Le Centre-Ville

There is something so intoxicating about being in a city. There are almost no words to describe the sense of awe and being you have when moving through a downtown area. In downtown, you simply feel like a part of everything. You become a small part of the city, and yet the city consumes you at that moment. There are so many elements of past, present, and future in downtowns such as Los Angeles that you simply cannot help but to ponder your place in the grand scheme and context of it all. This is one of the reasons why I love to travel and why I love history. Travel allows us to become a part of history, if only for a brief moment in time.

While often times I wonder if traveling is any different than looking at a picture or reading about a specific place, especially given the technologies we have which can capture so much, nothing can compare to being there. Standing in Times Square and strolling through Central Park at the turn of winter as it faded into spring was such a moving experience that I cannot begin to describe. One would have to be there to experience the eclectic ecology, the awesome mix of architecture, landscaping, and people moving in and through the city. No one can truly capture and recreate the aura and sense of a place completely. Even places like Disneyland and Las Vegas, in their attempt to recreate popular scenes and settings, have created something entirely shiny and new when compared to reality.

One of the worst things about Downtown Los Angeles is the traffic, and the I-110 that runs through the middle of town certainly does not help any problems the city faces. However, having had to drive on that freeway nearly every day for a few years, I have to say it is one of my absolute favorite things about living in LA, sans the traffic part. It's so tempting to look up and gaze at the skyscrapers when you are driving through. I never got over the fact that I was there, in Los Angeles, one of the biggest and most famous cities in the world. There's nothing like driving through downtown LA on the 110 on a sunny day - without traffic.

Being in Los Angeles, as well as in any other city I have been so fortunate to experience, gives me the itch, the need to create. The feeling I get when being in a city inspires me to express how I feel and make my personal mark on this world, no matter how big or small. I believe many other people feel the same way, which explains why so many artists, architects, businessmen, and creators of all sorts are drawn there, at least on one level.