I lived in LA long enough (and long ago enough) that I'm finally getting hit in the feels when folks write things that resonate directly with my own formative experiences there. The R&RR is definitely on the list. Thank you for allowing me this brief frisson of nostalgia and warm feeling. Sadly, I no longer have it when I actually go back there ... but that's a me thing, not an LA thing. (My relationship to the gym is a comment that probably belongs on that other post.)
Thinking back to my years in Boston, I think Kenmore Square was the equivalent. Between the Rat, the Dugout, and IHOP, you could crawl between those three -- all within a city block -- and get a panoramic view of life after the civilized hours. Boston being a much smaller place, it makes sense that they'd have to seed them out over several establishments, but it was a scene.
Ha, long gone. Boston U cleared out all those places in 2001 to build a luxury hotel. And now it appears there's some new thing called One Kenmore Square that opened (on the Citgo Sign side) in 2023. I was literally just in Boston but only passed through Kenmore underground on the B line.
My younger boy is about to transfer to SF for school and I've been lecturing of the importance of living in "real cities." Dude, real city stuff is fading with each decade.
The SF he's set to experience won't be much like the one I had in the early 90s.
"[A] ninety-eighth percentile dump" guarantees this BH's worth.
I lived in LA long enough (and long ago enough) that I'm finally getting hit in the feels when folks write things that resonate directly with my own formative experiences there. The R&RR is definitely on the list. Thank you for allowing me this brief frisson of nostalgia and warm feeling. Sadly, I no longer have it when I actually go back there ... but that's a me thing, not an LA thing. (My relationship to the gym is a comment that probably belongs on that other post.)
Say what you like about this town, but how many communities on the planet can support an R&RR? If there are others out there, I'd like to see them.
Some food show ought to do the world's R&RR equivalents, if they're out there.
Thinking back to my years in Boston, I think Kenmore Square was the equivalent. Between the Rat, the Dugout, and IHOP, you could crawl between those three -- all within a city block -- and get a panoramic view of life after the civilized hours. Boston being a much smaller place, it makes sense that they'd have to seed them out over several establishments, but it was a scene.
I remember Kenmore Square from my college summer at the Globe. Is it still alive in that way?
Ha, long gone. Boston U cleared out all those places in 2001 to build a luxury hotel. And now it appears there's some new thing called One Kenmore Square that opened (on the Citgo Sign side) in 2023. I was literally just in Boston but only passed through Kenmore underground on the B line.
My younger boy is about to transfer to SF for school and I've been lecturing of the importance of living in "real cities." Dude, real city stuff is fading with each decade.
The SF he's set to experience won't be much like the one I had in the early 90s.
If you made it that far, I have to figure you're already onboard.