I never expected to ever say that I really like Los Angeles, but here I am, a transformed man, lover of public transit and sidewalks and proselytizer of Jane Jacobs, telling you, I absolutely love spending time in this car-dependent, absolute shit-show of urban planning.

When I used to visit Los Angeles in my youth I never really liked spending time there, and I think it’s because I viewed it from the perspective of what I was used to instead of being able to take pleasure in walking on streets laden with the scent of lemon blossoms, or the quiet delight of knowing our smallness in the world looking out onto the expanse of the Pacific, the total incongruity of this beautiful landscape transformed by ugly highways and cars, the constant privilege of being in the present of desert cacti.

West LA’s glitz, glamour and superficiality is not my speed, but its presence is useful in appreciating the creative banality of the east, so most of these photos are from walks in Los Feliz and Silver Lake.