Los Angeles (Episode 2) (4 cents)

5:30 p.m. in Los Angeles.

Downtown L.A. is a real mix. Part of it is brand spanking new, with fifty story office towers, condominiums and shops. The other part has been falling apart for half a century and is populated largely by people who probably sleep outside of, rather than inside of, the crumbling buildings. With a little money, older downtown L.A. could be pretty spiffy, and the money is, not surprisingly coming in now, and you can expect to see a lot of restoration and infill construction over the next decade. The financial issue is in part earthquake retrofitting, which is very expensive, code required, and in demand by those can afford higher rents and sale prices. But where will the homeless (an eclectic mix of Latinos, Anglos, and African Americans, all of whom look like that had expected better days) go? No one has that answer, of course.

Not that there is nothing in the old buildings. There is still a very extensive jewelry district and a lot of places you would not want to be caught dead eating in. I must admit that I did not see one appealing shop, outside of the several blocks of jewelry stores. And, although the stores weren't open at about 8 this morning, I didn't see any hasidim walking the streets.

The Los Angeles library (old and new buildings joined together) is a treat. It is clean and inviting, with a cafe and open stacks and escalators and glass views in all directions. Once again, it absolutely shames Washington DC, which has no excuse (none!) for what it calls a library. There are two small exhibit places in the library. One has an exhibit of old travel posters (you know, from the 20s and 30s) from all over the world (including ship lines and railways). I think that should be my next collection.

The other exhibit is a small exhibit of the library's permanent collections, which include 2.5 million photos, 38,000 pieces of sheet music,80,000 maps, 2000 atlases, as well as innumerable theatrical and musical programs, fan magazines, post cards, movie stills and lobby cards.

There is also an inviting looking Museum of Contemporary Arts downtown. The main exhibit is on American comic art. I did not get a chance to go on, but did look at the museum store. The new Disney (Roy, not Walt) music building, designed by Frank Ghery, which I thought I would not like, is a treat and a half. It sits high and is surrounded by a small garden and park, so there is no real clash with adjoining buildings. It is very exciting.

And I got to watch a commercial being shot there (this is Hollywood, almost, after all). I will try to remember the two young women whom I saw promenading hand in hand twenty times down the path, talking about deoderants, or tampons, or clothes you can both work and play in.

That's about it for now. Only question is: will tonight's dinner with friends be at Cicada or at the Water Grill? Tune in tomorrow for the answer.