Readers share their happy places for good vibes in L.A.

Photo of Los Angeles with the downtown skyline in the background. A yellow grinning happy face covers Echo Lake

By Kevinisha WalkerMultiplatform Editor, Newsletters

July 13, 2024 6:30 AM PT

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Saturday, July 13. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:

Finding your happy place in Los Angeles
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Move over, roast beef. Now there’s a pizza pop-up at the iconic Arby’s on Sunset
And here’s today’s e-newspaper

Happy places and good vibes in L.A.

Frustration is a common sentiment among Angelenos. We share it when we are sitting in traffic together, when our rents are hiked and when we cannot find any parking. So why do we live here?

While frustration may rear its head at times, there’s still so much to love about L.A. Like the near year-round sunshine, cool breezes near the coast and easy access to the great outdoors.

Before moving here five years ago, I never thought I’d develop a love for hiking and being outdoors. Back in my native New Orleans, I associate being outside with getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and humidity that made me sweat through my clothes.

Here in L.A., mosquitoes don’t bother me as much and the heat is much more bearable, especially if you get an early-morning start to a hike.

Fryman Canyon trail in Studio City became my favorite hike during the height of the pandemic. It gave me the chance to spend time in a different neighborhood as I was living in Koreatown at the time. It also challenged me to tackle steep inclines.

Ultimately, Fryman became a trail I loved going back to, to escape the frustrations of the city.

Last month, my colleague Sonaiya Kelley asked readers to share their happy place in L.A., spots they find themselves returning to again and again to find joy, escape from the grind or simply revel in comfortable nostalgia.

Reading their responses reminded me why I enjoy living in this city so much. Here are just a few:

Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook (aka the Culver City Stairs)

“It’s got a very L.A. vibe: an oasis of nature open to everyone in the middle of a very urban space. It’s an outdoor gym with so many fun characters, people who work out by covering their chest with chains or walking backward up the hill listening to hip-hop music, dragging a huge tire with their kid sitting on it. Most of all it’s got Angelenos from all walks of life, all colors and cultures, all working out on the Culver steps together. It’s an outdoor gym, nature reserve, picnic spot and has a fiesta atmosphere on weekends.”

— Thamar Linnemayr, Los Angeles

The Marvin Braude Bike Trail from Santa Monica

“I love to ride my skateboard the length of the bike path. I’ll skate as fast as I can to get a cardio workout in. If I have time, I’ll skate all the way to the Venice skate park and take a break to stretch. Then I’ll skate back to the pier to ride the swings. I’ll swing as high as I can, as fast as possible, until I’m out of breath. Then I’ll hop on my skateboard and skate back to my car. This is the only activity where I can’t help but smile the whole time.”

— Sophia White, Westwood Village

Barnsdall Art Park

“Walking up the hill to the park’s west-facing lawn has you feeling as though you’re ascending above the rest of the city, as if you’re on Mt. Olympus. Everything becomes quiet and peaceful. There’s often a decent amount of people sitting up there as well, but everyone usually has a similar sense of chillness and tranquility in the setting that it is never too distracting. Sitting on the west lawn, I like to go a bit to the corner at the bottom to be by myself — it offers the perfect sunset view in the evening. I started going there to film segments of my YouTube vlog, as I find that I’m able to get peace of mind up there and my head feels more clear when speaking candidly. It also gives me a chance to not think about filming and take time to just appreciate the city all around and below me, up on that hill.”

— Parker Green, Hollywood

The garden at the Getty Center

Mary Daily and son Jake in the Getty Garden.

“I was a part of the team that opened the Getty Center in 1997, so I feel like the place is part mine. I watched the garden being developed by artist Bob Irwin. I love how he took advantage of the natural terrain with the stream running down the hill. You can almost envision how the site must have looked when Native Americans inhabited the area. The walk down to the garden tells the story of the site’s history, and when you look out you see the great city of L.A. as it is today. You can sit in the garden and forget the stress of the city around you. You can feel part of the centuries that led to today.”

— Mary Daily, Culver City

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Column One

Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and longform journalism. Here’s a great piece from this week:

A woman looks at a neighboring property littered with vehicles and other objects.

It was their dream home until the hoarder next door turned it into a pricey prison. A next-door neighbor, described by relatives as a mentally ill hoarder, has turned some six acres of green space into an unlicensed dump with more than a hundred rusting vehicles, mounds of trash and scrap metal, and hazardous waste that has polluted the ground and a nearby streambed.

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