Topline:
Almost every Angeleno has a personal vendetta against a particular parking lot or garage in the greater L.A. area.
Why it matters: But now, in a truly L.A. twist on March Madness, you can help crown the worst of the worst in a competition run by Americana at Brand Memes on Instagram.
Why now: The competition kicks off Saturday with 42 lots and garages entered.
Read more ...about the competitors and how to participate.
Almost every Angeleno has a personal vendetta against a particular parking lot or garage in the greater L.A. area.
Whether you’ve spent hours snaking out of Dodger Stadium on game day, lugged your groceries blocks away from the store, or questioned your sanity turning off Pacific Coast Highway — parking here can be a uniquely frustrating experience.
But now, in a truly L.A. twist on March Madness, you can help crown the worst of the worst in a competition run by Americana at Brand Memes on Instagram.
The anonymous account holder, who goes by Mr. Glen Dale, told LAist that in a city where so many of us are conditioned to be in our cars, those coveted spots can feel like an unavoidable competition.
“One of my, like, top five things to complain about is parking,” he said. “And I’m sure a lot of Angelenos also agree with that.”
The competition kicks off Saturday with 42 lots and garages entered.
Each day at 11 a.m., @americanaatbrandmemes will post the competitors on Instagram with a poll attached.
The poll will open for 24 hours, with the winner moving onto the next round to face off against the others.
To complete the lineup, Mr. Glen Dale started with a list of his personal worst before turning to his followers for some suggestions.
“The Beverly Connection was one that I got a lot,” he said. “ But last time I was there, it was like, a $5 flat fee, there is no free parking, and I was like I don't need to go to the Target that bad, so I've never gone inside that one.”
However, there is also a wild card option. So if you’d like to enter another lot or garage, drop a comment that includes “WILD CARD: (your suggestion).”
Those comments with the most likes will advance to that bracket in the “rest” division. Fun, healthy debates are highly encouraged.
So far, the popular wild card comments include all of Koreatown, the Pub at Golden Road in Atwater Village, the In-N-Out on Harvey Drive in Glendale, and Portos in Burbank.
Koreatown and West Hollywood almost made the list, but Mr. Glen Dale felt they didn’t fit the format and would buzz through the rest of the competition. Americana at Brand Memes did put up an Instagram poll on Wednesday asking if Koreatown should be added to the bracket, and a majority of the votes were for the “Yes! CHAOS!” option.
He also considered adding the lot in the middle of LAX, but a similar poll voted that if you park there, “that’s your fault.”
The first section pits some of L.A.’s most iconic parking lots against each other.
There’s nothing quite like struggling for a spot along with thousands of your neighbors. Parking can be so brutal, even the newest Laker Luka Dončić knew it could be a way into fans' hearts.
Just got free parking right across the arena lol shoutout Luka!!! Incredible stuff 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/Nq5mVZkCx3
— GoldenKnight (@GoldenKnightGFX) February 26, 2025
The options include:
But Mr. Glen Dale had high praise for the Hollywood Bowl, which he called the “gold standard” of balancing public transit access and parking.
Trader Joe’s in Silver Lake is an early favorite to win the division.
At least @mariah.michael seems to think so.
“I’m telling you right now it’s Trader Joe’s in Silver Lake,” they wrote in an Instagram comment. “It is a place where cars and souls are destroyed.”
The TJ’s on Hyperion Avenue can be challenging with turning cars poking out and blocking the busy intersection.
Shopper Jamie Solomon told LAist it’s never a good time to park in the lot as she pushed her cart full of groceries further down the street.
“ Sometimes I think I can come in the middle of the weekday, but it's always chaotic,” she said. “Getting in and out always gives me anxiety that I'm going to get into a car accident.”
But are some of the L.A. locations worse than Grand Central Market, Whole Foods, Ralphs, AND Costco?
The options are:
At the Griffith Observatory, Finn Wittrock was hiking down the hill back to his car with his son Jude on his back. Wittrock told LAist he’s not sure why the signs direct you to park “like a mile away” when there’s spaces available closer.
“ But I see other people just disobeying the sign and driving in,” he said.
The brackets include:
Although the Griffith Observatory can be a bit of a work out, especially with Tuesday’s unusually warm winter weather, Wittrock said the Glendale Galleria parking garage takes the cake.
“ The Americana one they kind of got figured out,” he said. “But that old one is…I've gotten so many near fender benders in that one.”
Both the Glendale Galleria and The Americana can go head to head in the mall division if the voters so choose.
But they have tough competition.
The options include:
For showrunner Mr. Glen Dale, The Bloc is the worst of the worst in L.A.
“ You have to go up that crazy spinning entrance … have to go to the seventh or sixth floor,” he said. “ And God forbid, if that level is like full, you have to exit the whole thing, go down to reenter, to go up to another level. It's just so badly planned … and on top of that, it's expensive.”
Topline:
A bipartisan bill aimed at protecting pets during disasters has been introduced in Congress, with a Southern California representative citing the rescue efforts of local organizations during last year’s L.A.-area fires.
Why it matters: The PETSAFE Act of 2026 — which stands for Providing Essential Temporary Shelter Assistance For Emergencies — would expand the use of emergency management funds so local governments can plan for evacuations that move animals to safety, as well as provide veterinary care and rescue equipment during disasters.
Why now: Rep. Judy Chu, a Democrat who represents Pasadena and Altadena in the 28th Congressional District, helped introduce the bill earlier this month with several House of Representatives colleagues, including Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida and Democrat Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada. Chu told LAist she’ll never forget seeing the cats, dogs and other animals with burned feet and singed fur who were being cared for by Pasadena Humane in the aftermath.on Fire
A bipartisan bill aimed at protecting pets during disasters has been introduced in Congress, with a Southern California representative citing the rescue efforts of local organizations during last year’s L.A.-area fires.
The PETSAFE Act of 2026 — which stands for Providing Essential Temporary Shelter Assistance For Emergencies — would expand the use of emergency management funds so local governments can plan for evacuations that move animals to safety, as well as provide veterinary care and rescue equipment during disasters.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) helped introduce the bill earlier this month with several House of Representatives colleagues, including Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida and Democrat Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada.
Chu, who represents Pasadena and Altadena in the 28th Congressional District, said when the Eaton Fire tore through her district, many families delayed evacuations because they couldn’t bear to leave their pets behind.
She told LAist she’ll never forget seeing the cats, dogs and other animals with burned feet and singed fur who were being cared for by Pasadena Humane in the aftermath.
“But to think, if there is even one more thing we could do to keep our precious pets safe, wouldn't we want to do that?” Chu said. “So this PETSAFE Act could go a long way towards making sure that our loved pets can indeed survive a disaster.”
The PETSAFE Act now has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The bill would amend the Emergency Management Performance Grant program to increase the federal cost share for certain animal-related preparedness activities from 50% to 90%.
Supporters say this would lower barriers and make it more affordable for communities to roll out emergency protection plans for people and pets.
Specifically, the PETSAFE Act would allow state, local and tribal governments to use grant money awarded by FEMA toward pet supplies, crates, veterinary equipment, emergency generators and training, among others.
Pet owners whose homes are under disaster-related evacuation orders can be faced with an “impossible choice” — leaving their pets behind or staying home with them, which risks the owner’s own safety and complicates rescue efforts for first responders, according to Chu’s office.
The bill aims to address the challenges pet owners and first responders face without authorizing new federal spending, according to Mast’s office.
Chu said local shelters, including Pasadena Humane, and communities across California stepped up to care for all kinds of animals during the Eaton Fire, which ignited in January 2025.
Pasadena Humane helped more than 1,500 pets and wildlife during the fire and in the aftermath by providing shelter, medical care and emergency resources.
A horse was housed in the organization’s garage when Chris Ramon, Pasadena Humane’s president and CEO, ran into its owner walking down Raymond Avenue for miles.
“Part of me likes to think that this won’t happen again,” Ramon told LAist last month. “But the realist in me realizes … disaster preparedness is something that just is an ongoing conversation for us at Pasadena Humane.”
Chu also cited the work of the ASPCA, which helped more than 530 animals during the Eaton Fire, including goats, parakeets, pigs and a gecko, according to the organization.
She said local organizations did “tremendous” work and “lovingly cared for” the rush of animals affected by the fire.
“But what we would want to do is to make sure that there is an even better system for animal evacuation and ways to ensure that pets could be safe,” Chu said, adding that would relieve the burden on places like Pasadena Humane.
This is not the first time last year’s fires have led to new legislation focused on protecting pets during emergencies.
A new state law known as the FOUND Act, which went into effect Jan. 1, was inspired by Oreo the Pomeranian, who reunited with its Pacific Palisades owner in an emotional, viral video during the Palisades Fire.
The law requires cities and counties to include procedures for rescuing pets during mandatory evacuations in their next emergency plans, which need to be updated every five years to qualify for FEMA assistance.
Topline:
Citing the partial government shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security announced Sunday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would pause non-emergency work. The move could put a freeze on reimbursements for the ongoing Eaton and Palisades fire recovery efforts.
The background: Under the public assistance program, FEMA can reimburse 75% or more of the costs of debris removal, infrastructure projects and other work in disaster areas like Altadena and Palisades. But on Sunday, the DHS said FEMA will scale back to life-saving operations only effective this week.
LA County responds: In a statement, the L.A. County Office of Emergency Management called the measures “unprecedented,” “frustrating” and “highly disappointing.” The county said the success of the firestorm recovery is dependent on timely reimbursement for ongoing and completed work.
“Delays in the administration of the FEMA Public Assistance Program affect the restoration of our communities and impact ongoing hazard mitigation for future hazards and disasters,” L.A. County OEM said in the statement.
Go deeper… on how Los Angeles is recovering from the 2025 January fires.
Topline:
The graffiti-covered skyscrapers in downtown L.A. have a potential new owner. On Monday, a bankruptcy court approved KPC Group and Lendlease’s $470 million bid for the property.
What we know: KPC Group owns a network of eight healthcare facilities across Southern California. The California-based development company has stakes in the commercial, hospitality and healthcare sectors. Australia-based Lendlease is the original contractor for the property.
Why it matters: The troubled buildings, officially called Oceanwide Plaza, are hard to miss. The structures went viral in 2024 for their colorful graffiti. After widespread attention, the city of Los Angeles also had to spend millions to secure the property.
How did we get here? Construction on the buildings stopped in 2019 after money troubles, and the developer — Oceanside Holdings — was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2024.
Officials say: Dr. Kali P. Chaudhuri, founder and chairman of the KPC Group, said in a statement that the purchase marks a milestone in improving that part of downtown. “We are eager to work in partnership with the City of Los Angeles and the Downtown community to move quickly on what is truly a keystone project for Downtown revitalization and that will deliver economic benefits across the region,” he said.
What’s next? The purchase is subject to final court approval, which officials expect sometime this year.
Dig deeper … LA Towers Graffiti: Art Or Vandalism?
Topline:
The U.S. Supreme Court will not review a lower court’s ruling that Huntington Beach has to comply with state housing mandates.
The backstory: The Orange County beach city filed suit against California in 2023 in an effort to fight the state's order to make way for 40,000 new homes. Last year, a federal appeals court ruled against the city.
Huntington Beach’s argument: The city had argued that since it’s a charter city, which gives it some autonomy from the state, it should not have to comply with state housing law. The Ninth Circuit didn’t buy that argument, and now, the Supreme Court has declined to review that decision. LAist has reached out to the city for a response to the high court’s decision.
State applauds decision: In response to the decision, state Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement: “After years of meritless resistance that has wasted taxpayer dollars, Huntington Beach can no longer claim that the U.S. Constitution is on its side. It is not.”
What’s next? Huntington Beach has also lost its housing battle in state court. The city is now facing a looming court-imposed deadline in mid-April to zone for 13,368 new homes. Until then, the city’s authority to approve or deny local changes to land use is restricted.
