JULIE WALMSLEY

Posts

AUTOMAKERS ARE PREPARING FOR LESS INDIVIDUAL CAR OWNERSHIP

December 25, 2016

The New York Times ' Neal Boudette wrote on Tuesday about how the big carmakers are adjusting to the threat of ride hail making individual car ownership obsolete. Among the interesting bits were examples of Los Angeles-area people going mostly carless (from my view the last and final test among U.S. cities), that automakers are now considering the first and last mile (to the bus or train station and back) that mostly occupies public transit analysts, and that a shift away from individual car ownership could be a financial relief for automakers, who expend massive capital to produce new cars. Boudette breaks out that math: Automakers are generally betting that sales of vehicles to fleet services will offset any decline in sales to individual consumers. Boston Consulting Group predicts that 44,000 cars will be sold to ride-sharing fleets in North America in 2021, more than making up for an expected net decline in consumer sales of about 8,000 vehicles. The bigger impact mi

WHERE THE SIDEWALK (DEBATE) ENDS: NEVER

December 25, 2016

If you skim the LA City Council's recent meetings, you might believe that it took action on sidewalk repair, finally deciding who exactly is responsible in one cohesive policy. No. All the 15 members of the council did on Dec. 13 is receive another report from a subcommittee and officially file that report. This is an issue that has gone on and on. I wrote about this all the way back in my Patch days in 2010. There were two versions of the article - one for Encino and one for Chatsworth. The Patch people killed the Chatsworth one, the more comprehensive one, and for some reason pulled the timeline that ran with both. Pathetically, it does not require much updating after six years.

WELL DONE, ANGRY LEDGER READER

December 24, 2016

I only just read this unnecessary piece about the Gatto family in the Los Feliz Ledger yesterday, though it was published Oct. 27. The title misleadingly suggests it's a look back at unresolved elements of the investigation and not a big MacGuffin of a lurid look into a struggling family. No one can make the paper reevaluate or pull the article. There is unfortunately no unified standard of journalistic ethics for all media outlets to follow. I keep the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics in mind when in doubt, and try to share any thorny issues with editors. I know, from my own Ledger days, that the paper's Publisher-Editor Allison Cohen would not much heed them anyways, having used her position to rail against Griffith Park preservationists and the imperfect, but mostly sincere and committed, local business improvement district. I was unfortunately a party to both, having my reporting twisted with heavy editing to unfairly slam individuals among those

MIXING YOGA WITH DRINKING IS A TREND

September 10, 2016

I wrote a listicle for LA Weekly to help people find 7 places to combine yoga and booze this month in Los Angeles. Yes, I ask the hard hitting questions for you. It was part of my week of fun articles, the other being my piece on Netflix-for-rad-toys startup Joymode . (Look for it on Thrillist on Thursday Sept. 22.) I became interested in the trend when I received an invitation for one of the events, and wondered how common it is to stack a happy hour on top of yoga class. I learned it's common, and spreading. Boston has a Bendy Brunch (vinyasa + mimosas), and Washington D.C. has Soul & Spirits, both produced by yoga event organizer Grip the Mat , which does Vinyasa to Vino here in LA. Later this month, a St. Louis ale house will combine yoga with a tasting , like the Dude's Brewing Company event featured in my Weekly article. That event was planned by Yoga Buzz , a St. Louis nonprofit that plans various yoga events to make it more accessible to the community. Early

ARTS DISTRICT EXTRAS AND CORRECTIONS

September 08, 2016

My overview of the downtown Los Angeles Arts District for a special issue of The Real Deal is now live. The Real Deal is really a trade magazine for an investor-developer-agent-analyst readership, so I'm glad I had an editor who let me write honestly about a community uneasy with the change driven by that readership. I didn't have the editorial space to go as deep as I could have on different perspectives on change in the area, with Boyle Heights just across the river as an example of a vociferous, bordering on violent, debate over the redevelopment of a longstanding Los Angeles community . It is noteworthy that two Arts District success stories - Poketo and Angel City Brewery - don't just sell product, but organize community. How quickly Boyle Heights would change without opposition is debatable; the two communities differ significantly. Part of the developer interest in the Arts District is the availability of a particular kind of space. As I wrote in the

WASHIO SHUTS DOWN, NINJAS REMAIN INVISIBLE

August 31, 2016

Washio suddenly ended its Uber-for-your-clothes-like business of smartphone application-based laundry service to and from wherever you are, effective Aug. 29. The company's founders addressed customers in a letter on the Washio webiste: As of Aug 29, Washio will be shutting down its operations. No more orders will be accepted and outstanding orders will be returned promptly to customers. We are not alone in believing in Washio’s core business, technology and team, and hope it lives on in some shape or form in the future. But, that story has yet to be told… From the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank you for all of your support and belief in Washio, our vision and our love for sharing cookies and clean clothes. The cookies are a reference to the cookies given to customers at each visit, the mobile service's version of a hotel mint on your pillow. I wonder how much ever-changing contracting policies for their pick-up and drop-off staff, called Ninjas, led to