Walking Home from Silver Lake | Pedestrian Access

In a week from today I will be underway on a 5 day 128 mile solo walk from Silver Lake (Los Angeles) to South Park (San Diego). Planning for this trip began a few month ago when I got it in my head that I could do a long walk spanning these two main cities of Southern California’s megalopolis. I’ve traveled between Los Angeles and San Diego countless times by car, about a dozen times by train, taken a handful of commuter flights, and I’ve covered the southern half a few times by bike. So, why not do it by foot.

I’ve chosen to walk south in order to give the semblance of a journey home, but in the meantime I’ve managed to sign a lease to move into an apartment in South Park the day after I return, making the “journey home” more of a reality.

I have no real reason as to why I’ve chosen to start in Silver Lake except that I have friends living there whom I’ve been needing an excuse to visit. Yesterday these friends were among an estimated 500 who gathered for a 5 mile memorial walk around Silver Lake in honor of 58 year old Marc “Doc” Abrams who passed away on Wednesday.

Affectionately known as the Silver Lake Walking Man, Abrams would walk roughly 15 miles a day on a fairly fixed route, often while reading, and always shirtless. The recurring sight of this enigmatic figure made Abrams nothing short of a icon in the community, as the turnout for Sunday’s walk and the coverage from the press (nytimes, e.g.) have proved. While the investigation into the cause of his tragic death (now reported a suicide) will surely turn into a media frenzy, I find it far more compelling how this man was able to become such a fixture of the community principally by walking. Not having lived in Silver Lake, or even knowingly sighted Abrams, I can’t come close to understanding just how much of an impact he must have on the people in that area since he moved there 30 years ago.

Nicky Gagliarducci, an artist who included Abrams on a mural of Silver Lake on Sunset Boulevard is reported to have said yesterday before the walk, “Thanks Marc, you made our city a neighborhood.” If what Gagliarducci says is remotely true, it speaks for the unifying influence that something as simple as a daily walk can have on a community.

I enjoy living in South Park largely because it feels like a neighborhood, one where I enjoy walking and seeing familiar faces on the street. It may not compare to Silver Lake in many respects, but as I begin my walk here from Silver Lake next week, I’d like to think of it as a way of joining these two communities. And, even as a stranger, I’ll walk in honor of Abrams.

Audio slide show: Hit the ground walking – latimes.com

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