Side street hangout
There are places around Los Angeles where roads do things that seem inexplicable, taking odd turns and bends or suddenly switching orientation so that a normal grid pattern goes diagonal. Sometimes the bends have a logical explanation, such as Torrance’s Walteria neighborhood where some streets go around a lake that was channeled elsewhere decades ago. The switches in orientation are often where two towns grew together, and the planners had to link the two networks as best they could. When I find one of these areas, I like to look at old and new maps to solve the puzzle. I can’t figure any conceivable explanation for the section of North Redondo near the corner of Inglewood and Manhattan Beach Boulevard where an orderly grid dissolves into a maze of short, curving streets with no apparent logic. Even more oddly, these thoroughfares are variously named as avenues, streets, lanes, and ways, despite the fact that most are the same width. An exception is White Circle, which is among the straightest streets in the area. It makes you wonder if a property developer found a bunch of street signs at a discount and was determined to use all of them. At the focal point of this maze, insofar…
Read this story on easyreadernews.com