The Lowdown on Downtown September 15, 2012

Provocative Downtown LA bus tour strips away gentrification hype to reveal secret urban histories

WHAT: Esotouric presents "The Lowdown on Downtown: The Secret History of Los Angeles" urban history bus and walking tour, part of the Reyner Banham Loves LA architecture and urbanism series
WHEN: Saturday, September 15, 11am-3:00pm
COST: $58
WHERE: Departs from The Daily Dose, 1820 Industrial St., Los Angeles, CA 90021
INFO: http://www.esotouric.com or call 213-373-1947
"Dorothy Parker once described Los Angeles as 72 suburbs in search of a city. Thanks to [Esotouric's Richard] Schave and his friends that may finally be changing." – Michael Benedict, Toronto Star

LOS ANGELES- It seems like everyone is talking about Downtown L.A. – from the Grand Park to Occupy LA, thriving indie businesses to the arrival of Starbucks, riot police at Art Walk to an artistic enterprise zone on Broadway, streetcars to bike lanes, the King Eddy Saloon to Bottega Louie. But even Los Angeles natives still have trouble understanding how Downtown works and how it got that way.

That's why Esotouric, the eclectic bus adventure company whose tours reveal the secret history of L.A. through crime, culture and literature, is offering Richard Schave's THE LOWDOWN ON DOWNTOWN: THE SECRET HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES, a provocative tour in the "Reyner Banham Loves L.A." architecture and urbanism series. The tour exists to put the old ghosts and memories that cling to the historic core into context, and provide natives and visitors with the tools to understand how this most fascinating neighborhood was built, used, abandoned, rediscovered, redeveloped and rebranded -- and what's next for Downtown in a post-CRA Los Angeles.

Esotouric is uniquely suited to explain Downtown. The husband-and-wife team of Kim Cooper and Richard Schave were named purveyors of the Best Downtown Tours by the Downtown News, are the creators of three "time travel blogs" exploring lost L.A. lore (On Bunker Hill, In SRO Land and 1947project), and volunteered to place the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk into a non-profit in 2009. Schave's most memorable TV appearance was as the Downtown expert on the History Channel's "Cities of the Underworld," guiding host Don Wildman through the prohibition-era tunnels beneath the old King Edward Hotel, he was invited to lecture on urban L.A. at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, and he has been heard on KPCC and KCRW lamenting the pending closure of the King Eddy Saloon, the last Skid Row bar. Kim and Richard's ongoing passion for uncovering the variety of Downtown's hidden history means that every tour is different, and that you'll learn things that the other tour companies can't or won't tell you.

ABOUT THE TOUR:
THE LOWDOWN ON DOWNTOWN is a guided social history of the mysterious, complex and rapidly evolving center of L.A., a thriving commercial and residential neighborhood that was intentionally depopulated in the 1950s and is currently experiencing an extraordinary rebirth. Everyone complains L.A. lacks a center -- this tour explains why. Passengers will visit exquisite architectural gems, including some seldom seen by the general public, but they'll also enjoy a sophisticated analysis of the economic and social tools used to rebuild downtown (including a discussion of what's next for redevelopment in the aftermath of the dissolution of the controversial Community Redevelopment Agency), learn how the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk sprung up on the city's meanest streets and played a significant roll in transforming them, meet creative residents and explore unique destinations. A central theme on the tour is the privatization of public space, and how Business Improvement Districts are seeking to transform the urban core, and running up against resistance from civil libertarians, loft owners and homeless and park advocates.

Featured locations include the intentionally depopulated Bunker Hill and its Angels Flight funicular railway, Grand Central Market, Pershing Square (with its tribute to novelist John Fante and some of the most draconian rules of any public space in the city -- site of a recent standoff between LAPD and Occupy LA chalk art protesters), the European-style dining alley St. Vincent's Court, the Mercantile Arcade Building (an exact replica of a London landmark), and a surprising excursion into the neighborhood's underground arts scene.

So climb aboard THE LOWDOWN ON DOWNTOWN tour and explore one of America's most fascinating neighborhoods with the tour company Lonely Planet calls "hip, offbeat, insightful and entertaining."
Upcoming Esotouric bus tour and special event schedule (free events starred)
*Sun September 2 - The Flâneur & The City: Broadway walking tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat September 8 - Weird West Adams
Sat September 15 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: The Lowdown on Downtown
Sat September 22 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice
Sat September 29 - The Real Black Dahlia
Sat October 6 - Pasadena Confidential (weekend pass available)
Sun October 7 - Eastside Babylon (weekend pass available)
Sat October 13 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare
Mon October 15- The LAVA Salon at Musso & Frank: Jim Tully: A Hobo in Hollywood (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat October 27 - Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles
Sun October 28 - Crime lab seminar: The Wisdom of Teeth (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat November 3 - Charles Bukowski's Los Angeles
Sun November 4 – Blood & Dumplings crime bus tour
Sat December 1 - Pasadena Confidential crime bus tour (weekend pass available)
Sun December 2 - Eastside Babylon crime bus tour (weekend pass available)
Sat December 8 - Weird West Adams crime bus tour
Sat December 15 – Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice crime bus tour

Esotouric's Richard Schave, Kim Cooper and Joan Renner are proud members of LAVA - The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. http://www.lavatransforms.org

For more info on Esotouric, visit http://www.esotouric.com

For more info on Esotouric, please visit http://www.esotouric.com
For more on Reyner Banham, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reyner_Banham
And the BBC documentary "Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles"
http://reyner.notlong.com

Official Website: http://www.esotouric.com