Hiking up the outdoor staircases of Hollywoodland

On Sunday my wife surprised the family with a guided hike around the old Hollywoodland neighborhood in Los Angeles. Our guide was Hargobind Singh, or Hargo for short. He met us at the corner of Hollywood and Highland and drove the four of us (plus another couple who also lived in Los Angeles) in his immaculate minivan a short distance to the Beachwood Canyon neighborhood of Hollywood.

As he drove he shared a little history of the Hollywoodand area. It was established as a housing development in early 1920s and specialized in building storybook fantasy houses: castles, Tudor homes, and the like. The Hollywood sign was erected as an advertisement for the development project and read "Hollywoodland." It was meant to stay up for just a year, but people liked it and it soon became a symbol for the motion picture industry, not just the housing development. The neighborhood has been the home of many famous folks, including Aldous Huxley, Bugsy Siegel, Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Swanson, and James M. Cain.

While in the minivan I peppered Hargo with questions about his tour company, LA Active Adventures. An amiable and calm fellow, Hargo told me he started the company about three years ago on his wife's advice. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Hargo had become the de facto tour guide for visiting relatives from Texas, and he ended up discovering a lot of hidden gems in Los Angeles. The idea behind his company is to offer tours targeted at people who live in LA and want to see things other than the usual tourist attractions like Universal Studios, Disneyland, Hollywood Boulevard, etc. Hargo told me that up until a couple of months ago, the business had been basically paying for itself. But then he offered a deal on a Groupon-like site (I can't remember which one) and 1700 people signed up for tours. Now he's very busy, conducting 2-3 tours per day.

Hargo crossed Franklin and parked near the Beachwood Market. We all got out and followed him as walked up the sidewalk at a good clip. In a couple of minutes he pointed out a staircase (top photo) and said that the hike would consist of 865 stair steps and two-and-half miles. My 13-year-old daughter and her friend groaned, but the prospect of a vigorous hike sounded great to Carla and me.

By the time we went up the first set of stairs, my thighs were burning and I was huffing and puffing, even though I consider myself to be in pretty good shape. I wondered how many steps I had just taken, but I was too embarrassed to ask Hargo. (We ended up climbing about five more staircases, most of them even longer and steeper than this one).

Hargo was knowledgeable about the neat old houses in the neighborhood. We took turns posing for photographs in front of this faux Moorish entryway, which had a wooden door encrusted with large colorful cut glass.

Further along the way, we came across this nifty little treehouse, which was built in a tree that seem to be growing on public property.

Here's an example of a storybook architecture house with a lovely curved roof.

There were plenty of toyon trees along the walk. Another name for the toyon is the Christmas berry or the Hollywood plant. The berries are edible, and can be eaten raw or boiled. Click here for a close-up of the berries. (NOTE: I removed the original photo, as several commenters said that the berries were *not* toyon, and replaced it with the photo above, which shows what Hargo told us *are* toyon berries. Again, do not use this photo as a source to identify toyon berries, especially if you plan to eat them because you could poison yourself.)

This is the most well-known staircase in the Beachwood Canyon area. Made from granite, the center divider was originally a cascading fountain that was converted into a garden after the fountain stopped working.

At the top of the staircase I noticed these copper pipes with large metal nuts on them. The sets of nuts were numbered from 1 to 8. Hargo told me what they were for, but I would like you to guess their purpose.

Did you know that the city of LA was made in India?

The Hollywood sign popped into view many times during the hike. As you can see, the weather was spectacular. It was about 70° at noon.

Hargo told us the scientific name for this plant, but I only remember the informal name: the Mercedes-Benz plant.

You can see why in this picture.

This is a fennel, or wild anise, plant. Hargo told us an interesting story about it: when Spanish missionaries came to California they brought fennel with them to grow in their medicinal gardens. They used it as a kind of air freshener, tossing it on the ground of their buildings so that when people walked on the fennel it would crush the plant and release the sweet smelling volatile oils. As a result, fennel seeds would stick to people's feet and the plant started growing in the wild. It's all over LA now.

Here's an example of a castle, one of many in the hills of Beachwood Canyon.

We got a nice look at Lake Hollywood, a reservoir and dam that William Mulholland designed in 1924. At the time the reservoir provided the city with most of its water needs. Of course back then the population of Los Angeles was 1 million people (today it's 11 million).

Welcome to Hollywoodland. Now Relax and Slow Down. After all the stairclimbing, I didn't need to be reminded to slow down. Carla asked Hargo if any of his clients ever had trouble completing the hike. He said occasionally people will tell him that they can't go any further, and he will walk back to his minivan and drive back to pick them up.

The man who lives in this house is in his 90s. He's an artist who worked and lived for many years with an Indian tribe in Alaska. According to Hargo, they gave him permission to paint this image of a beaver on his garage door.

On our way back to Hargo's minivan I saw this old ~~Toyota~~ Land Rover, which I ought to submit to Old Parked Cars.

This hike turned out to be a fantastic way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon. Hargo gave us a 50% discount ticket for a "future adventure," and we are definitely going to use it.

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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jphilby

@16 I’m with you – the Laurel & Hardy “Music Box” (937 Vendome Street) stairs are far and away the most famous … they even have their own sign now!

http://www.snowcrest.net/marnells/laurel.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZitGsc67TE
Tatsuma

I recall seeing an old film with abbott and costello where they drove a harpsichord around this part of LA ( or was it Pasadena?) in the back of a VW…..and then theycrashed into a wall or something.

Am I doing it right?
Jack

Awesome! But not one mention of the staircase made famous by Laurel and Hardy in â€œThe Music Box?â€ Or do I have my Los Angeles geography wrong and itâ€™s in Silver Lake?

Full video of the short here:
http://bit.ly/5v3ttE

Google Map location here:
http://bit.ly/gWWxE9
- Anonymous
  
  I’m pretty sure that one is in Silverlake.
  But my house sure looks great! Thanks
adamnvillani

Nice article! I love the photos and it sounds like it was a fun day. But I must make a clarification and correction.

The clarification is that the Hollywood Reservoir was indeed opened in 1924 and did indeed help store most of the City’s water, but saying it that way kind of makes it sound like the reservoir was all the City needed for its water. Actually, the City had already taken drastic steps to secure its water supply in building the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which brought in water from Owens Valley. The aqueduct opened in 1913, and Lake Hollywood is part of a system of reservoirs that helps contain the water from the aqueduct. But it’s not like the reservoir collects enough water just from its local drainage area.

Also, said water is only for the City of Los Angeles, which did indeed have about a million people in 1924, but which only has about 4 million people today. The County of Los Angeles has about 10 million people now (the urbanized area has a couple million more than that, and the metro area has several million more than that, depending on if you’re talking about the MSA or the CSA).
Anonymous

Great article, I love the beachwood area, so much history. Just a note, the vehicle is not a Toyota, it’s a Land Rover Series 1 Pickup, probably a 1957. Toyota made the Land Cruiser.
Jean-Luc Turbo

…And…if you continue to the end of Beachwood Canyon, you’ll find the Sunset Ranch Stables that let you rent horses to ride in those very Hollywood Hills. If you saw Mulholland Drive where the director meets “The Cowboy,” then you’ve seen the ranch before…
penguinchris

Now I’m sorry I never ventured up into that area when I lived in SoCal for a couple years. I knew about it, and have seen it in old films, but didn’t realize just how interesting it would be.

Regarding famous staircases, though, what makes that one the “most famous”? Surely the one from the Laurel and Hardy film with the piano is more famous?
akputney

Unrelated to Hollywoodland, but rather on Los Angeles’ Bunker Hill, here’s a suggestion for the less athletic. A ride on Angel’s Flight was one of the wonders of my childhood. As your car ascends, the other descends from the top of the very steep hill, on the same track, until the tracks part and you pass the other car in the middle of the hill. Only 25c. http://angelsflight.com/

Thanks for the fun post, Mark!
Anonymous

That’s not a “Toyota Land Rover”, that’s a Land Rover, nothing Toyota about it. My Dad had one of these (still does) and it was my first “car”.
Anonymous

Now EVERYONE’S doing it.The Music Box steps are in Silver Lake. That’s a Land Rover, but it’s not a Toyota.
Anonymous

I loved this article! Interesting, slice of life, and just plain fun to read. Thanks.
videomilitia

When I lived in Whitley Heights my girl and I would walk up to the Hollywood sign every weekend. It’s a nice quite walk in the middle of such a hectic city. People rag on LA all too often but we really do have a great mix of city and nature. Once we all get those clean electric cars the air is going to be so clean this city is really looking up.
Anonymous

That is not an “old Toyota Land Rover”. It is a Land Rover, from England, which at that vintage was made by Rover. Toyota produces Land Cruisers, never a Land Rover.
Moggie_cat

What a cool post…And what a cool tour!

I love alternative type tours like this. It’s the best way to to really learn about a place you’ve never been to.

Thanks for the report and pictures.
wgmleslie

Excellent story and photos Mark.

Thanks!
photoatomic

Mark,

the Mercedes Benz plant looks to me like Eucalyptus.
Mark Frauenfelder

OK, my berry-identifying friends, I replaced the photo of the berries with another photo. Does this photo look like toyon?
- Robert
  
  When you looked at the toyon, did it match this description (from eNature.com):
  
  One of the most beautiful native shrubs or small trees, evergreen, with short trunk, many branches, and rounded crown.
  Height: 30′ (9 m).
  Diameter: 1′ (0.3 m).
  Leaves: evergreen; 2-4″ (5-10 cm) long, 3/4-1 1/2″ (2-4 cm) wide. Oblong lance-shaped, sharply saw-toothed, thick, short-stalked. Shiny dark green above, paler beneath.
  Bark: light gray, smooth, aromatic.
  Twigs: dark red, slender; hairy when young.
  Flowers: 1/4″ (6 mm) wide; with 5 white petals; many in upright clusters 4-6″ (10-15 cm) wide; in early summer.
  Fruit: 1/4-3/8″ (6-10 mm) long; like small apples, red (sometimes yellow), mealy and sour, usually 2-seeded; maturing in autumn and remaining attached in winter.
Anonymous

For more info about stair hikes check out the Facebook page for “Los Angeles Stairstreet Advocates”
TEKNA2007

Thanks, Mark, I really enjoyed this post.
shocking

We stayed there for a photo shoot and holiday last year in a house supposedly built by Dolores Del Rio. Very close to the Wolf’s Lair. A fantastic place with a fascinating history. You’d sure get fit pretty quick living there. Highlight for me was the coyotes which we saw from the house on the nearby hillside just before dusk.

It was great after being downtown all day to come back to the canyon.You felt like you were above the smog, though probably weren’t.

Fun fact: The Beechwood shopping area was used for a scene in “The invasion of the Bodysnatchers”
jfrancis

Was it pronounced Hollywood-land, like Disneyland? Or Holly-woodland, as in Woodland Hills?
braincelljupiter

I think the Land Rover is actually a Mercedes Benz plant.
Dave Faris

Are any of those long staircases the famous one from that old Laurel & Hardy flick? 937 Vendome?
- Anonymous
  
  Those are The Music Box steps, located east of Hollywood in Silverlake on Vendome near Del Monte St…south of Sunset Blvd.
wackyxaky

The castle photo you have up is called “Wolf’s Lair.” It was recently purchased by Moby.

Before someone put up the copper pipes with bolts on them, there were piles of pebbles to keep track of exercise!

Most importantly, Beachwood canyon is very public transit friendly. A dash bus goes from the Hollywood/Vine subway stop all the way up to the Beachwood Market/Coffee Shop. From there you can walk around on the historic stairs, or you can continue on Beachwood Drive to Sunset Ranch and the Griffith Park trails that lead up to the Hollywood Sign.
- deckard68
  
  The Wolf’s Lair house (second pic) purchased by Moby was indirectly in the news last week (at least I think he’s referring to it): http://www.chordstrike.com/2011/02/stranger-than-fiction-friday-moby-sooths-tripper.html
Anonymous

this is the link i’m going to send all asinine New Yorkers the next time they question my decision to move to Hollywood
bunaen

What a wonderful article. It reminded me of the wonder that struck me when I first spotted the clear geodesic dome that used to be up on Durand. I found it while exploring the area on my bike as a 12 year old kid. It was there in the sixties. The dome was constructed of heavy plastic sheets. Inside the dome was a flat-decked bungalow that I surmised was the bedroom. The deck was used as the living room, as it seemed there was a party there every night.

The residents were said to be very tanned. It was torn down because of problems with heat and condensation, I was told.

Another interesting stairway is the one nearby that leads to a Japanese palace. When I discovered it as a kid in the sixties, it was abandoned and all overgrown with vegetation. I saw these stone steps ascending up into the growth, and curious, I followed them up. Imagine my astonishment to find a giant Japanese palace in ruins at the top of the hill!

I wonder if it is still there.
- GlenBlank
  
  Another interesting stairway is the one nearby that leads to a Japanese palace. [...] I wonder if it is still there.
  
  It sounds like you might be describing the stairway to the Bernheimer brothers’ estate, built to house their fabulous Japanese art collections in 1911. It was a replica of a Japanese palace in the Yamashiro mountains, and they surrounded it with stunning Japanese gardens and landscaping.
  
  It went through a series of owners and fell into disrepair, its gardens vandalized and uprooted during WWII.
  
  It was almost demolished for a condo complex, but the new owner recognized its underlying beauty and history, and spent twenty years restoring it.
  
  Today, it operates as the Yamashiro restaurant, overlooking Hollywood. The restaurant’s web site has a very nice page about its history.
  
  In the summer, its parking lot overlooking Hollywood hosts a weekly Farmers’ Market with the best view of any Farmers’ Market in the city.
  
  There’s also a small boutique hotel on the property, as well as the Naikan House, possibly the most amazing rental property in all of Hollywood, which was once the temple that the Bernheimers built for the workers who built their castle.
  
  So, yes, it’s still there. :-) It’s one of the great hidden treasures of Hollywood.
  - bunaen
    
    That must be the place.
    
    Thanks for the link to the Naikan House. The website has to rank up there with the most irritating ever, but I want to book a room for sure!
Homegrown Evolution

Definitely Heteromeles arbutifolia (toyon). I’ve got one just outside my window.
bklynchris

Is that the house from the movie, “The Long Goodbye” in the second photo? I think it was the one with the naked sylphs lolling about?
- Anonymous
  
  The house with the lovely topless ladies from The Long Goodbye is on Hightower Drive – at the top of the high tower. Very near the Hollywood Bowl. It’s hard not to think of those free-lovin’ babes when you see a random home perched on a hill.
Danielle D.

See, people really do walk in L.A.! We’re just too busy looking at the road from inside our cars to see them. Thanks for sharing this awesome tour, I’m putting this on my must-do-before-I-move-away-from-L.A. list.
Anonymous

Mark – yup, that photo from your post #36 is Heteromeles arbutifolia.
mizhomegrown

Mark, I’ll back you on that toyon ID. Look like it to me. We rarely see true holly (ilex) in LA. It’s too warm here, and soil too alkaline, for its tastes. That’s why we adopted toyon as our holly. In my experience, toyon berries are best eaten dried, and mixed with more tasty stuff, because they’re pretty bland. But yes, if you get lost hiking in the canyons, on the stair-street neighborhoods, you can survive on them. ;)

Sounds like a great tour! Love the stair counters.
GlenBlank

Is that the house from the movie, “The Long Goodbye” in the second photo? I think it was the one with the naked sylphs lolling about?

I see someone beat me to it, but no, those houses are at the tip of Hightower Drive, west of Highland, just a bit north of Grauman’s Chinese. Here’s a Google Maps Street View.

The tower is an elevator. Purchasing a home at the top gets you membership in the Hightower Elevator Association, which includes a key to the elevator. (Good thing, too, since there’s no parking up top.)

The Hightower complex also figures heavily in Kenneth Branagh’s Dead Again. (It’s been in quite a few movies, actually; but Dead Again and The Long Goodbye are the two everyone remembers.)
Anonymous

I know what I’m hoping to do during my post San Diego Comic-Con visit in LA!
Anonymous

I used to live on Ceanothus in Calabasas, but I didn’t see any flowers
Anonymous

PS. Here is a great layman’s explanation for why using common names to describe plants is not a good idea:

http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/plant%20names.htm
Anonymous

@mizhomegrown – The leaves in Mark’s photo are too round and most importantly they are lacking the minute toothed edge found on Heteromeles arbutifolia.

Here is a good shot of the berries and leaves, showing the distinct toothed edge to the leaves:

http://www.smmtc.org/plantpix/pix_Toyon_02_closeup_berries.jpg
Anonymous

Man this photo essay hit the spot — brought up a wave of memories of the best aspects of LA to groove on. I give you one token of anonymous gratitude for making the wide web’s world a better place.
Howlsthunder

Wow – this is the sort of tour I’d want to go on in any major city! I’m not much into theme parks myself; I think it’s the little secret jewels hidden away of the sort Hargo seems to show that I find interesting. Thanks for sharing!

Side note – it hadn’t occurred to me until just now how strange it is to hear indigenous Alaskans referred to as “indians”. I am a 4th generation (non-native) Alaskan and the first peoples here are always referred to as “Native” when using a blanket descriptor. “Indian” sounds so backward and ‘quaint’ to my ears when applied to an Alaskan people. I myself am not an expert but several of my friends are Native and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were a tad disgruntled being called “indian”. Not to nitpick or anything, just that it always fascinates me to hear or see outside perspectives on the place I live that I also sometimes take for granted. :)
Anonymous

I was very fortunate to have once been a neighbour of Hargo and thanks to him discovered as well as saw places I would have never have seen nor found on any tourist map.
After reading your amazing insightful article I realise I need to be prepared and will start to train a little before I return to LA to book Hargo’s stairs and Hollywood sign trek :-)
Thank you too for the beautiful photographs.

Nuria – Lanzarote, Canary Islands
Anonymous

The stairs discussed in this article are but a few of the many in the Los Angeles area. A fantastic and comprehensive book about Los Angeles’ many stairs was published last year by local author and journalist Charles Fleming, called (not surprising) “Secret Stairs”. Fleming organizes and leads a monthly group walk on one of the many suggested routes he outlines in his book. You can find more at: http://www.secretstairs-la.com/welcome.html
andigopow

The last time my wife and I were in LA we wanted to drive up, as close as we could, to the Hollywood sign. We passed the “entrance” of Hollywoodland (I remember an uneven four-way intersection with a small wooden sign with lettering carved in a way that made me think of Disney [maybe blue gothic on white?]) but sadly it was too dark to park and walk around. We drove around the twisty roads for a bit before giving up even finding the Hollywood sign.

I think they turn the sign’s lights out at night and, not being from the area, I had no idea where anything was. I really love the city and am eager to go back. I think I’ll hire Hargo to help me do it the right way the next time.

I love L.A. and hope one day to be able to afford living there with my wife and dogs.

tl;dr: drove around Hollywoodland; thought it was really neat
- GlenBlank
  
  I think they turn the sign’s lights out at night
  
  The present-day sign doesn’t have lights.
  
  The original did – along with a small cabin for a caretaker who lived under the sign, whose job was to replace bulbs when they burned out. It blinked out “HOLLY”-”WOOD”-”LAND” in sequence, punctuated by the 35-foot diameter circular “eye catcher” dot located further down the slope.
  
  When the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce took over maintenance of the sign in 1949, it quit maintaining the lights. The Chamber also replaced the “H”, which had toppled due to a landslide, and removed the “LAND” portion of the sign.
  
  The dilapidated original sign was torn down and replaced with a new, slightly smaller replica in the late ’70s. The new sign has no lights (though multi-color computer-controlled lighting was temporarily rigged for the New Year 2000 celebration).
Anonymous

I loved this tour of my hood–and not just because I heard you trooping up the stairs by my house! Regarding toyon, the first picture is not it–it looks like pyrocanthus, though the leaves look like camelia leaves!–but the second is. You can see more pictures on my site, http://www.underthehollywoodsign.wordpress.com under “The Hills Are Alive with California Holly.”

–Hope Anderson
Writer/Director/Producer
“Under the Hollywood Sign”
http://www.underthehollywoodsign.com
Anonymous

What a fascinating account and beautiful photos as well. If I get to L.A. I’ll definitely take this tour. My city also has a series of staircases, but alas, Cincinnati pales in comparison to Los Angeles in every way.
Teller

Great daytrip.
Bet Hargo’s calves could withstand a little ‘ol cockspur.
David B

Sounds like a fun time. Never knew the sign used to read “Hollywoodland.”
AmyGee

This is so fascinating and lovely and right at the top of my Things To Do If I’m Ever In L.A. list.
Also, the brilliant blue sky and that LIGHT! I’ve been living in central europe for 12 years now ( we spend a lot of time looking up at a sky seemingly made out of a continuous blanket of dryer lint) and I could just about cry, it’s so wonderful.
- Anonymous
  
  I agree! sunlight in LA is different: it’s bright but not harsh!
  Could it be one of the reasons for it being the center of movie industry? (just guessing here, there’s probably a far better reason why, but I’m not in the google/wiki mood at the moment)
  - Anonymous
    
    Yes–in the early silent era, all films were shot outdoors using natural light. (The indoor scenes were shot outdoors using open sets.)The other reason the industry moved here was for year-round production. For several years, companies would come here in the winter months only, but in 1911 D.W. Griffith relocated here permanently, and others followed.
Anonymous

Your Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) shot is actually Ilex, or Holly.

I can’t tell exactly what your white flower is but it might be Ceanothus.
Chris Tucker

I had known the story behind the “Hollywood” sign, but never knew that the houses were actually built!

I can’t help but think that “Hollywoodland” and the people that live there must be rather more interesting than the cookie cutter housing tracts/people in the LA/Hollywood area.

Looks like a cool place to live.

My almost 60 year old knees could do without all those steps, though.
IronEdithKidd

There is actually something worth seeing in LA. I would’ve never known.

Thanks for sharing, Mark.
Anonymous

Ooh I know! The copper pipes are used for doing base-8 arithmetic!
Anonymous

Well that just made we want to go and look up the Music Box steps on Street View. Talk about depressing.
humblefactory

Using disclaimers when identifying edibles is a good safety technique online. In this case, Mark, your instincts were correct. The photo you show is almost definitely a holly (not all varieties, or parts of the bush have the characteristic spikey leaves) and almost certainly poisonous. Toyon is actually (like Ginko) the only species in its genus, but it is in the rose family, like apples and mountain ash. You can identify it by looking for toothed leaves, and orange-red berries in a bunch originating from a common stem:
http://images.bradspictures.com/bpictures/p/photo_of_a_toyon_tree-10529.jpg
cha0tic

Damn you Atlantic Ocean and the width of the North American continent. This looks like my sort of ‘Tourist’ attraction. Another thing to add to my ‘When I win the lottery’ list.

I guess that the nuts are for somebody to keep track of their exercise, how many times they’ve been up and down the stairs. As there are 3 sets, maybe 3 different people. The person with 12 nuts must be fitter ;)
- Mark Frauenfelder
  
  “I guess that the nuts are for somebody to keep track of their exercise, how many times they’ve been up and down the stairs.”
  
  Yes!
  - Anonymous
    
    How dissapointing. I thought it was how many fountian pools you could fly past on your skateboard before you landed.
Robert

HA HA HA!!! Mark, I love you and I loved your book, but I burst out laughing when I read, “While in the minivan I peppered Hargo with questions about his tour company…” Imagine, here’s Hargo going on about the history of the Hollywood sign and you’re like, “Right, never mind all that, we’re not interested in that… where’d you come from, hey? Where’d you get the name for your company?” and the other couple is shifting about uncomfortably as this wild-haired guy wants to know about how’d Groupon work out for Hargo! So when the minivan stops, the couple is like, “Quick, let’s run away up those stairs, it can’t be worse than in here.”

Sorry, I’m feeling a bit punchy. Good photo essay, Mark, but hang on a bit, how are your chickens doing? Let’s hear about your chickens!
Anonymous

The first set of stairs pictured is the one used in Invasion of the Body Snatchers….
Random_Tangent

You might like this book that an officemate got in our Secret Santa this year. ‘Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Hidden Staircases of Los Angeles.’ I didn’t even know we were known for secret staircases, historic or otherwise.

http://amzn.to/f4hhPA
Anonymous

my guess is lap counters.
Anonymous

Pittsburgh similarly has lost of stairs, some of which show up on maps as streets: http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/about_pittsburgh/a/steps.htm

janet
Anonymous

You must mean Toyota Land CRUISER, no? :)

The steps and the slopes remind me of Perugia, Italy. I was in my early 40s when I was there, in decent shape, and hunched-over elderly women were casually sailing past me heading upslope. Live in a place like that, and you’re fit for life.
- RyanH
  
  The steps and the slopes remind me of Perugia, Italy. I was in my early 40s when I was there, in decent shape, and hunched-over elderly women were casually sailing past me heading upslope. Live in a place like that, and you’re fit for life.
  
  It’s actually the reason that so much of the world is in better shape than North America. They do live like that (or at least more so), even in big cities like London or Paris where walkability is designed in.
Jimbo

I love this part of town. I play ultimate frisbee at the park right near Lake Hollywood just below the sign. My uncle lives a hop and a skip away and I love driving to his place on the windy roads with all the houses from the teens and ’20s. I don’t get why the rich live in the cesspools of Beverly Hills and Malibu.

Beachwood Canyon, Los Feliz, Ferndell and the like are the best neighborhoods in the city.