The Lowdown on Downtown June 2, 2012

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, June 2, 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 323-223-2767
"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 the whole world is interested in Downtown L.A.—the Germans have commissioned a neighborhood travel guide, overseas visitors fill the hotels, and folks from the Westside have even been spotted making the trek out to Art Walk. But many 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 this most fascinating neighborhood.

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 Saloon, and he was invited to lecture on urban L.A. at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. Their passion for uncovering Downtown's hidden history ensures each tour is a little different, and a lot of fun.
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 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 as the controversial CRA is dissolved), 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.

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), 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 May 6 - Sunnyside Mausoleum Tile, Architecture and History tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
*Sun May 6 - Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
*Thurs May 17 - Union Rescue Mission Walking Tour: 121 years on Skid Row (info at lavatransforms.org)
*Thurs May 17 - Of Scrap & Steel: free rooftop screening of rare 1949 color film (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat May 19 - Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles
Sun May 20 – Blood & Dumplings crime bus tour
*Sun May 27 - The Flâneur & The City: Hill Street walking tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
*Mon May 28 - Savannah Cemetery tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat June 2 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: The Lowdown on Downtown
Sun June 3 - Crime lab seminar: The Killer Behind the Camera (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat June 9 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice
Sat June 16 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare
*Sun June 17 - El Ranchito: Tour of Pio Pico's Historic Whittier Adobe (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat June 23 - Weird West Adams
Sat July 14 - Pasadena Confidential (weekend pass available)
Sun July 15 - Eastside Babylon (weekend pass available)
Mon July 23- The LAVA Salon at Musso & Frank: Dorothy Parker & F. Scott Fitzgerald (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat July 28 - The Real Black Dahlia
Sat August 4 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: Route 66 (weekend pass available)
Sun August 5 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: South LA (weekend pass available)
Sat August 11 - Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles
Sat August 18 - Haunts of A Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's Los Angeles
Sat August 25 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: Boyle Heights & The San Gabriel Valley

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 the Downtown LA Art Walk, http://www.downtownartwalk.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