Why we turned the L.A. River into a freeway (for water)

If the Los Angeles River had its own IMDb listing — and why shouldn’t it? It’s appeared in all kinds of movies — its career arc would look something like this:

  • Leading man for tens of thousands of years, star and creator of the epic story of Los Angeles’ ecosystem and living things.

  • Demoted to a supporting role around 1913, when L.A.’s new producers and directors began importing younger, more reliable water.

  • Thereafter cast occasionally as a serial killer for performances as deadly floods.

  • Blacklisted from river roles and “disappeared” under concrete since the Depression.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times.