You Know More Than You Know

My friend is out of the country for spring break and I am taking care of his car for him. He let me use his car and I have been taking full advantage of that fact.

At first I was really nervous that I was going to get horribly lost- or worse- crash his car. So far, so good on both counts. I started out with a really easy route- taking the 10 (we refer to our highways, or freeways as they're known here, simply by their number) to Santa Monica for an informational interview.

But I used to hang out in Santa Monica a lot. And I was able to navigate based on prior experience.

This technique is using what Kevin Lynch, one of THE urban planners in our pantheon, would call a "mental map." A mental map is exactly what it sounds like- a visual map based on what you see, which often includes landmarks more than streets.

I've also been able to find my way to a friend's house that I've never been to, but was located on a main street. He also mentioned that he lived right next to a taxi stand, which was helpful.

And I was able to rely on past experience to find my way up to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale and downtown Pasadena (plus a heavy reliance on Google Maps).

Some people say that the only way to find your way around LA is to just get lost. I am not that confident in my abilities to find my way back. But it's good to know that I was able to draw on my past experience and be able to marry it with my current needs. If only I could know if I will be needing this experience in the future or if it will just be a useful tidbit.