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What is that tiny bridge on the 210 near Marengo?

By Chris Nichols — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:18:00 GMT

Image courtesy of wikipedia.org

In 1972, after Pasadena residents complained about highway noise and visual pollution, parts of the 210 were built below grade—city streets were scooped out to create a sunken section of freeway. The once underground telephone and water lines were kept at their original level, however, and encased in a 94-inch-wide span of concrete that stretched over the freeway. The solution may not be pretty, but it was cheaper than digging up and relocating all those lines.

There’s a secured area on Cahuenga Boulevard off the 101. What’s inside?

By Chris Nichols — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 16:50:00 GMT

Photograph courtesy lacity.org

Think of it as the holding pen for the city’s greenery. The Bureau of Street Services operates this 2.5-acre yard as a temporary storage spot for landscaping materials and irrigation supplies intended to beautify our streets. Here’s to more flower power!

Who painted green polka dots on the pavement at Sunset and Griffith Park boulevards?

By Chris Nichols — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Photograph courtesy losangeles.urbdezine.com

A few chic planters and some street paint transformed this tiny block into a place to play and stroll. The County Health Department and the CDC funded the project to get people out of their cars and into Sunset Triangle Park. The polka dots come courtesy of Rios Clementi Hale Studios, the designers behind the massive new Civic Center park about to open downtown.

I was at the new Maywood Riverfront park, and there was a huge golden statue of an important-looking fellow. Who is he?

By Chris Nichols — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:30:00 GMT

Photograph courtesy biography.com

The 15-foot-tall monument honors Rubén Darío, “the most famous poet of the last thousand years,” according to über-fan German Peña. The Nicaraguan writer, who died in 1916, never visited Maywood, but Peña says four years ago he and friends (including then-mayor Felipe Aguirre) raised $70,000 to build the tribute. In 2010, the FBI began investigating Aguirre for reportedly steering funds to pet projects. Just saying…

Why is there a male mannequin sitting on a can on La Cienega, just north of Beverly?

By Chris Nichols — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:24:00 GMT

Photograph courtesy Jeremy Brooks/flickr

He was “born” in the Philippines, stands five feet tall, and weighs 75 pounds. The mass-produced fiberglass sculpture was perched in front of Sherman McNulty Framing to attract customers—and the gimmick appears to have worked. Named “Tagger,” the statue comes with a can of spray paint, a respirator, and a hoodie and recently sold for $500. He’s since been replaced by another fiberglass human, this one a blond surfer girl, and a too-realistic pink pig.

I live under the LAX flight path, and my car is covered with disgusting brown spots. Is this plane gunk?

By Chris Nichols — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:16:00 GMT

Illustration by Jason Schneider

Turns out that the crud isn’t from passing airplanes. It’s from feasting bees. I forwarded the Ziploc bag full of tiny brown flakes you mailed me to Lawrence Wayne at Forensic Analytical Laboratories. He examined them under an electron microscope and determined the goop to be bee poop. He also pinned down exactly what the insects are eating: dandelion, eucalyptus, and pine pollen. Sounds like a boost they’d sell at Jamba Juice.

There’s a Victorian building in Canoga Park that I heard was made from pieces of Bunker Hill mansions. What’s the story?

By Chris Nichols — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:54:00 GMT

Photograph courtesy You-Are-Here

Only in L.A. can you get your oil changed—at MJ’s Auto Repair—in the shadow of a 75-foot-tall Queen Anne confection. Master carpenter Dennis Platt spent years scavenging pieces from demolished Victorian houses. In 1981, he put some to use in that crazy office building on Sherman Way, incorporating windows, staircases, and balustrades from his stash. Most weren’t salvaged at Bunker Hill but from the Little Sisters of the Poor rest home at 1st and Mott streets in Boyle Heights.

Why did I see men dragging chains on broom handles across the Vincent Thomas Bridge?

By Chris Nichols — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Photograph courtesy flickr/sherrymain

Those were engineers trying to identify cracks in the San Pedro bridge’s deck. They perform the process, called “chaining” or “sounding,” twice a year. Good pavement sounds bright; roads in need of repair emit a hollow thud, like a thumped melon.

Driving on Ventura in Sherman Oaks, I’ve seen lines of guys waiting to get into a store called Primitive. What’s in there?

By Chris Nichols — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:06:00 GMT

Photograph courtesy Primitive Shoes

Sneaker pimps rush to this skatewear shop when fancy kicks drop. Co-owned by Nike-sponsored professional skateboarder Paul “P-Rod” Rodriguez III, son of actor-comedian Paul Rodriguez, Primitive stocks more than 200 pairs of shoes. When the store tweets about a new limited edition, collectors converge. I was so chagrined when I showed up in sensible Rockports that I bought a beanie to hide under.

I was told there was a “Woman’s Building” near downtown L.A. What do women do there?

By Chris Nichols — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:27:00 GMT

Photograph courtesy collections.otis.edu.jpg

Two L.A. buildings went by that name. Fed up with being left out of the burgeoning L.A. art scene, artists Judy Chicago, Arlene Raven, and Sheila de Bretteville opened the downtown women’s center in 1973 at the former Chouinard Art Institute near MacArthur Park. Galleries, classrooms, and performance spaces dedicated to women thrived. A couple of years later they moved to a brick building on Spring Street until the money ran dry in 1991. The building now houses art studios for rent. Relive the time at Doin’ It In Public: Feminism and Art at the Women’s Building, an exhibit at Otis College of Art and Design through February 22.