L.A. Pathway

Recently, in “Only in L.A.” by Steve Harvey (Metro, April 18), I was quoted as desiring a Yellow Brick Road from the Chandler Pavilion to Broadway to Little Tokyo and then on to Olvera Street and Union Station. The quote is incomplete and wrong. I do not want to build a Yellow Brick Road anywhere. I used that reference metaphorically, with no intention of it being taken seriously.

What I do want to build (and Jack Smith once quoted me on this) is a mosaic pathway of some sort, utilizing miniature lights and tree plantings, and wandering between small bookstalls and mini-shops that would lead pedestrians from Little Tokyo to Olvera Street where one might walk through to another pathway leading to Chinatown. The important thing would be to encourage people to leave their cars near Little Tokyo and walk from there to Olvera Street, winding up in Mandarin country. The same sort of excursion we indulge in when we visit Paris or London or Rome and walk miles without noticing it because we shop and eat along the way.

RAY BRADBURY, Los Angeles