and resented. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Councilman Jack Weiss, the major city backers of the project, were set to go forth with the project this week. That is, until Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge John Torribio said "not so fast." In his......

This upcoming Saturday, April 26th, marks the 4th Annual Green Gardens Tour, which gives attendees a backstage pass to see six home gardens on the Westside that "demonstrate sustainable designs, practices, and technologies." With conservation issues a hot-topic in the Los Angeles area--and all over the world--the tour is a wonderful hands-on opportunity to see what some people have done in their own yards to pitch in to save our precious resources while creating beautiful......

This week's classical pick takes us to the Westside (believe it or not) with the Seattle Symphony making their debut at Royce Hall. The Seattle Symphony is headed by Gerard Schwarz, who has turned this once struggling group into a top notch orchestra that is recognized internationally with the help of frequent recordings and its support of American composers. Although they are often known for their performances of later 20th century repertoire, the symphony......

One of the most difficult things about running--or any exercise regimen for that matter--is simply getting started. Joining a running group or club is a great way to ease into it, and so today and in future installments of Workout Wednesday, we will explore the many running groups in the area you can choose from. We'll start with Team in Training. I joined Team in Training, or TNT, as it's often referred to, because like......

$3.55 for unleaded. Check, albeit annoying. $3.79 for performance plus. Ugh, okay, check. $9.38 a gallon for high performance. Che-- wha???!?!?!!!? LAist Featured Photos photographer Movie Lover snapped this shot on the Westside. "While driving past a gas station in Brentwood, CA a while back, I noticed that the price had gone up. Way up." Yeah, no doubt. Let's see, April Fool's Day is next month. It's not a six upside down. This doesn't look......

My first memory of Dutton's is of the one in the valley, hot on those unairconditioned summer afternoons, the faintly sour smell of the paper. It was crowded, a little uncomfortable, and yet it was a place that was full of treasures. A place where a kid could wander -- completely by accident, into the Literature section and discover something magical. After my family moved to the Westside in the early nineties, Dutton's became a......

Use Last.Fm? Thanks to LAist reader, thecoloured, you can join our new LAist Last.Fm group! If you're staying Westside tonight, check out the hybrid jazz-alt-folk band, 1921a, at McCabe's Guitar Shop. They'll be there with Matt Taylor and his Laurels. Cat Power and the Dirty Delta Blues @ The Wiltern MSTRKRFT With DJ Z-Trip, La Riots and Diabetic @ Henry Fonda Spindrift, Spirit Army, Moonrats, Restaurant @ Spaceland......

Photo of Meiko, who plays at the Knitting Factory tonight, by Koga/LAist for 'Meiko & Priscilla Ahn @ Hotel Cafe, 1/23 & 1/24/08' What Made Milwaukee Famous finish up their Los Angeles tour playing along with Tulsa and the British Sea Power/Colourmusic bill moves over to Spaceland. On the Westside, there's only one choice to make and that is hip-hop violinist Paul Dateh at the Temple Bar (check out our interview with him including......

Do you think this is part of the Reno 911! marketing campaign? / Photo by Bernard Mickey Wrangle via flickr. COMEDY* Paging Reno 911! fans: Robert Ben Garant, who plays Deputy Travis Junior, hosts The Armando Show tonight. (It’s an hour-long improvised comedy show inspired by an audience suggestion). He’ll be joined by a few other Reno castmates: Carlos Alazraqui, Thomas Lennon, Niecy Nash, Kerri Kenney and Cedric Yarbrough. 8 pm // iO West......

For my final DineLA menu, I thought I should try something in my home town. For years, Redondo Beach was known for fantastic breakfasts and Mexican food, but not much else. For fancy dining you were looking at standard surf-and-turf - Tony's The Chart House, etc. Only in the early 90s when the Westside had filled up did gentrification move down the coast, bringing nouvelle cuisine along for the ride. Sometimes it seems like......

Vegan Waffles and 'Chicken' | All Photos by Zach Behrens/LAist All good things come from the Valley first. Lucky for those who stay "over the hill," Executive Chef David Anderson at LA's fanciest and tastiest vegan affair in the Tarzana Safari Walk (yes, that's an official Los Angeles Neighborhood, city blue sign and all), there is plans to open up a new vegan eatery with full bar on the Westside according to VegNews, who......

Fie upon those who wish downfall upon the Westside! We shall smite thee with our flaming elven sword. (That's how we talk to LAist staffers who aren't behaving; nothing whips a writing team into shape like a little dangerous elf talk.) We will now stop being nerds and give you incentive to visit the Westside. Here are some more happy hour specials that'll make you wish you lived on the beachier side of life.......

Cellos take center stage at the Colburn School tonight | Photo by Lachlan via flickr. FILM Before Alan Alda brought the character Hawkeye Pierce to homes everywhere in the M*A*S*H television series, Donald Sutherland (Keifer’s dad) played the role on the big screen in the Robert Altman-directed film (MASH). In both, though, the plot remains the same: the men who lived in “The Swamp” didn’t care much for military decorum during the Korean war.......

KNX1070 is reporting that "a police manhunt is ongoing West of a Washington Mutual bank at Ventura and Topanga Canyon in Woodland Hills. Authorities are searching for two armed kidnapping suspects." Things were something close to touch-and-go late this afternoon on the Blue Line near 5501 S Long Beach Ave when a female pedestrian fell near the tracks as a train passed by, but did not have any direct contact with the train itself.......

Devoted LAist reader Ashley requested a Westside version of Deacon Booze -- and as a former long-time resident of the Westsiiiiiiiiide, I'm more than happy to oblige. Here are some of my top spots for drinks in West LA -- (and trust me when I say I have TESTED these places more than a few times). Why not email me your picks for when you find yourself west of the 405? carrie@laist.com. Did I......

In yesterday's LAist interview with Hillary Clinton, we had to ask about public transportation. Clinton said she would increase federal funding for public transit by $1.5 billion per year, link funding to local land use policies that encourage mixed-use and transit-oriented development (discouraging sprawl) and invest $1 billion into intercity passenger rail (think high speed rail from Los Angeles to San Francisco, or more locally, the MagLev concept from Orange County to Las Vegas). Speaking......

John O'Groats is an inconspicuous little breakfast and lunch joint on Pico Blvd, near Westside Pavilion. There's a blue awning and a container of coffee outside -- to keep you awake while you wait for a seat. Alas, I can't vouch for the quality of the coffee, because we were seated promptly. Photos of actual food, after the jump.........

Alternative 9 combines a Wilshire and Santa Monica alignment for two subways Update*: Metro called to strongly emphasize that the projected 10-year-period (three for environmental studies, seven for construction) is the reality under the most ideal circumstances (that circumstance is if we had the funding today). Metro confirms this is the timeline and the 5-year hypothetical may have been misheard or said. At the meeting, the freakily fast timeline was mentioned in the context......

Alex & Sam will play the first show of their residency at Tangier tonight | Photo via their MySpace You might recognize the girl above. Locally, that's Sam from the band Alex & Sam who is playing at Tangier all this month every Sunday night, but for those who are more pop-culture oriented (rather, American Idol obsessed), that's Samantha Sidley who got a pass from all three judges for a "Welcome to Hollywood" (she's......

'Santa Monica Subway: Alternative 4' is one of the 17 routes presented by Metro Last night, a packed room of community members at LACMA listened attentively to Metro present nineteen options to serve the Westside. This first in a series of three public input meetings (two more meetings next week) was exciting -- wheels are in motion to get Los Angeles moving, even if that reality be around ten years from now. One of......

17 potential route alternatives consolidated on this map will be presented starting tomorrow at Westside Transit Corridor meetings with the public | View larger image In an ideal world, one of the routes in solid black, pictured above, could be a reality in nine and a half years -- that would be the year 2017. Generally speaking, a project the size of a major public transportation extension to the Westside, towards the sea, could......

Metro's Westside Extension Transit Corridor Study Area covers approximately 38 square miles. Download a larger PDF of this map. Last October, Metro held early scoping meetings for a study to help guide the development of alternatives addressing the growing traffic and congestion in a 38 square mile study area (see lighter colored area above). Nearly 500 individuals attended these meetings and over 450 formal comments were submitted by the close of the comment period......

Wall-to-Wall Patriots fans pack Sonny McLean's Every Sunday NFL franchise or not, Los Angeles is filled with football fanatics. Many of these fans have relocated to LA from all corners of the country, bringing with them their devotion for the home team of city they left behind. Rather than sitting in the confines of their living room and watching their boys battle it out on the gridiron, many transplants have found a sanctuary in......

In addition to your usual Irish Coffee, O'Brien's in Santa Monica serves five other fun alcoholic coffee drinks. The Nutty Irishman, made with Frangelico, was beckoning (why are nutty Irishmen in bars always beckoning? Must be my red hair. And their beer goggles). I wanted something unusual, so I went for the kioki - coffee mixed with Kahlua and brandy. It would never have occured to me to mix those liquers, but it really worked.......

The Tangier is hosting Shark Aid and it has nothing to do with saving those sometimes nasty sea dogs. Aaron Finely, a local sound engineer and musician (Rexaquarium, Kennedy, Joe Lies) was attacked by a shark last October, losing a good chunk of his leg. The medical bill is quite steep, so his friends set up this benefit concert to help out (story via Metromix). Lucky for Finely, his friends play great music. Tonight:......

City Councilman Jack Weiss and O'Melveny and Myers law firm partner, Carolyn Kubota, teamed up yesterday in a Daily News op-ed piece urging the need to explore funding public transportation in Los Angeles by private sources. Chicago did it with the Skyway and Denver with their transit plan. So why not us? They say everyone can agree on three things. One, a subway between downtown and the Westside is absolutely need; two, the subway......

Gingersnaps and cocoa and rum balls and Italian knots and Kolacky and biscotti and chocolate chips, oh my! LAist has been in the kitchen, cooking up a Cookie Exchange. I Can Has JGoldBurger? Omg the PULITZER PRIZE WINNING JOURNALIST uses LOLspeak, I don't know what to say, my world has been all shook up like a snowglobe. It's entirely possible I was Afghani in a previous life (as well as Korean, Persian, Icelandic, and......

We heart our sister -Ists: today, SFist Editor Bock Keeling was profiled in the SF Weekly. We find out that Gus Van Sant hates SFist and a funny picture of a woman modeling in front of an oil spill crew is now being featured on the site. Pro football player Sean Taylor has died from injuries sustained in a mysterious and tragic shooting incident; he was 24 years old. Police are still searching for......