Why living in Los Angeles is a dog lover’s dream

Good morning and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Saturday, Jan. 13. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:

• Why living in Los Angeles is a dog lover’s dream
• How Newsom plans to fix California’s projected $37.9-billion budget deficit
• 23 newcomers to the 101 Best Restaurants in L.A. guide to visit ASAP
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

Why living in Los Angeles is a dog lover’s dream

Dogs in Los Angeles are living their best lives. These days, everywhere you go is crawling with dogs. They’re at beaches, bars, restaurants, hiking trails and grocery stores. Some of these places seem more welcoming to our furry friends than to us, the humans they were built for.

We are living in a dog lover’s dream. (To me, it is a nightmare. I am seriously afraid of dogs.)

I was shocked to find that L.A. isn’t the dog capital of the world. There are 32 cities that are even better for dogs, according to U.S. News & World Report. Portland came in first, while San Francisco was fourth among the top U.S. cities to be a dog owner.

Low ranking aside, if you’re a dog in L.A. you’ve got it made so much so that Times contributor Raef Harrison put together a list of 18 places in L.A. where your dog is more welcomed than you (a.k.a, 18 places I will be avoiding).

My only beef with this list is that 18 is such a small number. Every place in this city seems to prioritize dogs. A list of 18 places where dogs aren’t welcome would be more useful. Alas.

Enroll your furry friend in a private dog park

For $120 a month, you can take your dog to a private park called Dog PPL in Santa Monica. To join the members-only club, dogs must pass a temperament test, be up to date on vaccinations and be spayed or neutered at 8 months. Once they’re in, they get a safe and clean place to roam off-leash while their humans enjoy a cafe, bar and concierge, lounge areas and free Wi-Fi.

Have dinner or a drink with your dog

Whenever I see a dog in a restaurant, I can’t help but roll my eyes. Do dog owners not have any human friends to eat with?

But that, unfortunately, hasn’t stopped people from bringing their dogs to breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Some bars and restaurants in L.A. even roll out the red carpet for dogs, like The Morrison in Atwater Village. It has a separate doggy menu with all dishes served on a silver platter. Of course!

See an outdoor movie in the park with your dog

The last thing I want to do is sit next to an off leash dog while trying to watch a movie. But watching a flick under the stars with a favorite furry friend in tow is probably like puppy chow for dog lovers.

At two of Cinespia’s locations — the Greek Theatre and Los Angeles State Historic Park — your canine companion is welcome to join your movie watching experience.

And that’s not all! Here’s our full list of places where dogs are more welcomed than humans.

The week’s biggest stories

This photo shows a gaping hole where the door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 7.

(National Transportation Safety Board)

Alaska Airlines flight

• Alaska Airlines flight: Cockpit audio is lost, and a mysterious warning light is investigated.
• Alaska blowout Q&A: What’s a door plug? How does an iPhone survive a 3-mile fall?
• Bolts that should have kept Alaska Airlines flight’s door plug in place are missing.

Lake Tahoe avalanche

• An avalanche buries 2, killing 1, at Lake Tahoe-area ski resort.
• Avalanches are rarely a danger at U.S. ski resorts. Palisades Tahoe slide was a deadly exception.
• Officials warned of ‘considerable avalanche danger before deadly slide at Palisades Tahoe.

Climate and environment

• Researchers discover thousands of nanoplastic bits in bottles of drinking water.
• Newsom cuts $2.9 billion from California climate programs, delays an additional $1.9 billion.
• Earth reaches grim milestone: 2023 was the warmest year on record.

Politics

• How Newsom plans to fix California’s projected $37.9-billion budget deficit.
• Rep. Katie Porter and former Dodgers star Steve Garvey are in a tight contest to see who will join Rep. Adam B. Schiff in a runoff for the U.S. Senate this fall.
• ‘More liberal than Gavin Newsom’: Haley and DeSantis clash in first one-on-one debate.
• Supreme Court to rule on clearing homeless encampments in California and the West.

Golden Globes

• With a flailing Jo Koy at the helm, the Golden Globes’ party seriously fizzled.
• The best looks from the 2024 Golden Globes.
• ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Succession’ clean up at 2024 Golden Globes: Here’s the full winners list.

More big stories

• With COVID on the rise, your at-home test may be taking longer to show a positive result.
• A shocking turn: Nazi-looted Pissarro painting won’t return to Jewish family.
• Learning cursive in school, long scorned as obsolete, is now the law in California.
• A salary deal struck by Mayor Bass would give L.A. city workers seven raises by July 2028.
  

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Column One

Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and longform journalism. Here’s a great piece from this week:

East Palo Alto Police Chief Jeff Liu, left and Commander Santos, right, with a group of East Palo Alto kids having lunch at Noelani’s in San Carlos after they participated in San Mateo County Sheriff’s “Shop with a Hero” holiday event.

(Jeff Liu / East Palo Alto Police Dept.)

A California city’s transformation from ‘murder capital’ of the U.S. to zero homicides. In 1992, East Palo Alto was dubbed the “murder capital” of the U.S., with 42 murders in its 2.5 square miles. Now, its mayor says it’s “one of the safest places to live in the peninsula.”

More great reads

• From ‘Bad Vegan’ to mass restaurant closures — inside Matthew Kenney’s crumbling raw food empire.
• For Martin Scorsese, it’s all about forgiveness.
• These L.A. residents got $1,000 a month. What happened after the cash stopped?
• Kali Uchis discusses pregnancy, breaking industry barriers and new Spanish-language album ‘Orquídeas.’

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your weekend

Tamara Simpson of San Diego and Trinh Thai of Laguna Niguel enjoying dinner at Two Hommes in Inglewood.

(Ron De Angelis / For The Times)

Going out

• 🍽️ 23 newcomers to the 101 Best Restaurants in L.A. guide to visit ASAP
• 🥾🏔️ Hiking Mt. Baldy is a SoCal rite of passage — but can it be done safely in the snow?
• 🎸Calibash, featuring Grupo Frontera, kicks off 2024, and more to do this weekend.

Staying in

• 📺 How to watch the Emmys and everything else to know, from the red carpet to the nominees.
• 🍸 Here are some recipes for nonalcoholic cocktails.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

L.A. Affairs

Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.

(Flora Bai / For The Times)

We were ready for marriage. Then his ex had his baby. Who would he choose? I met a wonderful, kind and handsome Marine via a dating app. I wanted to spend my life with him. But our relationship suddenly changed.

Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

Elvia Limón, multiplatform editor
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

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