Having lived in Los Angeles since the mid-1990s, I’m used to a Pershing Square that’s filled with large concrete balls, expanses of tile, and a weirdly abstract, angular tower. In 1952, the park was excavated to build an underground parking garage, so Angelenos lost this peaceful, shady, almost bucolic oasis in the middle of their bustling city. This shot of the square is from around 1890, when it was known as called Sixth Street Park, and Los Angeles was still pretty much only what we now think of as downtown LA. How nice it must have been to stroll down the paths and maybe sit on a bench and watch the world amble by.
I thought the auto-colorizer did a pretty good job at bringing this scene to life.
This is how Pershing Square looked in May 2022.
Everything is uglier and worse in L.A.
That’s why I left after in 2015 after 25 years…
and the last 17 years were in lovely (by comparison) Burbank
Love these old photos of LA area. Reminds me of an episode of the Twighlight Zone, A Stop at Willougby. Hard to believe what LA and surrounding area used to be like. I grew up in a different time and like Rich I left about 40 years ago for the same reason.
There were still some trees/bushes in Pershing Square when I was in high school in the late 60s. This iteration is ugly.
Would love to have this again, sadly it’s the city’s own people who destroy and create problems, not mention the dog walkers who let their dogs shi everywhich way.
We can never have anything good, this stems from weak liberal laws and lack of accountability.