Downtown Way-sort-of-finding

By Eric Richardson
Published: Wednesday, July 27, 2005, at 03:17PM

Eric Richardson [Flickr]

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — I'm a big fan of the Downtown Wayfinding signage that's been going up lately, but in a case like this I think the focus should really have been on making sure the locations the sign is pointing to were understandable. MOCA and FIDM are understandable -- that's what the institutions go by -- even if the acronyms aren't that obvious to those not in the know. But isn't there a better way to label the Broadway Theatre District? Maybe just "Broadway Theatres"? Perhaps "Theatre District"? Or just "Broadway Theatre Dst"?

This way reminds me of the highway signs around USC that read "Univ. So. Calif." Sure, it's correct, but it's not anywhere near optimal.

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Comments

Nic Cha Kim writes:

Wow, I'm aghast at how they abbreviated THEATRE. Who is going to automatically think “TH” stands for theatre? Broadway doesn’t exactly carry the same meaning in Los Angeles as it does in New York. For all we know, it could be the Broadway “Thimble” District. I suppose the signage writer thought the word District was far more important than the word Theatre. Look at all that purple under the words too… I think they should have made it landscape and given the Theatre District its full due. I have to ask, whoever thought of this idea, please respond to this comment. I have to know what exactly you were thinking when you abbreviated my favorite thing in the world to 2 letters.

Better yet… I see a letter coming.

# on Jul.29.2005 AT 08:56 AM

jennyjenn writes:

Haha! I completely agree. I'm surprised they didn't print "Pershing Sq" on that sign.

And FIDM is not that familiar to folks who don't know about fashion schools in LA. In passing, I've told friends, "You know, FIDM is just down that way" and I've received perplexed facial responses.

# on Jul.29.2005 AT 03:53 PM