Don’t listen to the haters. L.A. IS a walking town

Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

• Haters will say L.A. is built for cars. But The Times’ city walking guide reveals it’s a pedestrian’s paradise.
• A bomb cyclone is bringing extreme rain and wind to California.
• 72 awesome things to do with kids in L.A. before they grow up.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper.

Walk like an Angeleno

There are plenty of great places to walk in Los Angeles. You just have to know where to go.

(Illustrations by Alva Skog / For The Times; Photos by Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times, Al Seib / Los Angeles Times and Wojtek Zagorski / Getty Images)

Though walking might not be built into the lives of most Angelenos, L.A. is still a wonderful place for a stroll. Its sidewalks are lined with blooming foliage, its street corners packed with culinary delights and its skies perpetually clear. You just have to know where to go.

I only recently rediscovered that. Let me set the scene: It was late October. I was preparing to host a Halloween party, juggling a few major work projects, in the midst of signing a lease for a new home and perpetually stressed about the election. When I accidentally shattered a glass pitcher on my kitchen floor, I knew I’d reached a breaking point. So I decided to abandon my immediate plans and go on a long early-evening stroll.

Winding behind the Eagle Rock rec center into the hills, I watched kids practice soccer and imagined a life where all I needed to do was kick a ball. I savored the wind rustling through the century-old trees around Occidental College. I took in the view at the top of a hill and felt briefly minuscule. And came out on the other side of campus to bask in the smells, noises and conversational snippets of York Street in Highland Park. Instead of thinking about all the things I needed to do, or the many things outside my control, I dedicated myself to the task at hand: exploring.

I had willed a renewed appreciation for my mobility and my community — all by putting one foot in front of the other.

Which brings me to our recent walking guide. It celebrates the people and places keeping L.A.’s sidewalks alive. Here are 8 ways you can start moving through them.

• Go on an essential L.A. walk. How much of L.A. have you really seen? Times reporter Deborah Netburn assembled 11 walks for the curious and open-minded L.A. explorer that comes with mapped-out routes. Each is under 3 miles and designed to reveal a new side of an L.A. neighborhood.
• Join a local walking club. Going for a stroll is even better if you can make friends along the way. Times reporters Jeanette Marantos and Kailyn Brown found 10 community groups that regularly walk together. Options range from deliberately “slow walkers” to fast-paced staircase climbers.
• Follow a daylong, 27.4-mile journey along one L.A. boulevard. Times reporter Jaclyn Cosgrove traversed the entirety of Washington Boulevard in a day and lived to tell the tale. The journey opened their eyes to the city’s endless diversity.
• Discover the benefits of a walking ritual. Times reporter Deb Vankin has walked the same 5.4-mile path in Griffith Park 400 times — a ritual that, as she reports in vivid detail, provides a unique perspective.
• Take a celebrity-guided stroll. For each episode of his podcast “Walkin’ About,” comedian Allan McLeod accompanies a celebrity on their favorite L.A. walk. Perhaps one might inspire your next trek?
• Embark on a tour of L.A.’s Free Little Libraries. There are 1,600 book-filled boxes that allow you to grab or donate something to read in L.A. County. Times contributor Jackie Snow rounded up 8 neighborhood walks that will bring you to a few especially impressive outposts.
• See just how walkable your neighborhood is. There are many criteria out there to determine an area’s “walkability.” Times reporter Adam Tschorn applied his own subjective L.A. standards to come up with a pithy ranking.
• Participate in the annual Great L.A. Walk. Hundreds of people will traverse L.A. tomorrow for the ninth annual Great L.A. Walk thanks to organizer Michael Schneider. You can learn about its history in Vankin’s profile of Schneider. Or join yourself. This year it will begin at the city’s oldest palm tree in Exposition Park at 9 a.m. and end at UCLA’s Bruin statue. As a bonus, I’ll be there at the beginning to hand out issues of our walking guide. Details about the meeting spots and walking path can be found here.

It’s my sincere hope that this list helps you out of the house and onto L.A.’s wonderful sidewalks. The best way to start something new is to go one step at a time.

Today’s top stories

A bomb cyclone moves down the West Coast on Wednesday as seen from space.

(Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere / National Weather Service)

A bomb cyclone storm could cause rain the L.A. area. How bad will it be?

• Forecasters say Southern California could see rain beginning this weekend and into early next week. The rainfall is expected to be less severe than in Northern California, where some areas may receive more than 12 inches.
• The monster storm kicks off California’s rainy season, but officials say it’s too early to tell what the rest of the winter could bring.
• The storm is so large that it was seen approaching California from space.

The latest in the Trump transition

• New details emerged in the Monterey sexual assault claim against Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice for Defense secretary.
• Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chief pick could make life more difficult for media companies.
• More than 1,500 criminal defendants charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection, including some from California, eagerly await pardons from Trump.
• Trump’s victory has emboldened conservatives seeking to ban books about race and gender identity at schools.
• Several SoCal teachers are facing discipline after anti-Trump outbursts that rattled school communities and generated fierce debate over teachers’ rights.

Phillips 66 was indicted for allegedly dumping wastewater into L.A. County sewers

• A federal grand jury indicted Phillips 66 for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act by dumping tens of thousands of gallons of oil and grease into the county sewer system, the Justice Department said.
• The alleged dumping took place at the company’s Carson refinery, which is expected to close late next year.

Shohei Ohtani unanimously won his third MVP award

• The award caps off a historic season for Ohtani, who became the first member of the 50-50 club.
• Ohtani put up the best season by any L.A. athlete ever, columnist Bill Plaschke writes.
• In other Dodgers news, Freddie Freeman’s grand slam ball will be auctioned and is expected to fetch millions.

What else is going on

• Whooping cough — highly contagious and potentially dangerous — has surged in California to levels not seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Women will make up nearly half of the California Legislature, setting a new record in Sacramento.
• Eric and Lyle Menendez will appear in court on Monday as they seek to downgrade their first-degree murder conviction and potentially be freed.
• A human skull and bones washed ashore in Palos Verdes Estates, sparking an investigation.
• The burning of a tree in South Los Angeles led firefighters to a grim discovery.

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Commentary and opinions

• Trump lied incessantly and still won, columnist Mark Z. Barabak writes. Should others do the same?
• Trump’s anti-science backers are going after water fluoridation, a historic healthcare success, business columnist Michael Hiltzik writes.
• Columnist Jackie Calmes asks: Who’s the vice president-elect? Elon Musk or JD Vance?
• Transgender people are the vulnerable ones in the halls of power, not a threat as Nancy Mace, Marjorie Taylor Greene and others treat them, columnist Robin Abcarian writes.
• Let’s not let political chaos distract us from the unfolding climate catastrophe, the Editorial Board writes.

This morning’s must-reads

(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)

The “Love Boat” faces a tragic ending in a lonely California slough. The MS Aurora, a 70-year-old cruise ship that inspired TV’s “The Love Boat,” sits abandoned outside Stockton. The ship’s demise has broken the hearts of a long line of men who could not save her.

Other must-reads

• Daniel Lurie was raised in old-money San Francisco. Can he be the city’s change agent?
• Behind Comcast’s big TV deal is a bleak picture for a once-mighty cable industry.
• Palm Springs hated his AIDS memorial design, but the artist turned the debacle into redemption.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your downtime

Los Angeles is filled with memorable activities for kids of all ages — and attention spans.

(Photographs by Robyn Breen Shinn / For The Times)

Going out

• 🛝 From jumping into slime to reading to a dog, here are 72 awesome things to do with kids in L.A. before they grow up.
• 🛍️ Need a creative alternative to Black Friday? Look to L.A.’s museum stores.
• 🎸 Los Angeles art-punk veterans L7 launches its first-ever mini festival at the Belasco theater.

Staying in

• 🎄 Christmas is coming to television. Here’s a guide on what to watch this holiday season.
• 📺 “A Man on the Inside,” starring Ted Danson on Netflix, is sweet, serious but always funny, our critic writes.
• 🎙️ “Simpsons” voice actor Pamela Hayden will bid farewell to Springfield’s Milhouse and other characters she helped bring to life for more than 30 years.
• 📚 “Stranger Than Fiction” explores how novels changed in the 20th century.
• 🍸 Here’s a recipe for the Purtill family’s nocino Negroni.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

A question for you: What is your favorite movie that captures the essence of California?

From “Lady Bird” to “Troop Beverly Hills,” the Golden State has starred in a wide range of movies. What’s your favorite?

John Doody writes: “How about the original ‘Parent Trap’? As a young man living on the East Coast, those images of ranch and mountain life in California inspired my move out West.”

Adelaide writes: “I would add two others to the list, even though they both primarily encapsulate the essence of Southern California. They are ‘Chinatown’ (doesn’t get more iconic than a film noir that tackles tremendous geopolitical issues that still affect us to this day), and ‘L.A. Story.’ (Though charmingly 90s and therefore a bit dated, it’s a beautiful, quirky, honest love letter to Los Angeles created by a near native.)”

And Raymond Ballesteros writes: “One of my all time favorite movies to see that truly captures the essence of California, hands down, is ‘Sideways.’

“Alexander Payne seizes the beauty and majesty of California’s Santa Barbara wine country, including a handful of wineries that encapsulates the hearts of fellow wine lovers across California and the country. Of course, not to be watched with a glass of Merlot!”

Thank you for all the responses this week. The most-recommended movie was “Chinatown,” with a second-place tie between “Sideways,” “L. A. Story” and “Point Break.”

And finally ... your photo of the day

Today’s great photo is from Fernando Seisdedos of Windsor: the Golden Gate Bridge as seen from Treasure Island.

Fernando writes: “It was Christmas Eve of 2023 and we walked along the Treasure Island perimeter at sunset, before dinner at our son’s place. The Golden Gate Bridge in the horizon looked amazing under the burning skies.”

Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

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