The Brief

Welcome to LAist City Treks, a series of easy hikes and walks that will help you explore the parts of Los Angeles and SoCal that we rarely get to see — or only see through the car window. Expect to get about 5K steps, and plenty of photos for your social media channels. Keep scrolling, because you'll also find three recommendations for grabbing a quick bite to eat once you're finished.

Where are we headed?

Why now?

Recently, the Anaheim City Council approved a $1.9 billion plan by Disney to expand the Disneyland resort. But Anaheim is so much more than the Magic Kingdom. This stroll is the best way to take in the area's many sights: It boasts public art and great architecture — including several monuments on the National Register of Historic Places — and is home to a terrific food hall.

Quickly, what can I expect?

• Route conditions: Flat and paved
• Difficulty: An easy 1 on a scale of 1 to 5
• Distance: 3 miles
• Dog friendly: Yes, except in businesses like the Anaheim Packing District
• Parking: Street parking, free
• Bathrooms: At the Pearson Park trailhead, and at businesses along the way (so consider bringing along a few singles to tip in exchange for using the facilities)

Map it!

OK, let’s get started …

Before there were Mickey hats, there were orange trees — 12,000, to be exact, which were uprooted to make room for Walt’s theme park. This route focuses on the area east of Disneyland known as the Packing District, where oranges and lemons — plucked from Anaheim’s miles of citrus groves — were boxed up and shipped to the rest of the country.

What better place to start than Anaheim’s first official city park at the junction of Harbor Boulevard and W. Sycamore Street?

Why this might look familiar

There are plenty of places to just relax and watch the wildlife in this park.

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This park is busy with friendly birds who don't mind sharing the road with you.

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Established in 1927, Pearson Park boasts several Mission Revival buildings that will remind you of San Diego’s Balboa Park. The only honking you’ll hear in this serene place is from waterfowl. I was accompanied by a noisy pair of geese along a meandering pathway, all of us headed to the large pond on the north end.

Exit the park at its northeast corner, home to the oldest public sculpture in Orange County.

Tell me about this art

This art work honors vineyard workers.

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One side of this freestanding column commemorates Polish actress Helena Modjeska, who established Anaheim’s first artists’ colony in 1876; the other side depicts four vineyard workers representative of the city’s early agricultural era.

As you leave the park, turn right so that you are now heading south on N. Lemon Street, one of many allusions to Anaheim’s once thriving produce industry. Our trek through history continues with Anaheim’s oldest residential district. To get there, turn left on Lincoln Avenue, then right on N. Anaheim Boulevard, and then left onto E. Center Street.

Before there was a Mouse House …

As you walk down Center Street, you’ll pass S. Melrose Street and S. Kroeger Street, on your right. Both blocks make up the Kroger-Melrose District —part of the​ National Register of Historic Places — and are worth exploring if you want to log a few extra steps. They contain several Craftsman and California Bungalow homes that make up, according to the Craftsman Perspective, “Anaheim’s most cohesive unit of every Twentieth Century housing stock,” with some Victorian homes dating to the 1890s.

This place used to be a hub of activity back in the day.

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At the end of Center Street is an old Union Pacific Railway Station, where boundless crates of fruit began their journeys across the U.S. — juicy spoils that advertised the West Coast as the best coast.

How did the produce get to this train station? By another train, of course! You'll see these old tracks up ahead: Turn right on S. Atchison Street and soon you'll walk past Citrus Park, on your left. Then, turn west onto E. Broadway, left on S. Olive Street and right on E. Santa Ana Street.

Tracking the past

As you walk along Santa Ana, within one block you’ll notice the sudden appearance of railroad tracks jutting into center of the street.

First laid down by Southern Pacific in 1899, this spur was a key conveyance for the Anaheim Orange & Lemon Association to transport its bounties.

Trains bearing citrus fruit once roared through this part of town.

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Repurposing, done right

Follow the rail line to the northeast corner of E. Santa Ana Street and S. Anaheim Boulevard. Here, you'll find another Mission Revival beauty, the original Packing House in the Anaheim Packing District. Turn right onto S. Anaheim and enter the Packing House’s driveway, which will lead you to former loading docks that have been converted to restaurant patios.

Inside the warehouse is a bright and airy space with food stalls, beckoning you to grab a bite or quaff a local brew. (If you're hungry by this point, consider Adya, which serves up Indian street food, or the Kroft, which specializes in sandwiches and poutine.)

The whole complex is a textbook example of how to reimagine an old structure while preserving its integrity.

A closer look at the entrance to the Anaheim Packing House: Inside is a modern, vibrant food court. But the outside remains true to its roots.

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A vintage image of the Anaheim Packing House. The reuse stays true to its past.

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Courtesy Anaheim Packing District

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Which you're finished exploring the food hall, reorient yourself back on S. Anaheim Boulevard and continue north (walking away from E. Santa Ana Street.) Continue north on Anaheim, then turn left on W. Center Street Promenade. You'll find two pleasant blocks of dining, shopping, and modern street art.

The 100 block includes the Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, which is backdropped by a 1908 Classical Revival building that once housed the Carnegie Library. Look for Carnegie Plaza rooftop sign.

Little park, big history

We have one last stop before we had back to our starting point. Proceed left on S. Clementine Street to its intersection with W. Elm Street. On the southeast corner is a small park. Despite its name, Little People’s Park has an outsized history in Anaheim.

In the 1970s, the neighborhood’s large Latino population protested the tactics of Anaheim’s largely white police force, culminating in an uprising here in 1978.

This noted mural may be worn in some places, but is no less powerful.

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To memorialize the moment, Chicano artist Emigdio Vasquez painted a 300-foot mural on the wall of the market on the north side of Elm. After decades of sun-bleaching, the mural was updated in 2023, incorporating key figures and flashpoints in Mexican American history. (The city of Santa Ana just announced it will save another one of Vasquez' murals, called Chicano Gothic, as part of a renovation project.)

If you want to see the mural, turn left on elm and walk nearly to the end of the block. After taking in the mural, backtrack, and now stay on Elm as you walk through the intersection with S. Clementine Street. In two blocks, you'll hit Harbor Boulevard. Turn right onto Harbor Boulevard and walk back to your starting point in Pearson Park.

With apologies to Disney, this was a real-life California adventure, yet no less magical.

Done! Where to eat

LAist's Associate Editor for Food and Culture Gab Chabrán recommends the following three places in the area to grab a bite:

Adya

Adya is a fast casual Indian food stall located in the Anaheim Packing House and is known for putting a modern twist on favorites such as chicken tikka masala and their luscious chicken kebabs, and an assortment of freshly made naans (butter, garlic, goat cheese and keema).  

The Kroft

The Kroft is also located in the Anaheim Packing House, and known for its sandwiches in particular and its comfort foods in general. Fried chicken, cheese steaks, an entire menu of loaded fries, and smash burgers. But if you can only try one thing on the menu, make it the porchetta sandwich.

Tacos los Cholos

You'll have to drive to this one after you're back at your car, but Tacos los Cholos is worth the added mileage: They've been called the best tacos in Southern California. You'll also find burritos, quesadillas ... and keto tacos, too. Save room for the churro cheesecake.

When I lived in the UK, I worked on a BBC television show about birding. It was a strange experience as I couldn’t exactly book guests — “Hello Mr. Sparrow, could you be on location for an interview at 2 p.m.?”

So instead I spent a lot of time with the crew climbing up mountains with a large tripod on my shoulder. Did you know there’s a bird in the Scottish Highlands whose plumage turns white in winter to blend in with the snow? (It’s called a ptarmigan. Don’t pronounce the p.)

But it did mean I was attuned to British bird calls. I could hear something and pronounce solemnly: “Ah yes, that’s a lark. And that one's a chaffinch."

Moving to LA meant learning a new set of bird calls

When I moved to the U.S., however, it was a whole other story. I really didn’t recognize any of the bird calls. They were all so different. I just shrugged and figured they were part of the backdrop. But one day recently, a woman told me about a free app and said it was life-changing. "Hmm, I’ll see about that," I thought.

Merlin bird app

It’s called Merlin, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and it’s kind of like Shazam for bird calls. As in, you click it, and it tells you what bird song you can hear around you. When I opened it in my backyard for the first time, a whole orchestra of bird sounds opened up around me. I admit: it was kind of life-changing.

Of course it first picked up a crow, which I know only too well, given its loud, raucous sound. But then it identified a house finch. Huh. Who knew they were in my backyard? And as I listened closely, I realized … I knew that sound! It’s the first thing I hear when I wake up at dawn, lovely and melodic.

The house finch, awakening the day.

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So now when I open my eyes in the morning, I say, "Good morning, house finch, communing with fellow beings alive on a vibrant California morning!" It kicks off my day, although I guess I’ve been reading too much Mary Oliver.

The backyard birds you're probably hearing right now

But then other birds I didn’t know would pop up on my phone during the day, with names as intriguing as their calls: the spotted towhee, the orange-crowned warbler, or Cassin’s kingbird.

I mean, they do realize they’re in a backyard in Los Angeles, not some estate in Georgian England? My favorite for a while was the dark-eyed junco. Now we’re talking romantic heroes. Imagine him slyly popping across the apple tree limbs to call to you. Dark-Eyed Junco, at your service.

Dark-eyed junco, at your service.

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Meet Swinhoe's white-eye, a non-native bird spreading across SoCal

And then there’s Swinhoe’s white-eye. Which sounds a little like an eye ailment, but there you go. It’s a tiny bright yellow bird with a white ring around each eye. So cute! I first noticed them when there were a bazillion of them in a tree outside my house. It was such an unusual sight that I mentioned it to a woman walking her dog, and we stood there, oohing and aahing, until we both realized we’d oohed a little too much, and it was time to go.

Swinhoe's white-eyes are not native to SoCal, but are thriving.

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When I researched them, I was surprised to find they’re not native to SoCal. They’re actually pretty new to the area. There were just a handful in Orange County 20 years ago, probably having been brought over from Asia as pets and escaped. And now, they’re thriving and have spread everywhere from Baja to San Luis Obispo. Who knows where they’ll end up next? If anyone sees a chartreuse cutie in New York, let me know. It'll probably be very tired.

Yes, you can see I’ve become slightly annoying with my newfound bird interest. I’ll be asking my family what they want for dinner, and I’ll say, “Wait, is that the spotted towhee?” and turn to my phone, and my teenager will wrest it out of my hand and say, “Mom, be in the present!” Which is right. But my morning serenade as the birds come online one by one and greet the new day — well, that’s as present as you can be.

During a life cut short at 34, musician Elliott Smith left traces of his legacy in many cities, perhaps most notably in Los Angele

Writer Jamie Fisher spoke with some 140 people for her new book Nobody Broke Your Heart: An Intimate Biography of Elliott Smith.

Even though some of Smith’s painful struggles with addiction and mental health took place in L.A., Fisher said his time in the city wasn’t all bad.

“He was always very suspicious of artifice and then I think he found himself enjoying it more than he thought he would,” said Fisher, who worked as a researcher at the New York Times Magazine for a decade. “He liked how big and expansive the city was: you can just kind of vanish into L.A.”

Smith moved to L.A. in the summer of 1999. He died here about four years later. But in that time he cut some deep grooves into the city, in places from Los Feliz to the San Fernando Valley — if you know where to look.

Snow White Cottages

Take the Snow White Cottages in Los Feliz, lovingly named for their fairytale-like architecture, where Smith once lived.

Fisher said the cottages were run down when the musician moved in. One of her sources said a raccoon threw a roof shingle at Smith’s head.

“It was more of an apartment than a house really. And it was this little community that was tight knit at the time,” Fisher said.

The Roost

On Los Feliz Boulevard, just across the 5 Freeway, is the beloved dive bar The Roost in Atwater Village, a joint Smith memorialized on his album Figure 8 — as a fade out on the track "In the Lost and Found (Honky Beach)/The Roost."

“It’s just this little nod,” Fisher said. “He was always folding the places and people he loved into his music.”

Back in the ‘90s, the place was more of a working-class joint, and one of the more overlooked bars Smith had a penchant for, Fisher said.

“One of the bartenders there who really loved Elliott owns it now,” Fisher said.

Largo

Then, of course, there’s Largo at its old Fairfax location. Fisher said it was a huge part of Smith’s life starting in the late ‘90s, when he spent late nights playing piano with fellow musician Jon Brion.

New Monkey

Motor on over to Van Nuys for New Monkey, a music studio Smith founded where artists are still recording to this day.

Fisher said you can also find equipment that was used to record his final album, From a Basement on the Hill.

Fisher said Smith put the studio together at a point when he was struggling with addiction, in the last years of his life.

“It was really hard for him to write music, but buying broken equipment and repairing it and putting the studio together was something he could focus his energy into,” she said.

Smith wanted New Monkey, Fisher said, to be a place where musicians could affordably access some of the best recording equipment available.

As Smith lived with addiction and other personal issues, he was mentoring younger musicians and making a lifelong impression on artists such as Jim Fairchild from Modest Mouse and Grandaddy, and Aaron Espinoza from Earlimart.

“He was so generous with his time,” Fisher said. “He would show up to Earlimart shows and stand right in the front row and make them all extremely nervous.”

Fisher said she’d braced herself for writing the last chapters of the book about the final years of Smith’s life.

In 2003, Smith died from two stab wounds in his chest — and the case is still open.

Fisher said that despite his addiction and mental health struggles, she was surprised by the many “moments of light” during his time in L.A., from his love of cooking to his mentorship of other musicians and his work on New Monkey.

Figure 8 wall

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The go-to spot for fans to remember Smith is still standing in L.A. — the Figure 8 wall in Silver Lake.

The mural of bending red and black lines famously became the cover art for the Figure 8 album.

More than two decades after his death, the wall is still alive with new memories.

“There’s always new notes from people saying, like, Elliott saved their life or quoting their favorite lyric or saying they wished he was still here,” Fisher said.

Walk through the automatic doors at the Carson Library and you’ll see on your left a 1973 painting called "Dominoes" by John Riddle.

Riddle, a prominent Black artist, has worked in the L.A. County Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum, and has been collected by Jesse Jackson and Roberta Flack.

Riddle's work was previously owned by the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company in West Adams. Over two decades, the company’s art director, William Pajaud, an L.A. artist himself, carefully collected hundreds of pieces of Black art. Each piece in the collection, Pajaud said, would be a chapter telling the story of African Americans in the U.S. The collection included oil paintings, watercolors, and sculptures in clay, wood and metal.

When Golden State Mutual Life Insurance shut down, the company sold most of the best pieces at a private auction in 2007, with some selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. L.A. County was able to acquire about 120 works, including Riddle's piece.

To keep the works accessible to the public and free of charge, county officials chose four public libraries and three community centers to show the work. Earlier this year, the county arts department created a new website with a map to make them easier to find. The locations include the Golden State Mutual historic building in West Adams, plus:
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Libraries

• Carson Library (Carson)
• A.C. Bilbrew Library (Willowbrook)
• Masao W. Satow Library (Gardena)
• View Park Bebe Moore Campbell Library (View Park/Windsor Hills)
  

Community centers:

• Curtis Tucker Behavioral Health Center Health Services (Inglewood)
• Willowbrook Senior Center Aging and Disabilities (Willowbrook)
• Mark Ridley-Thomas Behavioral Health Center Health Services (on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Medical Campus).

“All of these are county-owned spaces that are available, accessible to the public and to patrons to be able to live with the works, learn about the works, see the works, learn about the works,” said Kristin Sakoda, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.

Dominoes by John Riddle. The painting was part of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance collection but is now part of the Los Angeles County Civic Art Collection.

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As you walk past the checkout desk at the Carson Library, toward the teen section, you’ll see another remarkable piece from the county’s holdings. It’s a two-foot-tall sculpture made from one piece of mahogany. It’s called "The Embrace" by artist Elizabeth Catlett, whose work is in the collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, among many other institutions. Catlett depicted two people hugging, their faces and bodies fused together, their eyes looking at the viewer.

Detail of El Abrazo (The Embrace) by Elizabeth Catlett.

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In the auction catalogue for the Golden State Collection, Catlett wrote: “I still work figuratively, trying to express emotion through abstract form, color, line, and space. I attempt to reach out to ordinary people who have little or no experience or understanding of art principles, and extend to them what I may feel about a subject."

Ancestral Fragments by Stanley Wilson.

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Meanwhile at A.C. Bilbrew Library, north of Compton, there’s a piece by Charles White, who lived in L.A. County for decades and mentored many artists in the region. His paintings and drawings in the 1960s took on the issues of the Black Civil Rights Movement, and that led well-known Black Americans like Nat King Cole and Eartha Kitt to buy his art.

County officials are hopeful that the communities around these neighborhoods enjoy the art’s benefits, including “mental health, in our education, our youth development, our sense of inclusion and belonging,” Sakoda said.

President Donald Trump is canceling nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, the White House announced on Friday, using a rare and contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives.

Trump’s Office of Management and Budget described the funding cut as focused on “the most harmful government spending.”

Most of the cuts are focused on services for immigrants, including nonprofits that serve refugees and unaccompanied minors accused of being in the country illegally. The administration says the funds are no longer necessary because illegal border crossings have diminished considerably.

A White House press release announcing the funding rescissions notes that some of the organizations are led by people who worked in the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama.

Trump’s move was condemned by Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican in a tough re-election campaign and chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Collins said in a statement that the action came without warning or consultation. She also said she would work to address with colleagues “these illegal actions.”

“Not only is the delay itself an impoundment that was not reported to Congress, but also it is a usurpation of Congress’s appropriations powers,” Collins said. “OMB is an agency of the executive branch. It does not get to decide which programs are worth funding.”

Typically, Congress can review the president’s proposed spending cuts before they take effect. But Trump made that all but impossible by announcing them with just five days left in the federal fiscal year. The Government Accountability Office says the maneuver, known as a “pocket rescission,” is illegal.

Collins called it the latest attempt by OMB to “undermine Congress’s Constitutional power of the purse.”