SoCalers are a famously centered people, or so pop culture tells us, what with our alleged navel-gazery and looking-within ways.
Which means we'd never guffaw in anyone's face -- we're too holistically minded for such snarky behavior -- if anyone were to claim that A) LA will always be a car city and B) our megalopolis possesses zero-zilcho small-town charm.
A) Not correct and B) wrongo. Look to Discover Los Angeles and the many car-free itineraries the organization has developed since unveiling the free, everybody-use-this program called Car Free LA in 2013.
It was Earth Day 2013, in fact, when the hey-everybody-please-walk-Metro-bike itinerary program was first revealed, and there've been multiple reveals since. Car-free day-outs in San Pedro, Hollywood, and Marina del Rey dot the program's nicely robust HQ page.
The next reveal? It's Culver City, and just in time for Earth Day 2015. The newest of the no-auto-required itineraries gives the local love to such time-tested stalwarts as The Culver Hotel, Honey's Kettle, the Helms Bakery District, and Sony Pictures Studios, as well as newer gems like The Wallace and Cognoscenti Coffee.
Oh, and hello, Museum of Jurassic Technology. You and your mysterious, merry ways made the cut, too. May everyone get to know the Deprong Mori, an example we won't fully explain so the curious will seek it out behind your heavy and slightly foreboding front door.
You don't need to do everything on the list, dear urban explorers. Picking and choosing is fine. And while the itinerary is gratis, you'll need cash if you want coffee, fried chicken, a tour at Sony, and such. And a Metro card or coinage, if you go Metro.
The Scene
Want to find new things to do in Los Angeles? The Scene's lifestyle stories have you covered. Here's your go-to source on where the fun is across SoCal and for the weekend.
We're still not guffawing, in anyone's face, but, really, when will people get off the whole "you guys drive a lot ha ha?" thing? Yes, LA has quite the car culture, and a pretty extraordinary one at that, but claiming that the city's many cultural gifts cannot be accessed in ways beyond the automotive is to admit you don't know LA from a hill of skyscrapers.
Okay, maybe we will guffaw, a little. A centered society does have a funny bone, right? Of course.
Also, props to you, Discover Los Angeles. Don't let anyone very say you're but a bureau reserved solely for visitors. What would adventuresome locals do without you and your make-our-lives-easier ways?
