I explored downtown Santa Monica, California near the Third Street Promenade. On any given day, there are a lot of pedestrians and cyclists moving around, and I found that walking and writing notes didn’t get in anyone’s way. Walking along the promenade, it was a little hard to go “right” or “left,” so I switched between sides and was able to make hard rights or lefts at the intersections. I found myself noticing and observing people more than the buildings that surrounded me because the storefronts were all so similar. The architecture that stood out was the taller office buildings (which was hard to come by), so I instead focused on the environment that was created between the buildings. What I didn’t see a lot of were street performers, which, on any other day, would have been in the double digits.
I would have to admit that I may have objectively described an environment I wasn’t familiar with better than this one because I have walked down this promenade hundreds of times… everything that is the same as before gets kind of blurred out. Overall, it was a fun experience that made me notice more architectural details that I would have otherwise dismissed.
Alexa, I really enjoyed your map. It’s very artfully done, I love the graphics that go along to tell the story of what you encountered on your journey.
Thanks Joe! It was pretty fun to wander around and notice different things (since I’ve been here countless times). I haven’t really sketched in a while, so I might have spent more time on the little drawings than I otherwise would have!