Earth Day 2013 with Alyssa Walker on car-free living and LA transit

People have powerful feelings about the traffic in Los Angeles. It says something that local officials warned motorists about a temporary roadwork closure on the 405 last year by calling it Carmageddon. Angelenos took the hint, and this weekend they're expected to steer clear of the latest 405 closure, named, of course, Carmageddon 2. That's how it is in L.A., a snarl of overstuffed freeways and commuters who keep their cool, except when they don't. KPCC's Stephen Cuevas has this profile of a punk rocker whose music expresses the insanity of L.A. traffic while extolling the virtues of public transit. Couple of things you need to know about Eddie Solis. He lives in L.A., loves the band Kiss, and does not own a car. Being someone who's from L.A., born and raised, and, you know, having a few cars in my past, I saw the city much differently through a different perspective through the eyes of a bus rider. One just all the way to the back. Line 18, Wilshire, Western Station. Just steps from the front door of his home, across the street from a tortilla factory in L.A.'s Boyle Heights neighborhood, Solis catches a bus that connects him with the city's subway, and the commuter train he catches to his day job at an indie record label in Hollywood. It just opened me up to, like, little neighborhoods, galleries, clubs, bars, just everything, just seeing what's out there, little pockets of the city. He's a great guy. He's a great guy. Solis's journeys aboard L.A. buses and subway cars informs a lot of the material on The New Los Angeles Part One, Through the Eyes of a Bus Rider, the latest release by the singer-guitarist band It's Casual. The New Los Angeles. No one has been wet. In Solis's vision of a new Los Angeles, people abandon their cars, climb aboard public transit. And rediscover their communities. One song extols the virtues of the L.A. County Metropolitan Transit Agency's E-ZPass and the urban underbelly it introduces to the rider. And that's, like, a nod, an homage to, you know, the people who know what you can even go cheaper and really beat the system and really steer away from spending money on gas and oil profits and all that. $50 is all it takes for me to get to work. $50 is all it takes for me to get to work. $50 is all it takes for me to witness racial tension, for me to witness illegal aliens. It's not to paint a negative picture. It's just my perspective of what is seen. Off the bus and back on the street, we make our way past a jazz saxophonist playing for pocket change and down a long escalator to catch a train. So, where are we now? We're at the Red Line Station. We're at the Pershing Square Station in downtown L.A. And what's our destination? We're going to go downstairs another tier and in about five minutes we're going to get on the Red Line going northbound. Okay, let's go. The Metro Red Line snakes from North Hollywood to downtown Los Angeles. It's the train that inspired its casuals' signature tune and spawned a viral internet video. It was partly filmed late at night on a moving train as it hurtles from station to station. Solis thrashes away on his guitar and barks the lyrics. Celebrate the Red Line and call out the congested freeways that coil around Los Angeles. This is a train from the Metro Red Line to North Hollywood. The 210-605, the freeways are not so nice. The I-5, the 210, the freeways are not so nice. The thread that comes out of the record that ties everyone together is just like, be alive, don't be a victim of having a car. The 210-605, the freeways are not so nice. The I-5, the 210, the freeways are not so nice. The Red Line. The Red Line. An MTA spokesman said he couldn't comment on Eddie Solis' furious pro-Metro message, but the Red Line video was a hit at the offices of Move LA. Eddie's done a good job. Thank you, Eddie. It's the public transport. Transportation advocacy group headed by former Santa Monica mayor Denny Zane. He liked the juxtaposition of Solis blissfully riding LA public transit in one scene with scenes of the band raging against those notorious freeway jams. Eddie is all frantic when he talks about highways and so mellow when he's like grooving on a skateboard and on the bus and on the Red Line. There's a metaphor for the transformation, you know, from the, oh my God, I just got to get out of the traffic. To, hey, this is cool. I can mellow out. Or you can blast the tune like too many people as you claw your way across Los Angeles by car, bus or skateboard. Los Angeles. There's too many people. I want them to go away. Even though it may take some time. Too many people could also be a motto for its casual. Over the years, the band whittled itself down to a power duo of Solis and a rotating cast of drummers. So you may think the burly bearded punk rocker just can't get along with freeways with people or his native LA. Not true. I love it. I love everything about it. I've traveled throughout the US many times and I could never look forward enough to coming back. The weather, the different cultures, the landscape. I was just like, you know what? Now I know why everyone moves to LA. Solis will bring the love and the volume during a Red Line mini tour next month. Its casual will play a different venue within walking distance of several Red Line metro stops from Union Station to West Hollywood. For the California Report, I'm Stephen Cuevas. I want my driver back to school. I want my driver back to school. I want my driver back to school. I want my driver back to school. I want my driver back to school. I want my driver back to school. I want my driver back to school. The red light. The red light. The red light. The red light. The 210. The 605. The three ways are not so nice. The I-5. The I-10. The three ways are not so nice. The 101. The 405. The three ways are not so nice. The 605. The 101. The 101. The 101. The Nissan. The 210. The 605. The 101. The 45. The Nissan. The three ways are not so nice. The red light. The red light. The red light. The red light. The red light. The red light. The red light. The red line. Good evening and welcome to another episode of Los Angeles Nista. I'm your host and producer, Eddie Solis. Give us a call tonight, 800-893-9562. If you're on your laptop and want to listen on your phone, download the app instantly for iPhone or Android, the Skid Row Studios app. And welcome to the very special Earth Day edition, Earth Day 2013 of Los Angeles Nista. My in-studio guest, Alyssa Walker. How are you? I'm so good. How are you? I'm doing well. Thank you for making it tonight. Of course. Exciting. I consider you my car-free sister. That's right. There's not too many of us. Yeah. We're siblings because we choose the car-free lifestyle. Right? It's true. It's true. Now, you know, I wanted to really send a clear message out to everyone tonight, especially on Earth Day. And I figured, you know, the duality of our, you know, different lives. Having lifestyles, but having the thread that we have in common would be perfect. Because we both come from different walks of life, but share the same ideal in Los Angeles, where apparently most people cannot fathom leaving their car. It's true. I want to know, personally, as we step into the show, you know, and then conversate some of your favorite spots, because the whole thing with you, and no pun intended, Alyssa Walker, you're the Walker in LA. I know. It's my destiny. It is. Yeah. And it's irony. It's irony. It's ironic. So I think, you know, the universe kind of just like, if you just step back, it'll work itself and push you through the right channels. On foot. Yeah. Yeah. So tell us, before we get into all the who, what, where, when, and why of all your work in progress, because you have tons of projects, you know, tell us about yourself. Where are you from? I grew up in St. Louis, Maryland. Missouri. Outside of St. Louis in the suburbs of St. Louis. And I moved here 11 years ago. Okay. And when you arrived to Los Angeles, was it basically, let's go out there for pleasure and start a professional career, or did you know what you wanted to do instantly? It was my third choice, I think, of the cities I wanted to move to. What was the first? New York was always where I thought I was going to end up. And then San Francisco was the other place I was really interested in. And both of those places were having trouble when I was looking for a job, which was like 2001. So there was some problems in New York after 9-11. And then there were some problems in San Francisco due to the dot-com bubble exploding. So I kind of on a whim and just thinking I might just go check it out and maybe spend a few months here. I came down to LA. I had some friends. I had some friends who were here. And I never left. Ah. Now, tell me your first, if you could remember, your first public transportation experience, a full day of it in Los Angeles. It's a funny thing. I mean, it's very relevant with Ciclavia happening yesterday, and we'll talk about that in a minute. But my first, the first time I ever took the train, I was one of those people I didn't know there was a train. Yeah, no idea there was a subway. I think a lot of people actually don't know still. People still don't know 10 years later. Right. It's taken a while. So, yeah, I didn't know there was a train. And I lived in Hollywood, which has great transit accessibility, and was pretty much just walking to the farmer's market, which was in, you know, there's a farmer's market in downtown Hollywood. That's like the best farmer's market. Like off Sunset right there, right? Yeah, it's like on Ivar. Yeah. And I figured out I could walk to there from my house, which. Was like a revelation because I thought I had to drive there. And then I realized it was actually close enough to walk. So I walked there and I walked by what was then the sunset and the Hollywood and Vine red line station. And was like, oh, I wonder where that goes. And figured out that I could take that to downtown. And I did that like once. And I think I took it to downtown once and a universal city once in, you know, like the first four years I lived in L.A. Okay. So from that point, like, were you. Immediately impressed with like, hey, I could get to each destination, universal or downtown in 15 minutes. I was excited, but nobody wanted to go with me. They thought it was scary. They thought it was. The stigma is amazing on the subway in L.A. Everyone's scared. Totally. They were like, oh, it's too dangerous. It's it's too dirty. Like, how do you know when it runs on time? You know, and to be fair, it does stop running really. Or it did stop running really early. It runs a little bit later now. But it was kind of hard to say. You wanted to go to like go to a concert because you weren't sure you'd be able to get back. Or go bar hopping with friends. Yeah, exactly. You had to really plan for it. So so that was my first time I actually tried it. But yeah, everyone else was still too worried about it. But my big thing, though, I was really interested in trying to walk from my house to the ocean. And so that became like my big mission. I lived in Hollywood. So it was about, you know, 15 miles. And I planned this crazy route where I was going to walk from my house to Santa. Monica Pier. I was so excited. I got my friend John Ramsey to join me. So we did that very early on, like probably the second year I was here. And that became like my big transit excitement moment, I think, where I realized it wasn't that far. So you actually walked from Hollywood to Santa Monica. Yes. Over the water. The water. OK. And that was that was no public transportation. It was all walking. Yeah, we just walked. I just wanted I just was so curious because I was like, do people do this? And now actually a lot of people do it. So it's kind of cool. It's like, you know, for the long walkers. I do. But for exercise, I mean, that's like the ideal kind of stretch. Yeah. Straight straight shot to the ocean. Enjoy the day. Come back. Let me ask you this. When you did it, you were not in a bus or the subway, but a pedestrian. Pedestrian. Did you immediately learn that when the light turns green and it says a walk that you have to look left and right and then pause and then look left and right again? I've definitely had some close calls with cars. It's a little scary. Yeah. I mean, it's a different it's a different experience here. Right now. Since then, have you actually done that walk? I have. Well, what was funny because Ciclovia was this past weekend where they close a bunch of streets to biking and walking and rollerblading and whatever else you want to do. Skating. Sure. And the route was pretty close to the same route, you know, that we would take, you know, from it was from downtown to Venice Beach. But it was just kind of similar distance, like kind of these long stretches of road. So it was really crazy. I would never have expected after walking that, you know, one day, a very special day. And now there's a group called the Great L.A. Walk. They do it like every year. They walk different boulevards to the ocean. I would never have expected that the city would have closed the streets for everyone to have that same journey. Most people did it on a bike, of course, because it's kind of far. Sure. But the fact that that happened yesterday and I got to see the city do that was probably the coolest thing I've seen happen in L.A. in a long time. That's very cool. Yeah. I mean, you must have actually, you know, I mean, pictured you like hit replay in your head and gone back to that day when you did that. Like getting back to the ocean. And seeing how many people were involved. Yeah. All these people were doing the same thing. And it was really exciting. Everybody was on the same mission. Of course, people who lived in Venice were trying to get to downtown. But it was I felt like the whole city was kind of going together on these streets, creating public space all the way to the beach. And as soon as they got there, they would like run with their bikes into the water so they could put their feet into the water. It was it was such a cool experience. That's very cool. I saw a lot of pictures and actually some YouTube footage that people put up. It was really nice. My question to you is when did the inception of your blog take place? So it was around the same time I was I had some jobs where I was, you know, writing stories online and writing stories. So you did a lot of freelance? I had done a lot of freelance for other for other blogs. And my I decided to start my own pretty much around the same time that I just started. I decided to give up my car. So that was about six years ago. And my my blog was originally named Gelato Baby after a long journey I took to Italy where I felt like I was empowered to have this great career writing about gelato and architecture and food and all the amazing things that I encountered in Italy. I wanted to kind of bring that life every day to my everyday life. So I started this blog named Gelato Baby. I very rarely. I really wrote about gelato because I as soon as I started it, I was like, actually, I'm so much more interested in stuff that's going on in L.A., stuff that's going on in my neighborhood and and the transit thing and the biking and walking thing really took me by surprise. I thought I was just going to be like a fun game, like an interesting thing that I tried to do. And I didn't feel very optimistic that I would be able to continue this project more than a year or so. But what started to happen is that I it connected me to my city in a different way. It made me care about things I had never cared about before. And suddenly I I had this blog that was writing about transportation issues and taking pictures of things that I saw while I was walking around the city. So it kind of became a great platform for all that stuff. Very nice. So what year was this, though? So this was like 2000. What like what year is it right now? It'll be my seventh year. It'll be like 2006. OK. Right. So 2006, 2007. Yeah. Let me ask you this. When you take public transportation, do you immediately see things from a different perspective? I would say I didn't expect that to happen. But that is what happened. Like as soon as I as soon I remember the first bus I took, which was, you know, it's different than the train, because I think, you know, we've talked about this, how like the train is like one thing that people feel very comfortable taking. And then the bus was like a scary thing for some reason. And it still is for people. And so I remember taking the bus and getting on the bus and I was kind of terrified, but it was totally fine. Like the buses are super clean and really nice. And I remember when I the return trip, when I got home, the stop was at the bottom of my street, like where I lived at my house. And I had never seen the bus stop before. I had never understood that a bus even came there. And I as soon as I saw it, I was like, oh, I got to find out where else this bus goes. Like there was like millions of bus stops. It's like in your neighborhood, like when you live in deep in a neighborhood and you see a bus at the corner, I mean, that's your gateway out. Yeah. You know, and I never you just I didn't see it. But at the same time, a lot of cool stuff was going on. Like Metro was rebranding itself really in a smart way. And they've continued to do really good design work and really good outreach work. So they painted the buses really nice colors. They covered the seats and it's really nice fabrics and designed by artists pay white. So they really. They really tried to make it more of a world class experience. And I think that coupled with the fact that I made that decision really made made the whole thing just resonate with me because I cared so much about design and I was so interested in all that stuff. Sure. Now, your blog, tell everyone what the name of the URL is. So now my blog has been rebranded as a Walker in L.A. And your name is Alyssa Walker. Alyssa Walker in L.A. Right. So I had to go with it. I had a. A friend who told me that I should do that. Yeah, it was. It was too good. Yeah. So I went with that. OK. So now as far as your your your topics, I mean, I want to I want to paint a clear picture to everyone out there so they know exactly, you know, if they can log on and check it out. What are some of the, you know, specifics that they'll find on your blog? I definitely have been writing a lot lately about walking, which seems like a boring topic, but I promise it's it's. It's a relevant to every person. Well, there's more pros and cons than being in a car, right? Yeah, that's that's kind of I'd say that's the general message is just how much more your life can be enhanced if you choose not to be in a car, especially in L.A. I would say anywhere it's it's a great gift. But here it's a it's just it's just it just changes your whole life and it will change the way you feel about your city and it will change the way that you experience things and meet people. And so that that. I think is the basic message. But so I write a lot about walking and transportation and Los Angeles and some design and architecture because that's really where I come from as well. I'm really fascinated by the way cities are built and why why they look that the way that they do. Don't you feel that when you're on foot or on a bus or taking the red line somewhere and you pop up at all these stops, you definitely connect with your city quicker and in a more sincere way? Absolutely. That that's my that's my big thing is I just tell people to try to do it like once a week. Just try to try to get out of your car and do something different like once a week. But not only connect. I mean, don't you feel inspired? I do. It's I've gotten so many stories, story ideas for, you know, different places that I write just for from things that I pass on the street, like literally things that I notice or people that I meet. It's very true. The content is endless. Yeah. You know, you could find it in. Four by four. Right. Same with you. Like you get your song material. I get my article material. Sure. Sure. Yeah. As far as as far as turning people on, like personally, have you noticed more recently because of gas prices and the people are more conscious about doing things more efficiently and really thinking about their health and taking in more that that they actually maybe reach out personally and say, hey, we want to go to this sporting event or something. How do we how we do? Oh, yeah. I totally love when I get I'll get either text messages from people. I'll get people will like tag me on Instagram or like, you know, post something on Twitter and be like, Alyssa, like, tell me how to do this or I'm inspired by you. I'm trying to do this. And I'm like, good job. But I think it is all those combinations of of what you've said that there's so many different reasons. But it is it's hard to tell why why people personally want to make the choice. I want to do something a little bit differently. But I can definitely see something changing in the city across the country as well. But definitely in this city, a big thing is happening. It's funny to me when. I've been in the same boat trying to turn people on to the red line, et cetera, and everyone it's either, you know, they just don't know that a subway line exists, that we have many green line, gold line, blue line, purple line, or they assume the stigma of New York. They say it's going to be dirty. Yeah. And actually, it's one of the cleanest subways. It's one of it's because it's newer. Yeah, it's newer. Regarding the red line, what is your favorite stop? Do you have a favorite stop visually on the red line? That's always pleasant to see when you exit. I. I will say that today I hadn't. Well, OK, well, Union Station is just my favorite stop in general, just because Union Station is gorgeous and such a so many historical dramatic. Yeah, it's such a dramatic. And wonderful gateway into the city. And I think my favorite thing to do is transfer from the red line to the gold line because you actually do have to walk through part of the station there. And you have this grand architecture and all these people going to different places and you kind of get to walk through the midst of it. So I think that's probably my favorite. Very cool. And as far as some of your favorite spots in Hollywood, I want to know personally. When you go. To events in Hollywood, what is the most efficient way for you to get there? Well, it's definitely well, from where I live now, I live in Silver Lake. OK. And I moved to another transit. So you'll take the number two. Take the number two. Yeah. And sometimes I'll take the the four and go on the subway from like Vermont and Santa Monica up to Hollywood if it's if it's super traffic or maybe the four comes first. But I take the two, which is the easiest and most efficient way. Or I ride my bike because it's pretty close. Very cool. Yeah. Let's talk about what you did for Los Angeles Times. Yeah. So this was a really exciting project that the L.A. Times just launched today. It's live. If you go to their site where they were trying to find the differences between our two mayoral candidates. For those people who aren't in L.A., there's a pretty crazy mayoral race going on. We will have a mayor that's either Eric Garcetti or Wendy Gruel. And I think tonight. Actually, they had a debate and it got a little nasty all of a sudden. So maybe they'll be able. We'll be able to tell the difference between them. That's been a big issue. Right. Yeah. Like, we can't really tell whether they have a different difference on policy. So the L.A. Times asked some people to pose questions to them that they could answer. And I actually haven't viewed the videos yet. I haven't seen their responses to me. But I asked about how they would help make the city feel safer and more welcoming to people when they decided to get out of the city. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. decided to get out of their cars. So you can go to LA Times and see me asking the questions and see what they say. That's very cool. I mean, it just seems like that topic of being car-free and getting around without being binded to an automobile, SUV, or a huge vehicle is becoming a lot more relevant. And it's being brought up in a lot of social issues, whether it's running candidates or sports teams trying to get more people into their stadium. Well, yeah. I mean, like I went to a Dodger game on Monday. You had a great seat. Oh, it was pretty. We got to see Magic Johnson. It was fun. It was a good night. But yeah, we were, it was, it's just, you know, we walked from our friend's house. It's actually not that hard to walk to the stadium. Even from Sunset Boulevard, they had this great Dodger Express bus that takes people from Union Station. Behind Union Station. Yeah. So that's good. Like that, those are good steps. But like, if they don't get some kind of better, like I'm thinking like a gondola, if we could take a gondola from like, you know, that goes from, you know, Chinatown. Chinatown on one side and maybe down to Sunset on the other. But they just need to, they need to find a way to get rid of all that ridiculous parking lot and get people up there in a more efficient way. Because they don't want to park and sit in traffic. People don't want to do it. Well, it's very, it's very convenient. I mean, I've done it many times and I've, on this show, I've explained it to people over and over. I mean, think about the efficiency of it. I mean, you go to Dodger Stadium, it's traffic. You're on Sunset. You're waiting to be escorted up the hill with the traffic police. You pay 12 bucks an automobile and you park all the way. Below the foothill and then walk all the way across. If you have kids, you got to hold all your kids' hands, possibly getting hit by some car. The shuttle, you get off the, you know, the gold line coming from the east side or the red line coming north and you walk to the back of Union Station. You show them the tickets and you get a free ride. The first time I did it, I was very, very surprised because not only did we get past the gate and in the parking lot and I was like, oh, it's a free, free ride. Like they promoted and it's, you know, super efficient. But they took you to the parking lot. They took you to the front gate. Yeah, you're right there. You're right there. And now they're going to make sure that the buses have priority on Sunset so you'll get there even faster. So they're even prioritizing the free ride. Yeah. To get everyone enthusiastic. Because they want people to use it. Yeah, of course. And that's the big issue for, you know, for this football stadium that they're trying to put in downtown is that they're like, oh, well, we need to put in more parking and people won't take the subway or they won't take the light rail. But if you make it super easy like that, then they will. And I don't think anybody doesn't want to. I think they just need to be given permission to do it. Right. What do you think about the MTA's scheduling as far as like how it is presented to the public to a first timer? Do you think it's, you know, I just I would like to get, you know, a super clear and simple answer on your end as far as do you feel that it's more complicated than it should be? I think people. Well. I think there's two different issues that I think could be improved areas of improvement, perhaps. But I think that anyone with a smartphone really has no excuse to not take transit in the city because the app that Metro released is really, really good. It has real time bus arrivals. It has it tells you uses GPS to tell you exactly where you are, what stops are nearby. So like anyone that says they can't figure it out. If you have a smartphone, you have to. It's too easy. It's too easy. Yeah. It's I mean, and I didn't even have that when I started. You probably didn't either. Like we had to actually learn schedules. You know, hold the schedule. Yeah. So crazy. So but the other thing that I do agree with is that the some of the signage and some of the, you know, maps at different stations like we could really benefit from having a lot better maps of the area, maps of neighborhoods, wayfinding signage that would tell you what landmarks are nearby, let you have a little bit better idea of what bus stops are nearby. And so that's one of the things that I think is really important. And so those kind of improvements, like the fact that there's no bus shelter at every bus stop is just a really big bummer when you're trying to stand there in the sun waiting for your bus to come. Right. We need better infrastructure. One thing that they barely put up this year is the shelters over the red line stations. Yeah. Pershing Squarety, Chatham and so forth. Yeah. I mean, that barely came in. Yeah. That's like, I mean, also, though, I'd rather have a bunch of bus shelters than those. Like pretty canopies that go over the red line. Sure. For me, you know, personally, I think the MTA is doing a great job with expanding services, creating new lines, making things very writable and tolerable. And I'm excited. And I when I'm able to share my knowledge and get people excited to get on, they seem excited. But the only thing is I always have people coming to me because of the confusion on their PDFs. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. only, you know, in hindsight as a customer, I believe that's the only issue that could be improved. Right. And just, I mean, you know, the apps are one thing, but there are still people that are like, maybe just archaic about things that may have a smartphone, but just don't want to do the app. They want to go to the source. Right, right. No pun intended with the blog. But, you know, I think that, I think that there's room for improvement there, in my opinion. Yeah. Do you think that ridership is up? Have you, have you looked into the numbers? I mean, apparently, yes. I think that that is kind of the general conventional wisdom in the city is that more people are riding it. I think the more interesting stuff that I've been reading is that I read the story today in the Washington Post about how much Americans are driving less than they were even five years ago. And the decline among young people is just like staggering. Like young people are not in any way interested in getting their license and driving. They're not even buying cars and buying cars anymore. So a decade ago or 15 years ago when you wanted the SUV with the rims and the big sound system, it's like everyone's figuring it out. You're not going to win. I don't, yeah, I don't. I think it's not, it doesn't have the same, like for me, I wanted to get my license as soon as possible because I felt like I was missing out on something. On the nightlife or. Yeah, I wanted to be in that car and I don't even like driving. It doesn't make any sense. Like I just wanted to be like on the scene. Exactly. No, I mean, I mean, let's just put something into perspective. If you want to go out drinking. And come back home. You're not driving. So it's. Yeah, but I just wanted to go to like this parking lot of a McDonald's. That was like the only, where all the cool things were happening. It wasn't even about drinking. It was just about like going to hang out. The hot rods at McDonald's? Yeah. Oh, not even hot rods. Like I had a Ford Probe. It was so embarrassing. All right. We're going to take a break. We're going to be back with Alyssa Walker, the Walker in LA. Talk about some of her other recent published stories. And her website. And we'll be back. This is Ignacio Salcido from La Mascota Bakery in Boyle Heights. You're listening to LA Nista at skidroadstudios.com. This episode of Los Angeles Nista is brought to you by La Mascota Bakery. A family owned business serving the community since 1952. Tamales and sweet bread. Made the old fashioned way daily. Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Halfway, I'd rather die Never atone or make amends No surrender, we'll never be friends Be no peace, there'll be no love Life's too short to not hold a grudge You fucked me over, you hung me out to dry You swept me under, you said goodbye Never atone or make amends No surrender, we'll never be friends Be no peace, there'll be no love Life's too short to not hold a grudge You fucked me over, you hung me out to dry You swept me under, you said goodbye I feel no guilt, I feel no shame If I killed you now, it would be the same You've kept my heart on till I die I hold my grudge until it's gone I'm gonna die Never atone or make amends Never atone or make amends No surrender, we'll never be friends Be no peace, there'll be no love Life's too short to not hold a grudge You fucked me over, you hung me out to dry You swept me under, you said goodbye Never atone or make amends Never atone or make amends No surrender, we'll never be friends Be no peace, there'll be no love Life's too short to not hold a grudge You fucked me over, you hung me out to dry You swept me under, you said goodbye Life's too short to not hold a grudge No guilt, I'm not gonna die Never atone or make amends No surrender, we'll never be friends Never atone or make amends Never atone or make amends Never atone or make amends Never atone or make amends I'd rather die Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway I'd rather die I'd rather die The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head When wild hearts are tamed The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head I never had a plan B The only person I could trust was me I'll get by with the critics, yay Fuck them, who cares anyway Time collapses Like a hit and run Boom Blitz Fire From your thumbs When wild hearts are tamed The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head When wild hearts are tamed The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway Meet you halfway I jumped off a true ship I life first server On a straight jacket I never had a plan B Hey man, what do you want from me? Time collapses Like a hit and run Boom Blitz Fire From your tongue When wild hearts are tamed The spirit is dead The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head When wild was some change The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head So, uh, what do you have to say for yourself? Nissan Nissan Lend my hands For my head Lend my hands For my head Lend my hands For my head Lend my hands For my head Lend my hands For my head Here I am As free as the wind Here I am Take your best shot Round after round And I'm not gonna stop I'm a threat You're a fool Try to discredit me And discredit you Your enemy You'll never know It's not me It's your own shadow Here I am As free as the wind I'll never be Bow down You will never win Here I am Taking this shot Here I am I laugh at you All of your hatred What does it do? I'm a threat How ridiculous Trying to bankrupt me You're a fool I don't need Your blessing for anything Security compromise I don't need Just everything Here I am I'm as free as the wind I'll never bow down You will never win You will never win You will never win You will never win You will never win You will never win You will never win You will never win You will never win You will never win You will never win You will never win All right. Welcome back. Welcome back. I'm your host, Eddie Solis, Los Angeles Nista, my in-studio guest, Alyssa Walker. How are you doing with that break? I'm good. That's a good break. You rejuvenated and fresh and ready to go at it again? I'm ready. Well, you know what? There's a piece that you wrote for LA Magazine in the latest issue. Tell us about that, where people could find the magazine and what your piece is about. Yeah. It's a new issue on affording LA. I think it's about all these different hacks for how you can live maybe a rich life in Los Angeles with spending less money. And they asked me to, my great editor, Nancy Miller. Asked me to write a story about how you could save money by not having a car. And I have a little essay, a very short essay about how I got rid of my car and then some tips for car-free living if you want to just kind of ease your way in and not quite jump all the way in yet, how you can kind of get started. And the people at the magazine were so great. They put the story online and created this challenge called Better Off Ped, and they're challenging everyone to... So, you draw a two-mile circle around their house. This is one of my tips. You draw a two-mile circle around your house and you promise that you're not going to drive to anywhere in that two-mile circle. So, what you start to do is realize, first of all, how close a lot of things are that you didn't know were close enough to your house that you could walk to them. And then what also happens is that you walk by, say, a dry cleaner in your neighborhood and you're like, why do I drive to the dry cleaner that's like a couple miles away when I could walk here and pick up my dry cleaning and walk it back to my house? So, you start to... You start to just change your lifestyle and see your neighborhood in a different way. Sure. So, and the premise of the piece was how to spend less. Well, yeah, that's the crazy thing that I had never... That was never my motivation. And that's a West Side magazine. Yeah. Where everything's more expensive, right? I think LA Magazine is actually doing a lot of great things to change their image and that you might think it's this glossy West Side feeling magazine, but they're actually doing a lot of really cool... City-focused things. But the funny thing was that I'd never... Saving money was never a motivation for me to not have a car, to not drive. I just thought it was more fun. Right. And when I looked at it, the statistic was that you save about $10,000 a year by not having a car. And I think it's actually in LA probably more than that that you could save. I would say even double. Yeah. I mean, it depends on what kind of car you would have had. And the driving and the gas. Depends on how much you would have paid for parking. Yeah. All of that comes into play. Yeah. So, I mean, it just seems like LA Magazine, they're not just a West Side magazine. You could get it in many places. Yeah. But I think that people from all income brackets want to save money. And to put it out there, it's not a bad thing. It's like you want to think smarter. Yeah. And spend less and get more. Yeah. And I think if you don't want to get rid of your car completely, just try it as an experiment. Give yourself a few days. A week. Do your own Ciclivia or something that you would instate maybe every Saturday or something. But just so you can give yourself a taste of it. And then you probably will like it. Sure. I mean, I think another interesting thing that you said about the two mile radius is that you will see, in fact, like you don't have to drive farther for something because there's something closer than you thought because you actually did a very thorough overview of what's around you. And it's when you discover more. And I think you feel enriched with information. And you could say like, well, you know what? All this is within arm's reach. Why am I getting in the cars, you know, paying three dollars just to start it up? Ridiculous. You know, as far as your your transit pass these days, you use the good old tap card. Good old fashioned tap card, which you can get. You can buy it at a lot of the vending machines at the metro rail lines. And you can I think you can buy them on the bus. Can you? I think. They charge you a dollar. OK. Which makes sense. I mean, that's anywhere. You know, I think even in the machine, they charge you an extra dollar for the first time. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, what's funny, too, is they have a tap. They have the standard blue tap card, but they also have the tap prepaid visa card. Oh, they do. So what you could do is so what you could do is like, you know, if you're on public transportation, like, you know, there's like anywhere else, good apples and maybe a small portion of bad apples. And, you know, maybe, you know, walking through, you may drop something or something may happen and maybe you don't want to take your real bank card in your wallet. So what I started doing is I signed up for this and I load the tap portion and I load the visa portion. So. So I have that every day and I use that to tap and purchase stuff. That's awesome. Yeah. I didn't know that. Yeah. It's all in one. And it's like, you know, I came here tonight. Yeah. Good old Eddie. Yeah. He knows all the tap card information. And a really cool thing is the E-ZPass. Right. You love the E-ZPass. Yeah. That's like a $84 monthly thing, but it's good for any agency in SoCal. Yeah, that's good. In addition, MTA. So, I mean, you know, if you're like, you know, heading out like on Foothill Transit or, you know, to the Inland Empire or OCTA or Long Beach, you could like, you know, get a farther reach. And $84 is more than a MTA monthly. It's like a monthly pass, but it's still $280 a day when you divide it. Right. It's worth it. Yeah, totally. So, you know, that's, there's, the possibilities are endless to win. It's a win-win situation. What do you think? I mean, you know, today's Earth Day. Today's Earth Day. Right. Do you think that the majority out there really know that it's Earth Day? I think people know. And I think it's actually gotten to the point where it's become a little bit commercialized in a way for people to try to sell. I think people are trying to sell products that maybe don't have anything to do with Earth Day. Like I got a email from a press person from a very large car manufacturer today trying to tie their product into Earth Day. And that kind of made me sick. Did you cringe a little? Well, they should know better than to send me a press release for cars. That's just really silly. They actually did their research. But I think, I think for me, you know, of course, I believe that we should celebrate the planet. For me, I felt like yesterday was Earth Day. Like Ciclovia to me just really represented all the celebrations that... The components of everything. Yeah, all the components of what I believe Earth Day should be. And I hope everybody else in LA feels the same way. Yeah. You know, I mean, for me, you know, I was doing a lot of research and I just noticed a lot of the big manufacturers tying in their product, you know, whether it's juices or cleaning products or... Automobiles. And I was like, you know, that's, I don't know. I mean, I get it. But at the same time, that's very hypocritical in my opinion because what are you doing the other 300 days plus? Yeah. You know, you're promoting your gas guzzling car or, you know, a product that takes a lot of plastic. Yeah. You know, I mean, so, yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, I guess they're trying to, you know, reach a demographic. But I think the fact that you get press releases, that says something. I mean, it'd be nice if they pulled a car up to your place and said, here's a free car. There's a press release inside. Yeah. I'll be like, goodbye. So, tell me, you know, you reside in Silver Lake and on the show, we try to highlight certain areas that people know really well. How long have you been living in Silver Lake for? So, that's been four years. Yeah. And it's all good? You're happy? I do. Yeah. It's a funny thing that we've noticed. You know, we picked the neighborhood, obviously, to be transit accessible. We also have just a really nice small town feel in Silver Lake. We have our little farmer's market. We have some great restaurants and bars. We have a lot of friends who live there. It's very hilly and has a lot of the public staircases. A lot of character, too. Yeah, a lot of character. And I like wandering around and exploring, but it's actually become kind of a tourist destination for like hipsters. So, it's... On the weekends, sometimes we laugh about how we live in this like kind of Disneyland for hipsters. No, it's really funny. I'm just going to interrupt you really quick. My mom the other day asked me what a hipster was because she listens to the show and she seems like the hipster is the target lately without getting... And I'm not trying to, you know, ruffle feathers with any hipsters out there, but as a resident, I'm sure you could identify the out of town hipsters. Yeah. Well, I mean, I don't know where they're coming from, but I just know that... And please come. I'm not going to go into any of my neighborhood and support the great businesses. I'm not deterring anyone, but I think Silver Lake has gotten a lot of press like any other neighborhood in many cities or the same kind of place as this like haven for a certain lifestyle, which I actually think we're not that cool anymore. I think like other neighborhoods are becoming a lot more cool than even Silver Lake and I'm not, you know, trashing my own neighborhood, but... No, I mean... We're getting older, you know, we're like having kids now in Silver Lake, so we can't be hipsters anymore. Right? Right. Right. But I think that when you hit it on the... You hit the nail on the head, I mean, you know, the landscape, the geography of Silver Lake is very unique, has a lot of charm, is very easy on the eyes as far as, you know, walking through and looking at all the nice houses and whether it's a little house or a big house and they all have their own character and message. There's a story behind everything. It's true. You know, and all the lush, you know, bushes and trees, you know, off the hillside. And the reservoir. Reservoir's good, yeah. Of course. Is that something that you do, is walk the reservoir at all? You know, when I was like running, when I used to do things like that, I would run around it, but I'm much more interested in more like of an urban hiking thing. So I'll go climb the public stairways and... Let's talk about that. Where's that located exactly? There are so many. There are about 300 in the city of Silver Lake. Oh, wow. So there are about 300 in the city of LA that have been documented by my friend, Bob Inman. He wrote a book called The Guide to the Stairways of Los Angeles. And he focuses on ones that are, you know, built by the city back when, of course, the, you know, red car was coming through the different neighborhoods and people needed to get down from their hilly houses down to the trains and the trolleys. So these existed, you know, a long time ago, you know, 20s, 1920s and 1930s. And there's a big event that comes up next month. It's always in, it's in May this year called the Big Parade. And we walk from Angels Flight downtown to the top of the Hollywood sign, the mountain above the Hollywood sign over two days and climb about 110 different public stairways as we weave this like crazy, you know, route through the city. We used to camp out for two years. We camped out in Silver Lake halfway through, which was an amazing experience. That's awesome. Who needs Gold's Gym? I know, right? Or valleys. The stairs are the greatest gift to Angelina's. A lot of people also just don't know that they exist. So it's a pretty interesting, it's a pretty interesting project. That's my friend, Dan Capel. He is like a crazy stair person. So he's the one who heads that up. Yeah, I was really excited because I was looking into his research and I saw he highlighted the stairs that were in the Laurel and Hardy movie. Oh yeah, that's right by my house. That's where I live. Yeah. Yeah. So you know what I'm talking about? Yeah. The music box stairs. Very famous stairs. They're not that big. There's really tall ones like the Baxter stairs in Echo Park, which are like, it's over a hundred. I don't know exactly how many, but it's super steep and kind of switchbacks of stairs and like multiple flights. It's like climbing seven or eight flights of stairs, really, really tall, really steep stairs. And there's ones that are like longer, but they don't go as steep. So there's all kinds of staircases to climb. Very cool. As far as venturing out east. Yeah. Have you had much experience doing that? Like going into Boyle Heights or East LA via public transportation? Boyle Heights is like, it was so funny. I was on a panel a few weeks ago with Ed Begley Jr. He is another car-free sibling perhaps, or he has a car, but he prefers not to use it. And he and I both agreed that Boyle Heights was our favorite neighborhood to explore. And especially because the Gold Line goes right there now. And I think a lot of people have discovered Boyle Heights. Two stops. Yeah. Yeah.! I mean, I think that a lot of people didn't know it was there. And the way that they revitalized Mariachi Plaza has just really changed the accessibility of the neighborhood. I love riding the Gold Line just because it's above ground and you actually get to see the neighborhood you're going through. That's exactly what I tell people. Which is so fun. I think the Gold Line is the most scenic route. I think so too. Yeah. Especially when you go the northbound towards Pasadena from Union Station, you go to the hills of Highland Park. Yeah. It's so pretty. It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. So like Boyle Heights and Highland Park is actually another good example, but those are just neighborhoods that I would never really known or understood or explored. And the fact that it goes there, I just jump off and walk around. And some of the streets in Boyle Heights are just, you know, you just can walk down these perfectly scaled streets with these little businesses and there's, you know, a barber and a hairdresser and all these little things. And it's just so beautiful. It's so beautiful. It's so beautiful. And there's these little barber shops and these like, you know, 99 cent store knockoffs and all this amazing food. And it's just a really special place to walk. And same with a lot of places in like Highland Park and Eagle Rock. And although, you know, those might be well explored by people, but it's definitely a fun adventure. Right. I mean, let me ask you this. I mean, Boyle Heights being the first East Side City over the river. Right. The first true East Side City. Being from out of town and being well established. Yeah. And being established here for over a decade. What was your first reaction when you were there? I mean, I feel like, so of course the first time I went, you know, to the East Side of LA, it was way before there was a train there. And it definitely made it feel like you were going to this other world. I think probably the first time I went to the East Side, which doesn't even count, I went to a party at the brewery, which is on the East Side of the river. Sure. But didn't even really know that there was stuff on the other side of the river at all. I mean, I feel like- It's in Palomino, right? Yeah. I mean, I feel like I went to Pasadena, but that didn't really register that that was, you know, there was all these other communities in between. So I mean, I think probably, you know, I enjoy food. And so I probably went to some pilgrimages, to some places to eat in East LA, but never had that kind of experience where I would ride my bike down Cesar Chavez or, you know, walk on any of those streets coming off of the Gold Line. So that, it just really changed the way that the relationship that I had. Yeah. To that side of town. Sure. And as far as the Gold Line goes, I mean, let's talk about that. I mean, we're here talking about the Red Line and that's a great component to get from downtown to Hollywood back and forth. Yeah. Because from either direction, you're looking at rush hour, it's an hour, hour and 10 minutes. You could get, you know, from the Red Line to downtown Hollywood in what, 17 minutes? Probably, yeah. So I mean, going on the Gold Line with your experience, I mean, if you were to sell someone on the most scenic land. Yeah. I would say it's the Gold Line. I would say it's the Gold Line. I agree. The Expo Line is actually really fun in a similar way just because it's again above ground. Like as much as we love the subways for getting us around below the ground, I really prefer to be above the ground. Sure. So I like the light rail better. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the Expo Line I've been on at nighttime, so I haven't really seen things thoroughly, but I mean, tell me about it. Well, it's interesting because it follows an old right of way that, you know, we're going to see when real trains traveled from along the coast up to downtown. So it follows an existing right of way. So you can see a lot of the former buildings or the buildings that used to be warehouses or different kind of factories or whatever that had to have that rail access. And you kind of just get this wonderful peek into the city, kind of like you look at the backyards and like the garages of all these places and the open factory doors, which is pretty amazing. And in Culver City especially, what an amazing thing that they've done there. They've put a bike path underneath it so you can actually like ride your bike right below it. It just kind of cuts through this former industrial area that has some of the most amazing architecture. I led a walking tour there two weeks ago where we visited a lot of the studios that have popped up around there. So it's just going to get more amazing as it goes to Santa Monica and they've broken ground on almost all the stations now. So it's making sense. It's making its way there. It should be open in like two years, which is crazy. Now as far as Silver Lake goes, I think that that's a very family friendly neighborhood and district. I say yes. Yeah. Now tell me what you think would be some of the more highlights for some of our listeners to check out, like if they were bringing their kids and everything. So I, well Silver Lake, we have a farmer's market that's really fun. It's on Tuesday and Saturday, which is really nice. Twice. Twice a week. We have this nice pedestrian plaza that you can go and hang out with your kids called Sunset Triangle Plaza. So that's very cool. Now pets are not allowed there, right? Pets can not come to the farmer's market. They can hang out in the plaza when there's not a farmer's market. And then on the other side of Silver Lake, there's the meadow, which is also pets aren't allowed in this one too. Sorry for pet owners. I'm only going to talk about kid owners. But the meadow is this beautiful grassy area next to the reservoir that they've just recently opened and you can go take a picnic and hang out in there. So those are kind of like the highlights, I think, just to be outside and see other families and hang out. We of course have some wonderful gelato and ice cream places and Silver Lake is very important for children. What are some of your favorite places? Well, today I went to Paso Gelato, which does a lot of, they're right in Sunset Junction. They do a lot of seasonal flavors. So they had like some prickly pear fruit. They had some, I don't know, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. But I tried today and they do a really good chocolate sorbet, which is kind of an amazing way to have really good chocolate. And then on the other side, not technically in Silver Lake, it's more in a part of town we call Hell Mel, which is heliotrope and Melrose. There's a place called Scoops and they have really inventive flavors like olive oil and salted chocolate and all these, all these other kind of more radical flavors. Wow. So as far as gelato and Holly? Hollywood, you know, is there anywhere? Cause I was thinking about that. Okay. So in Hollywood, there's, well, if not in Hollywood proper, but, um, you'll want to go to Moshy Malone's, which is a very famous, uh, uh, Persian ice cream place. So they have traditional like rose water. Um, they have saffron, they have all these really very different flavors that you probably haven't had before, but they're wonderful. So that's over on, you know, a little bit more on the West side of Hollywood, but, um, it's, it's in a strip mall. It's on La Brea. Um, more West Hollywood. More like, well, not quite, not technically West Hollywood, but the West side of Hollywood. Yeah. So it's kind of off a little bit off the beaten path, but it's really good. You know, I mean, a lot of times when I read your blog and see all your other projects you're working on that are where the, where the, the catalyst is walking and being car free. I always forget that you're so into gelato. Right. It's a big, it's a big part of it, I think is cause you have to, you know, walk off the gelato. Right. Now, now, now would you say the whole gelato, uh, the whole gelato product is very regional. Like it's very like East coast, West coast. It's well, you know, it, it's caught on here because there's a perception that gelato is more healthy than a ice cream, which it is. It is true. It is healthier, but there, it is, uh, it's made with less fat. Um, you know, it's milk instead of cream. Usually, it doesn't have to be, um, frozen as hard as ice cream. So it's kind of like a different flavor sensation that the flavors are a little bit more true to your tongue. So, um, I think that that paired with the fact that there's so many great people, there's a Bulgarini is another one of my favorites. Um, and, uh, they're in Altadena and in Culver city, the one in Altadena is not super transit accessible. Uh, so maybe we won't talk about that one, but there's one in Culver city right by the Expo line station there. And now what stop is it by Dina? So it's by the Culver city station. So it's by the Culver city station. So it's by the Culver city station. So it's by the Culver city station, the very last one on the Expo line right now. Yeah. So it's really close. Um, but yeah, that's a perfect example of just like super traditional flavors, like, you know, bringing these Italian, uh, you know, years of Italian experience, but they use a lot of interesting local flavors and, you know, getting stuff fresh from the markets. And so it's kind of that, it's a perfect place to make ice cream and gelato. And now have you, I mean, you traveled a lot and, you know, uh, following you on Instagram to see where you're going. I'm sure you try, you know, gelato and other, in other regions and other countries. But the thing is, is, um, going back to my original question about it being regional, have you noticed that like, for instance, you know, living in LA that the cultures are so immersed together, you know, uh, have you noticed that there's more hybrids happening, like new flavors or is it just traditional? Well, no, I think it's, especially with ice cream, it's really interesting because we do have those seasonal flavors, but also, uh, you know, we, we have such great access to, you know, this produce, the amazing produce that's grown locally. So there's a lot of experience. And so I think it's, I think it's, I think it's, I think it's just a great thing. But there's also just like, uh, LA is, is just this amazing food city. And for example, um, just a few doors down from Bulgarini gelato also in, uh, Culver city is cool house, which you might've seen their food trucks, their ice cream sandwich makers. They're, um, amazingly inventive people. And so they, they have a storefront in addition to their trucks, which you'll see all over town. And they make a fried chicken and waffle ice cream, which is definitely, uh, borrowing the, you know, flavors, from Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, an LA, amazing LA institution. Totally. And a combination that you should never do without at 2 a.m. when you're coming home from the bars. Coming out of the Palladium. Yeah. It's right by the Palladium, exactly. So, but they've like kind of taken that amazing twist of LA culture and turned it into an ice cream. And same with Scoops. They both do that kind of very inventive thing. So there is more traditional and there is more kind of these artisans of food. So it appears that you've actually researched the ice cream versus gelato. Is it more fattening than ice cream? Well, so ice cream just has more butterfat and it's made with cream and gelato can be made with milk because it doesn't have to be frozen as hard. So yes, technically gelato, if you want to go all the way, you could get to have sorbet, which is dairy-free too. So you'd be a very healthy person if you had that. And what's your favorite? I mean, I have so many- Favorite flavor or top three. So I really love olive oil gelato. That's one of my favorite things to have. A lot of places make it very well in the city. I'm a big fan of just a really good stracciatella, which is just basically chocolate chip ice cream, but they make it in a very Italian way that just blows your mind, especially when it has good chocolate. And I mean, I also really appreciate some of the more inventive seasonal fruit flavors. There's like a- At Pozzo, for example, they make red grape, which you would never think there's anything special about that, but it's pretty amazing what they make. And before we take another break, what's your favorite gelato place in LA? Oh, I see. I named all my favorite places. I don't think I have any very favorite favorites. So you can't say you have it. Well, I mean, I appreciate different places for different reasons. So definitely Scoops is one of my favorites. Pozzo in my neighborhood, gelato bar, and Cool House and Bulgarini. So if I can have five, that would be what I would name. They're all good. They're all over the city too. So I can, I'm always, I'm not too far away. All right. Another break. We'll be back with Alyssa Walker. Okay. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We gotta disoccupy. Underscore. Damn. Occupied. Occupied. I got used to. Making mistakes. I got used to. Making mistakes. I tolerated. Phonies and fakes. I opened myself up. And let myself down. I gave them the rope. And now I'm hanging around. Hanging around. Like a fucking piñata. Must be open. You'll find out. Hanging around. A puppet on a string. Slice me open. You'll find out then. Hanging around. I'm just hanging around. Hanging around. I'm just hanging around. Hanging around. Like a fucking piñata. Must be open. Hang around. You'll find out. Hanging around. I'm just hanging around. I'm just hanging around. I'm just hanging around. Like a fucking piñata. Must be open and you'll find out. Hanging around. A puppet on a string. Sliced to open your front of it. Hanging around. I'm just hanging around. Hanging around. I'm just hanging around. I'm just hanging around. I'm just hanging around. I'm just hanging around. I'm just hanging around. I'm just hanging around. I'm just hanging around. I'm just hanging around. I'm just hanging around. I've been hanging around. house and what I've learned from interviewing is just is how much it is just a design is an amazing problem-solving technique right and um you just spoke on a panel what two weeks ago a week ago a couple weeks ago yeah yeah and that was at the director's guild it was at the screen actors yeah sag yeah sag okay and that was again I mean you were called because it was a car free yeah it was to celebrate um national walking day yeah who knew that I I didn't even know there was a whole uh uh holiday around walking every day is national walking day for me exactly um but it was really exciting uh there were a bunch of different people on the panel who ranged from actors to uh casting directors and Ed Begley Jr. who I referenced before he who's amazing art uh actor who uh loves to talk about all his environmental pursuits to make his life more green but he is actually like a very dedicated walker um cyclist he biked to the panel which was um you know by LACMA from his house in Studio City like road over Laurel Canyon yeah so he's very definitely made the effort I know right but for him that's like totally normal and like he doesn't understand why more of his um you know actor friends you know aren't doing the same thing but he said a really wonderful thing which is it's totally reminded me actually of of kind of your your whole vibe as well as that especially creatives and musicians you know why would you spend all the money on a car payment when you could save that money and then you wouldn't have to take jobs for money you'd have to take them just because you love to do them for the in the name of art so that to me was like that's the best idea ever to tell creatives and you know emerging uh musicians and actors who are trying to make it like you could have a little buffer and take the jobs that you actually want to take instead of working your ass off so you can you know right yeah it's uh you know it's so funny like you know I mean being involved in so many projects and and seeing people complain about driving it's like well you know you you chose to tie yourself to an automobile and now you're paying for it you know but yeah I mean so so who else spoke on that with you um we we had some really some really great people we had um everyone from a casting director um Kathy Rankin who you know kind of talked about you know the the reality of maybe going to uh auditions when uh you uh might be taking the bus there you know kind of like tips for maximizing your time and and learning uh the city and how it works um and we had a really great um actor and NC Box who you know is proudly car free and she was saying that she rides her bike to you know rehearsals and and she you know believes that it can be done like just like you say so it was it was just a really interesting peak of different lifestyles and and and I think that's what I'm really proud of and um you know everybody comes at it at a different direction and everybody you know gets a different thing out of it which is really inspiring so this was like a really like uh I mean it was all about spoon feeding these people every option like you know whether it's you're going to uh you know um an audition or you're going to acting class you know try to figure it out and insert it into your routine yeah that kind of thing yeah just kind of just it just like what we were talking about like you know knowing that there's another way out there and um you can try it if you want to and you could possibly see your life enhance I also thought it was interesting someone else was talking about how um being on the bus is a really good way to study characters and you know kind of look at these different people from walks of life to use that in your acting or it was also a really nice quiet time for you to read your lines and and memorize your lines so and Ed himself was taking the subway to do a David Mamet show and he was like I'm gonna do a David Mamet show and I'm gonna do a David Mamet play in downtown and running his lines to himself while he was you know on the subway I mean you could use a one hour bus line uh ride or a 30 minute uh a subway ride to really be productive oh yeah even whether it's reading or popping your phone open and writing emails that's what I do yeah you know and being super like you know efficient and then when you get to the surface street you know you're connected again you can send the emails and get them out so I mean not only do you save gas and and wear and tear and the stress but you're not going to be able to do that you also get more productivity out of your your travel time I think so yeah I you know people are always like oh it takes so much time takes so much time and it does but the time that you save is actually your time and so what I'll do is um use something called instapaper which um saves things for myself to read or you know I can also just read them online on my on my phone but I instead of like what I'm sitting is supposed to be working at my computer and uh distracting myself by watching a movie or something like that I'm gonna be able to do that and then I'm gonna be able to do that and then I'm gonna be able to do that and then I'm gonna be able to do that watching YouTube videos and reading stories I shouldn't be reading I save all that stuff put it in you know for my phone to see it later and then when I'm in transit I can spend that time you know entertaining myself or getting caught up on stories I need to read or doing research and so it actually I think just it's made me a better time manager in general I understand more how my day should go sure as far as um walking and using public transportation what's what what what can you offer people through your experience and knowledge so what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what 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So the two and the four kind of go down Sunset Boulevard and the two goes on Sunset and the four goes down Santa Monica all the way to the ocean. So those are kind of like my lifelines, I guess. Those are the ones that get me out to other places in the city. So I'm usually on buses. I very rarely actually ride subways and trains. The buses are kind of the backbone of the city and they're responsible for getting people around probably the most efficiently. So those are, I mean, they're my favorites just because I'm on them all the time. It's just funny. You start to know a lot of the drivers and you start to see some of the same people. People have recognized my shoes. You run into people. It's just so funny. You start to have this nice social community on the buses. Yeah, on wheels. A social community on wheels. Yeah. Not only that, it just seems like it's a melting pot. I mean, as it is, LA is a big melting pot for many cultures, et cetera. But the buses as well. The buses are the best slice of life you can get in the city. Like I said, I mean, content is arms distance away. Yeah. Whether it's photos, song ideas, movie ideas. Totally. Or your stunning characters. Right. It's super inspiring. And, you know, super interesting relationships, you know, that have, you know, happened for me personally. Just, you know, really being open and having a conversation. You see that person the next day and the next day and the next day. And, you know, they're a friend for eight years. Yeah. You know. It totally happened. I mean, I've had conversations with people at bus stops. You would never, I mean, sometimes they're saying things I don't quite understand. They're saying like crazy things sometimes. But you run into them. You run into all different people. And you really get to appreciate every single facet of life in the city. And, you know, I want to hear the stories of where people are coming from and where they're going. It's very interesting. Right. And it's inspiring. Yeah. You know. And, you know, we're all an extension of the city. And I think when you connect with someone via the human element through public transportation, you're getting the real deal. Yeah. Whether you're working or the person's not working. Whatever it is, there's some sincerity behind it somehow. Yeah. It's true. LA versus New York as far as public transportation goes. Obviously, you know, that's the stigma that comes with New York is the subway. And it runs 24 hours. Yeah. That's one thing they have on us. Yeah. Right. Do you think there will, I mean, let's take a step back. MTA has extended weekend hours till 2 a.m. It's true. You can go to the bars now and you can get home. Or a late show. The late show. The buses run later. You can always take the buses pretty late though. Well, there's some 24-hour lines. Yeah. Like the line 18. Yeah. But do you think we'll ever see a day where everything will be 24 hours? I think, well, I would hope that if the demand necessitates it, that they would extend it to that late. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. used to just kind of going home and or going home and partying at home because we have bigger homes um so i think the mentality is a little bit different i don't know if it will ever drive the the need for it to be this 24-hour system um everywhere and i actually kind of like that i i prefer you know in la it's cool to like go home and go to bed and not stay up all night necessarily get time to recharge the batteries yeah rejuvenate go home hit the refresh button but as far as i mean i mean do you think we'll ever see me how about one line i mean do you think we'll ever see one primary line well you kind of think like where are you going i guess it would have to be the red line downtown red line and people you know the bars would have to be staying open later so it would have to be kind of i just don't know what else you'd be doing after that time when everything's closed it's pretty it's pretty quiet but on weekends though i mean it's like you get the last one at two and then they start again at 4 30 that's true it's kind of it seems like if i just make the little connection the way i think about it is like we're almost there one run one more train yeah yeah you know i mean put put them there every half hour like three more and we're 24 hours exactly you know for me i think that's um that's that's the next step for being a public transportation friendly city and really really making people feel comfortable with the service um i do um i do believe that um from from the outside looking in or from the inside looking out because i take it so much ridership is up has definitely is has to be because you get on those buses on number two it's packed yeah oh i was on wilshire today um coming downtown for a meeting before i came here and five buses went by me didn't stop because they were too full so they had to pass they kept going yeah and everybody was so crazy mad and then the one that i finally did get on was crazy packed and it's just i mean wilshire has a lot of buses going by and i wasn't even waiting that long was that the 18 or the 720 it was the 720 and the 720 and 20 yeah but going by and uh it's just so funny like to people who are like oh nobody takes public transit here nobody and i just wanted to be like yeah right five full completely full long buses have just gone by sure and you know what i mean taking you know taking uh the red line during the red line i'm not sure if i'm going to be able to get to the Nissan Nissan Nissan in New York. You just tap and it says enter. Yeah. But, you know, I mean, you know, you got to hand it to the MTA. It's an honor system. Yeah, it's an honor system. You know, and it seems like it's working out well. I think that's a fine way to have it. Yeah. I don't know, though, I mean, from a legality issue, like what the ratio is of people being evading fare. You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, I'm sure that could be an issue for them. And I know I see the sheriffs down there checking fare. Yeah. They do check. Yeah. Yeah. The funny thing is I was laughing the other day because, you know, I have the E-ZPass. Right. But it's like a tap card, though. Yeah. Okay. So it's like this, when you scan it, it shows what value you have. Yeah. So they can identify what tier you're on. But the cop had a cell phone out and he had like an app. Yeah. And he was just like scanning. Holding up. Yeah. To see what it was. I thought that was really interesting. Yeah. Like to see a uniform sheriff, like the brown and green. You know, like street cop, like doing that. I was like, wow, that's really something. It's kind of amazing. The technology is good. Yeah. Yeah. I think the next step would be to put internet down there. I know. I really kind of wish that it would just, yeah, that you could get the internet down there. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that would be, I mean, I could see that happening. I don't think that's far fetched. So many other cities have it. It's kind of ridiculous that we don't. Right. Right. I mean, as far as, as far as the, you know, bells and whistles. I think our stations are pretty clean. I mean, I see, you know, I see a cleaning crew late, late at night at every station when you're coming home from somewhere and the next day they look great. I mean, there's not really graffiti. There's, you know, like they have a crew at every station. Yeah. It's pretty respectful. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Personally, my favorite is the Hollywood and Vine with the, the, the real. Yeah. The film canisters. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's pretty amazing because every red line station has its own. Story and they put that on the wall. Right. You know, but have you noticed a trend of seeing the red line and more commercials now? You know, there's definitely been in general, just a lot more of, of LA buses, trains. You can see them in tons. Once you start to look for them, it's funny because every car commercial is also filmed here, but it's, but yeah, you do see, you definitely see buses go by. You see a lot of things filmed in the red line in different stations. What's also interesting is a lot of car companies are filming things like the new parklets in downtown. Like you can, you see those pop up in a lot of even car ads or other ads where it's like, you know, people, hipsters perhaps enjoying a little cup of coffee in these little parklets, these little plazas. So it's even like the little pedestrian focused additions that are getting put into the city. Those are becoming, you know, interesting to advertisers. So that's cool. Right. And they have, for instance, have you been to LA Grill or LA Cafe? Oh, right there where that parklet is. Yeah. Yeah. Right in front of it. Yeah. There's like a stationary bike. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. At this parklet, this amazing, the Spring Street parklets, it's a parklet, it's just like a little miniature pedestrian plaza that takes up two parking spaces. And the one in front of LA Cafe on Spring Street has these little stationary bikes you can ride in this little parklet. It's supposed to be like a way to get exercise while you're, you know. While you eat a double cheeseburger and your Orange Julius. After you have some food from the LA Cafe. Yeah. And I mean, I got to tell you, a trickle down effect of a car free pedestrian friendly city is pretty clear when you see more bike racks popping up. Yep. All over the place. I think, for instance, in addition to that, you see a lot more cafes that provide, you know, just a, there's more. Maybe the place itself doesn't have a lot of real estate. Yeah. But they're actually, you know, providing more room outside for you to kind of relax because you're on foot and there's no parking. Yeah. That's a big issue. Like, I don't understand why we don't have more like outdoor seating or sidewalk seating in our restaurants. Do you think that's lacking overall? I think it's a big problem in LA and I don't really, no one can really explain it. You go to other cities, places like Austin where it's, you know, so it's not even, their weather is like, ours is, it's good weather. Our weather is much better and we have a much like longer season of warmth and sun and still they have better outdoor dining than us. And I want to figure out how to make LA be more of an outdoor dining destination. Right. As far as the city getting involved with like summer activities too, I find that they're doing more events closer to more public transportation. Like the Red Line. Yeah. Like the Pershing Square concert series. Have you attended any of those? Yeah, they have. So there's grand performances. That's like a free series. I'm really excited. You can take Angel's Flight. Yeah, you can take Angel's Flight up to the top. This little amazing funicular railroad, 109 years old. It's the shortest one in the world. Shortest funicular railroad in the world. I'm really excited to see what they do with Grand Park this summer. The new Park by City Hall, which is just a magical place if you haven't been to see it. It's one of the best. It's one of the coolest parks in the city, period, but definitely the best new park. And they have this, they have tons of, you know, they have like a taco festival there last week. Sure. And they have a lot of really good concerts. They blow up this big inflatable screen and screen things. Yeah, movies there. Movie night. Yeah. And they have the best fountain. Like it's like going to a pool in this fountain. You can actually, it has like this big splash pad. And you're encouraged to go in. Yeah, you're allowed to go in and like get your feet wet and kids like run around in their swimsuits and stuff. And it's very cool. It's very pet friendly. Yeah, it's totally, it's like a wonderful little oasis in the middle of the city. And there's even a Starbucks there. Yeah, there's a Starbucks right next door. So if you choose Starbucks over coffee being like I do, and you want that venti iced coffee unsweetened with no room twice a day, then all your needs are fulfilled. There you go. You can just put your feet in the fountain and have your frappuccino. Have your frappuccino. Yeah. And also the cool thing about it is you can get a free coffee. Yeah. Yeah. There's a, there's a lot of, I'm not going to say police, but there's a lot of security there. And I think that paints a good picture for the family environment. Cause I've seen a lot of families or take their children and have picnics and go in the fountain because it's so big, you know, and the bathrooms are clean overall. It's just a great situation. Yeah. I mean, it's a park that I think they're going to invest a lot of time and effort to maintain and not let it go to shit. Yeah. And also this summer, the river, um, the LA river, uh, and the part that goes by Atwater village is opening up for boating activities. So you can take kayaks down. I actually kayaked down the river last summer, way up north, like in Encino, but they're opening up a very small section, uh, right, you know, by Griffith park, Atwater village, where you can do like kayaking or boating, um, in the LA river right there. So that's a super exciting. Do you know the radius, like from where to where exactly? It'll be, you know, it's the park. It's the first part of the river where it actually has like trees and rocks in the bottom of it, you know, not the part where it's like a concrete, you know, place to, from the Terminator. So it's, um, you know, kinda, I think like the 134 freeway down to like Fletcher, like that kind of area. So you, you'll see, it looks like the place that's most like a river, but yeah, that they're letting people down and, and go in it. That's pretty amazing. Now, now is there gonna be like a little, uh, hub where you could rent things? Do you know? I hope so. Yeah. did the kayaking up in the LA River. It was this great lead, you know, guided trip and we rented kayaks and it was super fun. It was an amazing experience that I never thought I'd have in the LA River. Right, right. Now, as far as the old historic bridges, you know, Sixth Street, First Street, all that. I mean, have you walked those yet? I actually, my friend Dan that I talked about earlier, who does the big parade, he did an amazing bridge walk where they actually walked, I think, all the bridges, you know, starting in downtown, walking all the way through back and forth. I didn't actually go on that. I've walked over a few of them, especially the Sixth Street one, because that one is the one that's going to be torn down and this new project is going to replace it. Is that confirmed? It's confirmed. Yeah, it definitely has to come down. And then they had a contest and they have a winning proposal that they're going to, it's going to be a while. It's going to take a long time, of course, but it definitely has to come down. Because it's falling apart. So it's a safety thing. Yeah, yeah. It's not, I mean, it's sad. It's really beautiful and popular in car companies, as you said, and movies. But yeah, it's the one, I think other ones are in okay shape and that one, they determined they weren't able to save it. So yeah, walking the bridges downtown is one of the coolest experiences. They're so beautiful. My favorite is the Sixth Street Bridge, personally. Yeah, it's a good one. Because you got the downtown LA skyline to the west and then to the northwest Dodger Stadium. Yeah. You know. And it's just like really something to see when you're like, I don't know, the sun setting. You know, it's a nice, nice view. Easy on the eyes. Well, Alyssa, thank you very much. That wraps it up. And anything you want to talk about before we go? Anything you want to plug? Oh, you know, just get out there and try to experience your city in a different way. You can visit my website, which is awalkerinla.com. And you can also follow me on Twitter at Gelato Baby. And I'm on Instagram, awalkerinla. Very cool. Thank you very much. Thank you. This episode of Los Angeles Nista is brought to you by La Mascota Bakery, a family-owned business serving the community since 1952. Tamales and sweetbread, made the old-fashioned way daily. Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Nissan Go for gold The key side To where it falls The sub-train of time Going through the design Of the way to island walk I'm on a tour lane To where it falls Connecting these eyes I go for gold I'm on a tour lane