Where We Are
“Where We Are” is about the place we call L.A. and the often avoided conversation Angeleños have about its past and its conflicted present. I believe places matter, but their intersection with our lives is often obscured or ignored. And if we reach out in longing, we grasp mostly clichés of a city that’s always painted in the colors of smog, that’s always seen from a height, from a seat in a descending jetliner, from a freeway overpass. From there, the city looks like a collection of absences: the absence of hierarchies, of a center, of any authenticity. Finally, we’re absent, too, displaced and wrapped in reveries of substitute cities more adequate to the demands of our desire. “Where We Are” questions, argues, reflects, and in other ways challenges these Los Angeles clichés. I’m not a historian. I don’t live in the City of Los Angeles. I don’t drive. My qualifications for writing about a place I love. ~ D.J. Waldie
All In Our Places: School Desks and the Persistence of Things

All In Our Places: School Desks and the Persistence of Things

Restoring the Hall of Justice. Remembering Los Angeles.

Restoring the Hall of Justice. Remembering Los Angeles.

East Is East and West Is West

East Is East and West Is West

Time to Adapt 'Adaptive Reuse' for Downtown's Future

Time to Adapt 'Adaptive Reuse' for Downtown's Future

A Clamorous Silence from the Pulpit and in the Pews

A Clamorous Silence from the Pulpit and in the Pews

Playing House and Making a Home

Playing House and Making a Home

Maps to Dreamers' Homes: Los Angeles Geography and Image

Maps to Dreamers' Homes: Los Angeles Geography and Image

By the Gallon or By the Mile? States Look for New Highway Revenue

By the Gallon or By the Mile? States Look for New Highway Revenue

As Modern as We Could Be

As Modern as We Could Be

Golden Apples of the Sun

Golden Apples of the Sun

A House of Cards for Affordable Housing

A House of Cards for Affordable Housing

The Big Game: Los Angeles Heads Toward 'NFL Cliff'

The Big Game: Los Angeles Heads Toward 'NFL Cliff'

Happy New Year! How the Holiday Took Aim at Easterners

Happy New Year! How the Holiday Took Aim at Easterners

To Walk and Die in L.A.

To Walk and Die in L.A.

Christmas, 1955

Christmas, 1955

What Do We See When We Look At L.A. Again?

What Do We See When We Look At L.A. Again?

The Sounds of December Silence

The Sounds of December Silence

Outlawed Opossums Lack Legal Protection

Outlawed Opossums Lack Legal Protection

Crunching the Crime Numbers: Too Many Cops or Not Enough?

Crunching the Crime Numbers: Too Many Cops or Not Enough?

Up at the Old Museum: New Ways to Tell the Stories of L.A.

Up at the Old Museum: New Ways to Tell the Stories of L.A.

< Prev 1 2 3