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Photos: Runyon Canyon Is Back And It's More Glorious Than Ever
Hikers, joggers, and adventurers rejoice! Runyon Canyon is back in commission after being closed for four months.
The closure was required for city workers to fix an old, leaky (but vital) water pipe. Now, not only is the pipe fixed, but additional upgrades have also been added to the park. They include a repaved trail that's covered in new, reflective asphalt that will help keep runners cool. Also, new basins were installed to help filter and capture rain water, according to Curbed LA.
Our photographer went out there on Thursday morning to take in the sun and snap some pictures. While she ran into plenty of happy joggers, she also encountered some mixed opinions about the upgrades.
"I don't like the paved road. Looks a bit like main street Disneyland," said park goer David M. Ireland. "You expect to see Mickey Mouse and Goofy,"
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Jogger Greg Baskin had a different take: "It wasn't paved before and now it is much nicer to run up. We come here with our workout club every week and it is a big improvement from before."
Bad or good, it seems like residents can all agree that more effort should be put into our city's park spaces. L.A. is, after all, considered to be "park poor." So it stands to reason that we should cultivate the parks we do have. Bob Patrick, a resident of Hollywood, said that that improvements at Runyon Canyon have been overdue:
I've been living up here for thirty years and that's before the internet and social media. [Runyon Canyon] used to be quiet and nobody knew about it. When I moved in, I could walk up here by myself. With the advent of the internet and social media, the popularity of this place kind of mushroomed and they don't have the infrastructure to support it, which is kind of consistent with everything in Los Angeles.
Not among the upgrades is the controversial basketball court that ultimately never came to fruition. As you can see in one of the photos, a skateboarder made good use of the incomplete space.
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