Danielle Directo-Meston

You've always thought that cool Craftsman house at the corner never gets is due street cred. And that local art house movie theater with its Art Noveau architecture two blocks from your childhood home? You probably think it's something special, too. If you've got an eye for pre-1980s, historical-landmark-status-worthy places in your community, the City of L.A. wants to hear from (and reward!) you.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and Curatorial Assistance have extended 'Il Teatro alla Moda', their stunning exhibit of Italian fashion designers' contributions to opera costumes.

July is National Parks & Recreation Month, and all month long LAist will be featuring a hand-selected park a day to showcase just a few of the wonderful recreation spaces--big or small--in the Los Angeles area.

Didn't get enough of your L.A. Noire fix with last week's then-and-now photo gallery? Check out the map above to find the modern-day locations of the buildings and landmarks featured in last Wednesday's post. Many of the spots are conveniently located within walking distance to Red Line Metro stops.

It's 1947: Earlier this year, Elizabeth Short was found dead in Leimert Park, KTLA channel 5 made its television broadcast debut, and LAPD Det. Cole Phelps is out on the streets busting the bad guys. OK, so that last bit is fiction, but thanks to the newly-released L.A. Noire video game, Angelenos can travel back in time to visit downtown L.A., Hollywood and parts of mid-Wilshire in all their post-WWII grit and glory.

Has the absence of Mad Men and its regular mid-century goodness (though technically, it was 1964 in season four) been getting you down? Lucky for you, today's video lunch menu is going vintage. YouTube user Gerlock11’s treasure trove of vintage video footage gives a glimpse into the past with 1950s home movies of trips to Griffith Park & Observatory, Malibu (with sea lions!), Santa Monica's Ocean Park Pier, Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland, among other popular L.A. tourist spots.

The transportation committee tomorrow will discuss the Department of Transportation's report on its proposed 2010-2011 allocations for available funding from Measure R. The measure, which set aside roughly $40 billion over the next three decades for upgrades to transportation and was estimated to create over 210,000 new construction jobs, was approved by voters in November 2008.

Baristas hailing from Hawaii to Colorado to sunny L.A. brewed their hearts out last weekend to compete for the No. 1 title at the South West Regional Barista Competition. Out of the 36 competitors to perform in rounds one and two on Friday and Saturday, six went on to compete in Sunday's finals.

Cappuccinists and foodies unite! Tomorrow kicks off the 3-day Southwest Barista Competition at Hollywood's Siren Studios. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf-hosted event will find the six best baristas of the region, who will go on to compete in the national contest. The top U.S. winner will represent the country in the World Barista Championship to be held in Colombia in June.

To prepare for the upcoming March 8, 2011 elections, LAist has contacted each candidate on the City of L.A.'s Official Candidate List to participate in a Q&A. In this edition of "Meet the Candidates," we hear from Council District 4 incumbent Councilmbember Tom LaBonge (Facebook). The district includes Atwater Village, Griffith Park, Hollywood, Los Feliz, Miracle Mile, North Hollywood, Silver Lake, Studio City and Toluca Lake.