"Los Angeles: The Improbable City"

TREASURES OF LOS ANGELES II
17TH ANNUAL MARIE NORTHROP LECTURE SERIES

COSPONSORED BY LOS ANGELES CITY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
AND
History Department, Richard J. Riordan Central Library

Sunday, February 8, 2009, 2:00 p.m.
The Mark Taper Auditorium of Central Library
Reception Following the Presentation

"Los Angeles: The Improbable City"
John E. FisherAsst. General Manager, L.A. City Department of Transportation
John Fisher will relate why nobody predicted that Los Angeles would someday become a major city, let alone a metropolis and the second-largest city in the country: No navigable river, no natural port, lack of transportation and communication linking it to the population and financial centers on the East Coast. He will detail how at least the transportation problem was solved.

Mr. Fisher is a Los Angeles native. He attended California State University, Long Beach, where he received a B.A. in Civil Engineering and an M.A. in Public Administration. He has been with the LADOT for 36 years, and is in charge of traffic operations of the city's street system. He is involved in several professional societies and advisory groups at the state and national levels, and has written on the subject. His interest in historic preservation and history led him to research the undocumented history of transportation in Los Angeles. The results can now be accessed on the LADOT website, www.LADOT.LACity.org., under "Transportation Topics and Tales." Mr. Fisher is a member of many organizations, among them LACHS, Los Angeles Conservancy, Pasadena Heritage and the Art Deco Society.

LECTURE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. FUNDED BY THE WOOD FAMILY TRUST AND INDIVIDUAL LACHS MEMBERS. HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE.

Central Library is located on Fifth Street between Grand Avenue and Flower Street.Parking available from 1:00 p.m. on for $1 with library card (obtainable that day) and validation in the Library Garage. Entrance to garage on Flower Street (one-way south), between 5th and 6th streets.

QUESTIONS? 213/228-7000 during library hours, or 323/936-2912.