In the Pedways of Los Angeles Past, a Vision of a Pedestrian-Friendly Future

LOS ANGELES—The pedestrians moving along the elevated walkway at the center of downtown Los Angeles barely notice the bronze plaque, even when they’re stepping on it. If they do see it, the face sculpted into the memorial — that of Calvin Hamilton — is barely visible, scuffed and worn after years of traffic. It is also hard to tell exactly what Hamilton did to deserve such an honor. There's nothing in the engraving's text describing his Quixotic attempt to transform the city, or how he failed, miserably, to implement that plan. And there's certainly nothing to imply that Hamilton was a visionary, one of the first to recognize that Los Angeles had a problem with cars — and to try to solve that problem.

For the record, this is what the memorial says: