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"I thought you might get a kick out of a photo side project I’ve been working on called Narrow Streets: Los Angeles, where I head out to locations in LA (some requested by readers), snap pix of streets, and then narrow them down in Photoshop," writes reader David Yoon. So here’s Echo Park on an ordinary day:

David writes:

Reader Marc Phu sent in an enthusiastic request (my first evar!) to shoot Echo Park’s main drag, and I was more than happy to oblige by scooting out there one Sunday morning. Sunset Blvd. stirs with life early on, with bus commuters chatting in their queues and vendors selling savory goodies like tamales. But it also suffers from that classic LA reality gap: despite having a de facto 25mph business district speed limit on paper, the street is built six lanes wide for speed and routinely allows traffic to barrel through at 50mph. Calming those rapids by narrowing the thoroughfare would let Echo Park’s colors really shine through, up close + personal.

Now comes photoshop, and David’s imagination. Here’s what a pedestrian- and bike-friendly Echo Park might look like:

Want to see more of LA streets re-imagined? Please visit David’s website.

Jeremy Adam Smith

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeremy Adam Smith

Jeremy Adam Smith is the editor who helped launch Shareable.net. He's the author of The Daddy Shift (Beacon Press, June 2009); co-editor of The Compassionate Instinct (W.W. Norton


Things I share: Mainly babysitting with other parents! I also share all the transportation I can, through bikes and buses and trains and carpooling.