During this two-hour “Urban Safari,” attendees will learn about the history of pedestrian walkways or “pedways” in Downtown Los Angeles with Dan Koeppel, organizer of the Big Parade LA and acclaimed author. The pedways are a network of pedestrian bridges and pathways that made up a never-fulfilled utopian plan for Los Angeles, the 1970s vision of City Planning Director Calvin Hamilton. Hamilton’s vision to connect people to people movers was part of a larger plan to ease traffic that ran out of federal funding in the 1980s. Some current users of these pedways are fond of their futuristic, Blade-Runner feel. However, planners since Hamilton have been wary of pedways, seeing them as a means of alienating people from ground level street life. Is there a role for pedways in the future? Explore this question and navigate this unique urban terrain on the tour.

Meet at Grand Park in front of Starbucks, between 1st and Temple Streets.