Alyssa Walker on design journalism, public transit, and LA city life

We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. Hey, that was It's Casual. You're listening to Los Angeles Nista. My in-studio guest, Alyssa Walker, back for another segment. How are you? Another round. Another round. I'm ready. Round three. Round three. So I wanted to let everyone know that you're involved in radio. I am. And let's talk about the show you're involved in. And it's on KCRW. KCRW. It's called DNA Design and Architecture. It's on Tuesday, the third Tuesday of every month. At 2.30 p.m. And now we have also a weekly podcast where we interview exciting, up-and-coming designers and architects in the city. And what's your role in this? So I am what is called a design journalist. And since this is KCRW, we call ourselves DJs. And so if you think about all the great stuff that KCRW does for music, discovering new artists and going out and supporting them at their shows, we're trying to do the same thing for designers and architects and artists. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. We're DJs who are looking for emerging styles and talents and cool projects that are happening in the city. And how long have you been involved with the show? I've been working with Frances Anderton, who's the show's host for, oh gosh, like since before I got rid of my car. So that's probably like seven years maybe. And I've been helping her in a variety of ways. I've been doing a lot of the web content, managing the calendar of events that we promote. Right. and doing some on-air reporting or interviewing and whenever the need arose. So this is a really exciting new step for the show. We had a big party a couple weeks ago to launch it at the Helms Bakery Complex. And it's going to be growing and becoming a major force in the local radio community. Right. Now, it's on live the third Tuesday of every month. That's right. But as far as the podcast goes, people could get it on the KCRW homepage or iTunes. You could get it on, if you go to kcrw.com slash DNA, you could get the shows there. And if you, yeah, subscribe on iTunes, you'll get it delivered to your whatever iTunes library every week when the show gets released. Very nice. And how long is the show? It's a half an hour. The show airs half an hour live. I assume the podcasts are also a half an hour. I should know that actually. It'd be funny that I don't know that, but I think they're a half an hour. I think, I don't know. Well, we'll just all download and figure it out for ourselves. Yeah. Save some time to listen. It's good, you know, see how long it is and you'll enjoy it. Have you learned much about the architectural world from being involved? I think it's really interesting to talk about design and architecture on the radio because you can't show people things. You have to really get your articulation chops in place, right? Well, it's just you realize how much about design is really just about these challenges or about... people trying to solve a problem is what it comes down to. And you don't really think about it. Sometimes you just look at something that's... You're like, oh, it's so pretty. Like, that's... What a beautiful chair. What a beautiful house. And what I've learned from interviewing is just... is how much it is just design is an amazing problem-solving technique. Right. And you just spoke on a panel, what, two weeks ago or a week ago? A couple weeks ago, yeah. Yeah, and that was at the Director's Guild. It was at the Screen Actors Guild, actually, yeah. Screen Actors Guild. SAG. Yeah, SAG. Okay. And that was... Again, I mean, you were called because it was a car-free topic. Yeah, it was to celebrate National Walking Day. Yeah, who knew that... I didn't even know there was a whole holiday around walking. Every day is National Walking Day for me. Exactly. But it was really exciting. There were a bunch of different people on the panel who ranged from actors to casting directors and Ed Bigley Jr., who I referenced before, who's an amazing actor who... loves to talk about all of his environmental pursuits to make his life more green. But he is actually a very dedicated walker, cyclist. He biked to the panel, which was by LACMA, from his house in Studio City, like, rode over Laurel Canyon. Wow. Yeah. So he's very, very dedicated. Definitely made the effort. I know, right? But for him, that's totally normal. He doesn't understand why more of his actor friends aren't doing the same thing. But he said a really wonderful thing, which is... It's totally reminded me, actually, of kind of your whole vibe, as well as that, especially creatives and musicians and actors who are out there trying to make it in LA. 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 in the name of art. So that, to me, was like, that's the best idea ever to tell creatives and, you know, emerging musicians and actors who are trying to make it. Yeah. 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, you know, it's so funny. Like, you know, I mean, being involved in so many projects and seeing people complain about driving, it's like, well, you know, you chose to tie yourself to an automobile and now you're paying for it, you know? But yeah, I mean, so who else spoke on that with you? We had some really great people. We had... Everyone from a casting director, Kathy Rankin, who, you know, kind of talked about, you know, the reality of maybe going to auditions when you might be taking the bus there, you know, kind of like tips for maximizing your time and learning the city and how it works. And we had a really great actor, NC Box, who, you know, is proudly car-free and she was saying that she rides her bike to, you know, rehearsals and she, you know, believes that it can be done, like, just like you say. So it was just a really interesting peak of different lifestyles and, you know, everybody comes at it at a different direction and everybody, you know, gets a different thing out of it, which was really inspiring. So this was like a really, like, I mean, it was all about spoon-feeding these people. Every option, like, you know, whether it's you're going to, you know, an audition or you're... 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... Just like what we were talking about before, it's just options. Like, you know, knowing that there's another way out there and you can try it if you want to and you could possibly see your life enhanced. I also thought it was interesting. Someone else was talking about how 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. Yeah. Or it was also a really nice quiet time for you to read your lines and memorize your lines. So, and Ed himself was taking the subway to 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 ride or a 30-minute subway ride to really be productive. Oh, yeah. I mean, 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 you can do it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 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 wear and tear and the stress, but you also get more productivity out of 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 use something called Instapaper, which saves, I'll use things for myself to read or, you know, I can also just read them online on my phone. But I, instead of like what I'm sitting, I'm supposed to be working at my computer and distracting myself by 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 that it's made me a better time manager in general. I understand more how my day should go. So. Sure. As far as walking and using public transportation, what can you offer people through your experience and knowledge that are going to be trying this? What's the best combination of lines to see the most in LA? Would you say between red line and bus? Do you have a routine that you could share with someone? Yeah, it's funny because, you know, I'm a freelance writer. So I work at home. I work in my office. So I don't go to like the same place every day. I actually have to go to a lot. I go to different places all the time and interview people or go to events or whatever. So for me, my main, you know, the buses I'm on the most are the four and the two and the 704. 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. But it's just funny. You start to know a lot of the drivers and you start to see some of the same people. And yeah, people have recognized my shoes. And people have like, you know, just you see funny things. You see friends. You run into people. It's just so funny. You start to have this like nice social community on the buses. On wheels. A social community on wheels. And not only that, it just seems like it's a melting pot. I mean, as it is, L.A. is a big melting pot for many cultures, etc. But the buses as well. The buses are the best slice of life you can get in the city. Like I said, I mean, the content is arms distance away. Whether it's photos, song ideas, movie ideas, or your stunning characters. Right. You know? 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. But they're saying like crazy things. Crazy things sometimes. But 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. 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. There's still 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. The difference between New York and LA is New York is way more of a 24 hour city. I don't think LA will ever be like our bars close way earlier than New York. People I think are used to just kind of going home and or going home and partying at home because we have bigger homes. So I think the mentality is a little bit different. I don't know if it will ever drive the need for it to be this 24 hour system everywhere. And I actually kind of like that. I prefer. I prefer, you know, in LA it's cool to like go home and go to bed and not stay up all night necessarily. You get time to recharge the batteries. Yeah. Rejuvenate. You gotta go home. Hit the refresh button. But as far as, I mean, I mean, do you think we'll ever see, 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. It would have to be the 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 430. 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. 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, that's, that's the next step for being a public transportation friendly city. Yep. Yep. Yep. Really, really making people feel comfortable with the service. I do believe that from, from the outside looking in or from the inside looking out, because I take it so much, ridership is up. Hasn't been. Definitely is. Hasn't been. Because you get on those buses on number two, it's packed. Yeah. Oh, I was on Wilshire today, coming downtown for a meeting before I came here and five buses went by me. It 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 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 the red line during high peak hours. Yeah. Like 7 a.m. to, you know, 11 a.m. or evening rush hour. I mean, it's just, you know, slam now. Yeah. And it's, but it wasn't like that before. No, no. No, no. Now, do you remember the days when the red line were like, you walk in and you get a seat? Yeah. You know, and there's no one standing in the areas. And there weren't turnstiles either at all for a long time too. Right. I remember that. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Well, yeah, they don't lock like in New York. You just tap and it says enter. 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? 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 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 it. Holding up, yeah, to see what it was. I thought that was really interesting. Yeah. Like to see a uniformed 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 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 reel. Yeah. The film canisters. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 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 in more commercials now? You know, there's definitely been in general, just a lot more 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. Right. 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. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. know interesting to advertisers so that's cool right and they have uh 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 the this parklet these are this amazing at the spring street parklets it's a parklet it's just like a little miniature pedestrian plaza that takes up two uh parking spaces and the one in 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 well you double cheeseburger your orange julius some food from the la cafe yeah and i mean and i gotta tell you um 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 um for instance in addition to that you see a lot more cafes that provide you know just uh there's more uh maybe the place itself doesn't have a lot of real estate yeah but they're actually you know providing uh 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 uh like outdoor seating or sidewalk seating in our restaurant do you think that's lacking i think it's a big problem in la and i don't really know 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 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 um as far as uh the city getting involved with like summer activities too i find that they're doing more um events closer to more public transportation stops like the red line yeah uh like the persian square concert series have you attended any of those yeah they have so there's grand performances that's like a free um series i'm really excited angels flight yeah you can take angels 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 um this summer the new park by city hall yeah which is just a magical place if you haven't been to see it 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 like a taco festival there last year they have a lot of really good concerts they blow up this big inflatable screen and screen things yeah movies movie night yeah and they have the best fountain like it's like a going to a pool in this fountain you can actually it has like a this big splash pad and you're encouraged yeah you're a lot of people yeah yeah yeah yeah How to go in and get your feet wet and kids run around in their swimsuits and stuff. And 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. 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 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 because I've seen a lot of families that take their children and have picnics and go in the fountain because it's so big. Yeah. You know, and the bathrooms are clean. Overall, it's just a great situation. It's a nice park. Yeah. I mean, it's a park that I think they're going to invest. It's a lot of time and effort to maintain. Yeah. And not let it go to shit. And also this summer, the river, the LA River 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. Wow. But they're opening up a very small section right by Griffith Park, Atwater Village, where you can do like kayaking or boating in the LA River right there. Yeah. That's a super exciting. Do you know the radius like from where to where exactly? It'll be, you know, it's the 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 from the Terminator. So it's, you know, kind of, I think like the 134 freeway down to like Fletcher, like that kind of area. So you'll see it looks like the place that's most like a river. But yeah, that they're letting people down and go in it. That's pretty amazing. Now, is there going to be like a little hut? A little club where you could rent things? I hope so. Yeah. I think that that is probably part of the plan that when I 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 pervy. 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. Yeah. And movies. But yeah, it's the one, like, 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. And it's just like really something to see when you're like, I don't know, in the sun setting. It's a 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 GelatoBee. Yeah. I'm gelatobebe. 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. 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