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Far From Last Call for "Craby Joe's" Neon

By Ed Fuentes — Yesterday, 05:58 PM — 2 Comments

joe Ed Fuentes

|Photo Gallery| The bar may be closed, but the Craby Joe's neon has had heard more last calls then the clients that walked into the 7th and Main watering hole ever did. The sign that once welcomed boozers and dreamers will have an official dedication in Raw Materials, its new transitional housing, on Saturday, March 27 at 4pm.

Presented by The Museum of Neon Art, Raw Materials, sign guardian Jeremy Hansen and Bert Green Fine Art, the Craby Joe's historic neon (if the timer is set on 11) is a flickering frenzy of blue and pink light that bounces off the white walls like a bad flashback. — Continued Inside...


Creating a Stronger Conversation

By Eric Richardson — February 11, 2010 — 31 Comments

On the blogdowntown masthead, we say that this site is "a conversation about life in Downtown L.A." Over the last five years, you've added roughly 18,000 comments to the stories that have been posted here on the site. Your thoughts have helped to shape the direction of Downtown's development.

Every good conversation needs a few guidelines, though, and tonight we've launched a change to our comment system that I believe will help keep us on the right track as we continue to grow and move forward. — Continued Inside...


Rainbow Over City West

By Ed Fuentes — February 09, 2010
1 Comment

Rainbow Over City West

Today's storm dropped nearly a half inch of rain Downtown, but this evening the skies cleared and the passing front gave the city a colorful gift. While each year brings its share of rainbows, this evening's stacks up well against any of the more impressive ones I've seen Downtown.


Truth in Mapping

By Eric Richardson — February 03, 2010 — 3 Comments

OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap is a free, editable map to which anyone can contribute. It's very much the Wikipedia of the mapping world, and suffers many of the same issues -- a lot of the data is very good, but look close and some of it just isn't quite right.

When it comes to the site of the old state building at 1st and Broadway, though, I think OSM's data just about nails it. The description on the big rectangular site reads "A big hole where the building used to be." — Continued Inside...


The City In Between Storms

By Ed Fuentes — January 21, 2010
2 Comments

The City In Between Storms

It's been a wet and wild week across Los Angeles, with storm after storm bringing in rains and high winds. Sun is in the forecast for Saturday, but the breaks between the storms have provided some stunning visuals to give a little upside to the weather.


Piecing Together Hotel Fig's Ads

By Eric Richardson — January 19, 2010
5 Comments

Piecing Together Hotel Fig's Ads

To look at the south face of the Hotel Figueroa this week is to take an archeological journey through 14 months of advertising history. The three vertical walls of the hotel's southern face used to be home to large paintings that were as much mural as ad, but since December 2, 2008, contractors hired by CBS Outdoor have been layering vinyl ads on the space instead...


Thanks for a Great 2009, Downtown

By Eric Richardson — December 31, 2009 — 9 Comments

Kobe Eric Richardson

As we near the last hours of 2009, we here at blogdowntown wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all of you who made this site a part of your daily routine over the past year. The last 365 days were by every measure the best of our short five-year history.

While we wait for the clock to ring in 2010, take a look back at some of Downtown's hottest topics over the past 12 months. — Continued Inside...


Central Area Weekly Update: December 26, 2009

By blogdowntown Staff — December 28, 2009
3 Comments

Commander Blake Chow is now Assistant Commanding Officer for Operations-Central Bureau, but he's still sending out his weekly Central Division email until Captain Chamberlain takes over in the new year.


The 7th and Broadway Santa

By Ed Fuentes — December 23, 2009

The 7th and Broadway Santa

Due to the cold chill and even colder economic climate, Broadway was simply not bustling with Christmas shoppers Tuesday. Even Santa was hustling for gigs, but at least there was a twinkle in his eye as he shouted out bilingual Christmas greetings. He appeared to be charming everyone at the intersection.


Central Area Weekly Update: December 19, 2009

By blogdowntown Staff — December 22, 2009

Commander Blake Chow is now Assistant Commanding Officer for Operations-Central Bureau, but he's still sending out his weekly Central Division email until Captain Chamberlain takes over in the new year.