View Larger Map Vaughan Davies of EDAW, an urban planning and design firm, has a good idea: to cover up an 100 acre portion of the 101 Freeway, or as he calls it, the "Big Trench, in downtown: On top of the "Big Trench" -- that unsightly two-thirds of a mile of the 101 Freeway, just east of the 110 interchange between Grand Avenue and Alameda Street -- that brutally slices through the historic heart......

The City of Santa Clarita (that's Valencia/Magic Mountain area and environs) opened its one and only dog park -- Central Bark -- late last year. The 1.3 acre, off-leash doggie park is located in Central Park (27150 Bouquet Canyon Road) and has designated gated areas for small dogs (25 lbs. and under) and larger dogs. It's open from dawn to dusk and is a great place for friendly dogs and their owners to hang......

Saturday morning was the first community meeting to discuss the Hollywood Freeway Central Park. Meeting in an elementary school auditorium, like they do in the Simpsons, those that attended saw Assemblyman Mike Feuer, LA City Council President Eric Garcetti and others speak about this park and the story behind it. In part I, I wrote about the failures of design in Los Angeles and a need to use architecture to embrace our 36 freeways.......

From the outside, it might look like putting on my ray bans and blasting Bill Withers Live at Carnegie Hall is a matter of taste, but in reality it’s a calculated effort for droning out the miles of billboards, concrete, and cars I drive through everyday. Amateur graffiti art and occasional, adjacent shrubbery are hardly enough to make up for what we have to sit through during daily commutes. This year, I’ve become well......

I went to my 15th Tori Amos concert last night. I still remember the high school days of camping outside of Tower records at 7am on a Saturday morning to get tickets to the her shows, or that time I drove 3 hours in the snow to see her play in Boston on my 21st birthday. And then there was the time we got up at 6am to see her do a show in......

Every Friday, LAist is taking you on a trip down to Orange County to uncover the unique dining experiences that await adventurous eaters willing to explore beyond the county line. They say that dogs are a man's best friend. I didn't have a dog growing up, due to my mom's fur allergies, so I never quite understood the sense of passion that dog-owners have for their canine companions. But over the years, after seeing......

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their......

Thanks to our buddy, the LA City Nerd, for pointing out the newest hot blog on the scene -- Militant Angeleno. The anonymous blogger first started posting a week ago Friday and we like this rule of thumb for living in Los Angeles: Yes, I own and drive a car, but I'm not obsessed with it. In order to save money, gas, congestion and wear and tear on my car, I walk to places......

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-i-verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... Over at Sampaist, spring has more than sprung: it's sweltering! But, as everyone knows, museums are an......

The People demanded it, so here it is, LAist coverage of Project Runway. If you haven't watched any of the other three episodes of this young season yet, fear not, here's a recap and a preview of tonight's very special episode. by Maeko Last week was Project Runway Season Three, Episode III – Fashion's Favourite Accessory Guest Judges: Gown designer, Vera Wang; Ivanka Trump, VP The remaining thirteen designers are commissioned to create an......

the dwarfs are a hit! - West Magazine's cover story is on bullfighting Little People in Mexico (with online video, cha cha). What with Little People, Big World and the paper's own massively popular story of the battle between Little People Kiss cover bands — which made it all the way to the Daily Show — we see a trend. Little People are hot! fire starter - Speaking of hot ... authorities have announced......

Seattlest saw a house party get senselessly attacked with a shotgun and end in seven dead. A local senator is debated and their version of the big dig is investigated. To truly get to the bottom of it they interview the writer Jonathan Raban. Bostonist has its first birthday party and investigates how to attach more gambling dollars to the Red Sox. Benjamin Franklin is celebrated and Johnny Damon is not. Image by Ethan Bagley......

That disturbance at the Convention Center — would you believe it was a Fame-style riot? "Dozens of youths, some wearing gang colors, reportedly began to spar with vendors and dance on cars and disobeyed police orders to disperse," Channel 2 reports. Someone heard a balloon popping and thought it was a gun. The massive rally of police force seems to be, uh, disproportionate to the incident. For the second year running, Taft High School......

Jen Sincero is a sexpert, musician, and the author of the bestselling book, The Straight Girl’s Guide To Sleeping With Chicks and the semi-autobiographical novel, Don’t Sleep With Your Drummer. She currently hosts the weekly sex talk radio show Dr. Happypants on killradio.org. Every week in Living in Sin, Jen provides advice for LA's sexually curious. Got a question for Jen? Ask her. We promise to be discreet — all questions will be posted......

We have a blister on our right little toe, eyes chronically bigger than our stomach, a bit of a hangover, and 399 pictures uploaded so far onto our trusty iBook. But, no matter: We love New York! First off, we have to apologize to the fine folks at Gothamist and Six Apart, because we had to forsake their Happy Hour out of sheer exhaustion. LAist had a few too many $4 martinis yesterday in......

It doesn't seem like The Grove can quite figure out what it wants to be. Over the past few months LAist has witnessed a Dodgers celebration, a puppet show, what appeared to be a wedding ("Oh honey, I've always wanted to get married at The Grove...within walking distance of Nordstrom's, The Gap, and Victoria's Secret. Should we book it?"), and several sparsely attended little concerts, all on their tiny little green lawn. This part......