First dates
- 5 min readPhoenix metro
Dating in Phoenix in summer
From June through September the city closes its most popular trails from 8am to 5pm. Here is what actually works in the four months when every default plan is a bad one.
Read - 4 min read
What to actually talk about on a first date
The interview problem, why a date with an activity in it is easier than one without, and the three questions that work better than the ones everyone asks.
Read - 4 min readDowntown LA
First dates in Downtown LA
Three districts that look adjacent and are not, two world-class museums that are free, and the only part of Los Angeles where you can genuinely date without a car.
Read - 3 min readHighland Park
First dates in Highland Park
Two parallel commercial streets that locals treat as two different nights out, a 1927 bowling alley that solves the first-date problem, and the rail line almost nobody uses.
Read - 4 min readPasadena
First dates in Pasadena
The most walkable retail district in the county, a world-class museum that is free one Friday a month, a flea market with 2,500 vendors, and a train most people forget exists.
Read - 6 min readHillcrest & Downtown
First dates in San Diego: Hillcrest, downtown and the beaches
Hillcrest closes the gap to Balboa Park, downtown is three districts pretending to be one, and the beaches are a daytime proposition that gets sold as a night out.
Read - 6 min readSan Francisco
First dates in San Francisco: Hayes Valley, the Castro, North Beach and the Marina
Four neighborhoods that each do one thing well, the fog map that decides which one to pick, and the two walks that look identical on a map and are not.
Read - 4 min readSanta Monica & Venice
First dates in Santa Monica and Venice
Skip the Promenade, walk Main Street into Abbot Kinney, and know which of these places is a daytime proposition rather than a night out.
Read - 4 min readLong Beach
Meeting people in Long Beach
Three districts that are not walkable to each other, a single-screen cinema from 1924 with a wine bar next door, and why Long Beach is its own city for dating purposes.
Read - 4 min readWest Hollywood
First dates in West Hollywood, priced three ways
A plan for the cheap night, the normal night, and the one where you are trying — plus the parking problem nobody warns you about.
Read