Atwater Village Newbie's Best of 2006

Leave year-end restaurant rankings and political punditry to Los Angeles veterans. These are year-end bests for us, two of the LA newbies who helped bump city population over 4 million in 2006. Best Secret On-Ramp - From Riverside Drive in Elysian Valley, just south of Atwater Village, there's a well-marked ramp to I-5 south. But around the bend the ramp splits, without warning or signage, to join highway 110 south toward downtown LA. Shhhh... Best Secret On-Ramp, Spanish Language Version - In Boyle Heights, the Mission Rd. ramp to I-5 splits to I-10 East Best Reason to Know About Secret Ramps: Closures of I-5 north from I-10 west after midnight every time we try it Best Tacos in Walking Distance - Tacos Villa Corona Best Tacos in View of Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory - Sidewalk tables at tiny taqueria Casa Diaz, 4666 Hollywood Blvd., give unobstructed angles on two of the icons that drew us here Best LA Blog Family - Mike & Maria & Baby Blogger, curators of Franklin Avenue and Rate-a-Restaurant - among other blogs on every LA newbie's must-read list - and originators of the term Blog-LA-Sphere Best Blog-LA-Sphere Member Who Graciously Answers Pesky Questions from Moving Newbies - LA City Nerd Best Eight-Hour Stroll - Wilshire Blvd., the whole length of it, 16.2 miles from downtown Los Angeles to the ocean Best Local Show to TiVo - Eye on LA, a half-hour of trendy and traditional hot spots Best Web Site for Learning Where LA Neighborhoods Are and How Much It Costs to Live in Them: Rentslicer, especially cross-referenced with this city map Best Way to Make a Colorado Transplant Chuckle: Complaining about how cold it is in LA Second Best Way: Wearing Uggs when it's cold in LA Third Best Way: Being excited about Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Best Vet for Newbie Pets: Gateway Animal Hospital, Alan Jimerson, DVM, 431 W. Los Feliz Blvd., Glendale Best Way to Read the Los Angeles Times Online - Fishbowl LA's LAT in 90 Seconds Best Automobile Accessory for Newbies - Thomas Guide for Los Angeles and Orange Counties Best Grocery Store Analogy for Newbies - VONS : SAFEWAY :: Ralph's : King Soopers Best Refurbished Grocery Store - Vons, 311 W. Los Feliz Blvd., Glendale, where employees must get paid for friendly greetings the way other grocery store employees are compensated for blank stares Best Place to Take Visitors Who Hate LA - San Diego Second Best Place - Pasadena Best Place to Take Two-Year-Old Visitors in LA - Shane's Inspiration Playground, Griffith Park Second Best Place - Travel Town, Griffith Park Best Traffic Web Site for Newbies - MyCaliforniaTraffic.com Best First Stop for Newbies Moving from a Landlocked State - IKEA, because landlocked states do not have IKEA Best Second Stop - The Getty Museum, because 1) it's free, 2) it gets you used to the idea that in LA "free" means you still pay for parking, and 3) the view makes you glad you moved from a landlocked state Best Song to Hear While Driving a Hyundai to Zankou Chicken in Glendale - "Debra" by Beck Best TV Show to Sharpen LA Geography Skills - From "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip": "A caller from Toluca Lake called us Barbra Streisand loving, Michael Moore worshiping jackasses;" "I keep all your things nicely stored on a garbage scow off Catalina" Best TV Show to Set Unrealistic LA Traffic Expectations: "24" Best Blog by Another LA Newbie: BLDGBLOG