Image from Damian Dovarganes/AP

When the Century Plaza Hotel emerged on the LA landscape in the 1960’s, it was modern and sleek. Now that it is dwarfed by taller, thinner buildings, new owner Michael Rosenfeld wants to demolish the building and replace it with two sleek new towers.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and actress Diane Keaton stand in opposition to this new project. They want to protect this historic hotel because of its cultural value and distinctive shape. Other concerns include the un-green notion of tearing down a perfectly good building and building another for mainly aesthetic reasons.

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Los Angeles resorts suit lifestyles from urban chic to surf culture:

Hending south from Ventura County, travelers can turn inland on State Route 126 toward the new suburb of Santa Clarita where Six Flags Magic Mountain dominates the landscape or stay on Route 101 toward the San Fernando Valley, a sudden transition to urban California.

The valley–home to a diverse mix of businesses and residential areas–runs across the northern end of the L.A. basin just below the Los Padres and Los Angeles national forests. Drivers can follow Route 101 to the media hubs of Burbank, Hollywood or Universal City (and Universal Studios/City Walk)–or take their time by heading south from Oxnard on Route 1–the Pacific Coast route that runs along the ocean throughout the state. This route will take you through the oft-filmed and scenic beach areas of Point Muga, Point Dume and Malibu before reaching Santa Monica, a city just eight miles from Los Angeles International Airport.

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There is quite possibly no greater feeling than finding the perfect parking spot.  The one miraculous space located just a stone’s throw away from your destination that through some magical alignment of planetary bodies you were able to snag before the dozens of other hungry parking vultures driving around in circles.  Victory never tasted so sweet.  Unfortunately for many of us, that feeling is rare, if not downright impossible, to experience these days when trying to visit the various hot spots in the Los Angeles area.  But all is not lost.  Los Angeles Times staff writer Adam Tschorn wrote in today’s Image section an article detailing some of the best kept parking secrets for the most popular destinations in L.A.  Continue reading below for the full article:

JUST PARK IT HERE

An insider’s guide to what often seems impossible — finding a place to park the car.

By Adam Tschorn

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Top 7: Best Brunches in L.A. Won’t Break Bank Plus, the Best in O.C., Inland Empire

By Jane Monreal

Aug. 14, 2007 (KABC-TV) – Breakfast, lunch, dessert, all are important parts of a good weekend meal, and Southern California has some of the best brunch spots around.

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The Los Angeles Times recently conducted their yearly assignment of researching all the best places to eat in Los Angeles. Not only were they successful in finding the most delicious cuisines of the city, but also managed to provide readers with an inside scoop as to where you could get the most for your dollar. Listed below are their 25 top finds excerpted from Susan LaTempa’s “Striking it Rich” article.

1. Jamón serrano sandwich at La Española Meats, $4.95. Food lovers have long flocked to Harbor City’s La Española Meats for imported Spanish foodstuffs and house-made chorizos and hams. Now there’s one more reason to shop there — at lunch they’ve started serving a sandwich. But what a sandwich. They take a small baguette, drizzle it with Spanish olive oil and then layer it with La Española’s domestic jamón serrano, some dried chorizo, roasted piquillo red peppers and a couple of slices of Manchego cheese, and then bake it until the cheese melts and the crust crisps. With a cup full of olives cured in a tomato sauce, that’s $4.95. Eat it out back on a picnic table under an arbor shaded with bougainvillea. La Española Meats, 25020 Doble Ave., Harbor City; (310) 539-0455.

2. Roasted chicken with beans and rice or fries, tortillas and garlic sauce at Pollo a la Brasa, $5. For anyone who’s gotten blasé about rotisserie chicken, the wood-fire roasted chickens from this Peruvian outpost will change your tune. The burnished skin and juicy meat are intensely flavorful, though this shouldn’t stop you from splashing the awesome garlic sauce onto the bird, as well as onto the beans and rice and tortilla that come with the special. You can spot the place from the pile of lumber buttressing the back wall of the building — and from the lines outside. Pollo a la Brasa, 764 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 382-4090; 16527 S. Vermont Ave., Gardena; (310) 715-2494; and 2100 W. Whittier Blvd., Montebello; (323) 727-1965.

3. Nostalgia breakfast at Chips, $4.50. With its gorgeous aqua towers holding the letters of its name like giant playing cards way above the roof line, this Googie landmark coffee shop is worth visiting just for the late-’50s, early-’60s architectural glamour — but dining’s a delightful throwback too. Fluffy scrambled eggs (or two eggs, any style), creamy grits (or fruit) and toast (or a muffin) are served by super-pro waitresses who adroitly manage many customers, sliding in and out of English and Spanish with ease. They’re happy to bring some fresh salsa and refill your coffee cup. Chips, 11908 Hawthorne Blvd., Hawthorne; (310) 679-2947.

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