January 26, 2009
UHL: The Wilshire Plan
Henry Gaylord Wilshire was a real estate developer who moved to Los Angeles in 1884. In 1895, he donated a strip of land running through one of his many barley fields to the city “to constitute a throughway for the giving of public exhibitions, parades and the landing of aeroplanes.”
In 1900, Wilshire gave a speech in a public park in which he urged the city council to expand this strip, which was by then known as “Wilshire’s Boolevarde,” all the way to the Pacific Ocean. This speech was regarded as socialist rabble-rousing, and Wilshire was immediately arrested and deported to New York, where he died destitute.
The next major milestone for Wilshire Blvd. occurred in 1996 when super-soldier Snake Plissken, in an attempt to rescue the President’s daughter and recover the remote control to the “Sword of Damocles” doomsday device, surfed a tidal wave down the length of the street on the advice of Peter Fonda.
It is this latter legendary journey that the Urban Hiking League recently reenacted by convening at Wilshire’s trailhead downtown and marching 16 miles to its terminus at the sheer Santa Monica cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Here are some field notes from the expedition:
The Financial District
Wilshire Blvd. could not have a more impressive trailhead. The towering One Wilshire Building has such a grand address that “one” must be spelled out in letters. On a Saturday morning, the tall buildings that flank downtown Wilshire are spookily empty, giving the stretch east of the 110 a tumbleweedy, Omega-Man vibe.
MacArthur Park
We passed MacArthur Park around 11 in the morning since, according to reports, this place is melting in the dark. Cake available weather permitting.
Mid-Wilshire
The amorphous region known as Mid-Wilshire usually includes at least either/both Koreatown and/or Miracle Mile. Mid-Wilshire is home to many of L.A.’s most famous architectural landmarks, including numerous Art Deco hotels, the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the Wiltern Theatre, and, of course, El Castillo del Frog.
La Brea Tar Pits
Oh come on, Los Angeles. This is just downright bizarre. Not only is there an open pool of prehistoric tar belching sulfur into the middle of the busy Miracle Mile commercial district but someone’s decided to float a fiberglass mastadon on top. Down the road a touch, we’ve got the museum of contemporary art, which features a grove of lampposts tailor-made for urban hikers to cavort around.
Beverly Hills
In Beverly Hills, Snake Plissken encounters a gang of psychotic plastic surgeons out to harvest his flesh. As far as I can tell, this is pure fiction. There are, however, plenty of flamboyant hair stylists, valium-addled trophy wives, and grotesque rat-like canines riding in handbags. The stereotypes in many ways couldn’t be more accurate.
Westwood
As we pass through UCLA territory, we have to fight our way through a pro-Gaza rally. “1,2,1,2,3,” they chant, “Palestine something something free.” I was not swayed by their unorthodox counting or their rhyming, but the fashionable kuffiyehs around their necks won me over.
Santa Monica
At the end of the road, Saint Monica greets us with open arms.
See more pictures from The Wilshire Plan on Panoramio