Secret Walks #38, Venice Canals Walk, 2 miles

Barbara and I couldn't wait for this hike, a first for both of us. According to Secret Walks author Charles Fleming, "imaginative real estate developer Abbott Kinney built the Venice Canals to create a West Coast artists' colony and bring prospective home buyers to the beach." Pictured below is the cover of one of the first ad pamphlets. The original series of interlocking canals, an area four times the size of what's left, flourished from their conception in 1905 until the death of the tobacco millionaire in the 1920s. Politicians got involved ("Forget canals, we need streets!"), and most of Kinney's canals were filled in and paved for automobiles. The remaining canals fell into complete disrepair by the end of WWII. However, in the late 80s new City Council members stepped in and, beating strong opposition, voted to revive the area. In 1992, the last five canals were restored to the L.A. showpiece of lavish waterfront homes we hiked past today. Some early 1900s cottages remain, tucked between pricey McMansions, and many of the waterfront homes have dinghies moored to small private docks. Each walk bridge has its own personality, and Venice's very vocal ducks navigate the canals like drivers on the 405, a few miles west. Love to live there!