Image: Ingrid Michaelson at the Wiltern, 27 April 2012 (6980127836)

Description: I am at the Wiltern, to attend Ingrid Michaelson's show starting shortly. Eventually I paid an extra $20 to do an on-the-spot upgrade to the pit, jumping the line and situating myself front row center; it allowed me to get some great pictures of the show with a modest point-and-shoot camera, and even interact with Ingrid for a few minutes. The Wiltern, located at Wilshire and Western (hence its name), was built on what was the nation's heaviest trafficked intersection in the 1920s. At the time, Wilshire Boulevard was being touted as the future "Fifth Avenue of the West," and attracted many buildings; Wilshire Boulevard's Art Deco highrises also were among the first anywhere to feature storefronts optimized for motorist shoppers, rather than pedestrian ones. The Wiltern was saved from a planned demolition in 1979, and now is a focal point for a neighborhood that has been revitalized and gentrified in recent years - Koreatown, home to both affluent South Koreans/Korean-Americans as well as white hipsters priced out of Hollywood. Despite the gentrification, working-class immigrant residents are still going strong as well in surrounding blocks. The Wiltern is the current terminus of the Metro Purple Line subway, which was opened in 1996 and contributed to the revitalization of the area; plans are under way to extend the Purple Line along Wilshire further west to Beverly Hills and beyond by about 2020.
Title: Ingrid Michaelson at the Wiltern, 27 April 2012 (6980127836)
Credit: Ingrid Michaelson at the Wiltern, 27 April 2012
Author: InSapphoWeTrust from Los Angeles, California, USA
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Attribution Required?: Yes