[The kickoff post's here; dark red lines mark the streets I've walked so far]

Colorado may well be the dividing line between the pleasant, neighborly section of Santa Monica vs. the industrial and smoggy side. That said, I know I’m overgeneralizing — I heart the streets near the beach including Main Street, and I’m curious about Ocean Park with its used bookshop and such.

Still, Colorado on the whole’s not v. pedestrian-friendly. It’s a street dealt the backsides of big, industrial buildings — one even sporting a hazard sign threatening electric shock — with their attendant big parking lots.

On 6th is a cute-looking diner — but one nearly empty when I went by around 11 am on a Sunday — bad news for a brunch place. Go a block east for a Denny’s and Norms, both with packed parking lots.

Then it’s all the big media companies — Sony/BMG, MTV, Yahoo! Music — all with big driveways leading to big underground parking. Colorado’s a street made for driving through –

Olympic isn’t much better — a v. wide road with big buildings. The sidewalks on both sides disappear altogether for a bit around 26th, though I made do by running in the grassy median, then the small dirt path on the south side of the street. But in general, I inhaled a lot of exhaust.

Go east on Olympic, and at 10th you’ll find the blvd becomes a one-way headed west, with the 10 freeway dumping into it and making it, well, like a freeway. Run the narrow sidewalks until 5th when the street unceremoniously ends a block early, with construction signs pointing you to head north.

On the upside, this construction snafu lets me add a new color to my map: Yellow to demarcate the roads I can’t run — including the 10 freeway –

Update, 6/22/07: Here’s 17th Street.

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