The best sunsets in LA are from the freeway overpass because there are no tall buildings to block the view. Growing up along the north side of the 210 freeway off Citrus Ave, my mom would walk my sisters and I across the street and halfway to the south side of the freeway. We would be standing on the sidewalk above the center divider keeping east and west traffic from colliding head-on. Standing above rush hour traffic, we watched brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows roll across the evening sky. Later on, during evening practices for my high school cross country team, I had the same unobstructed view of the sunset while running alongside the freeway. I had learned to measure distance by freeway exits. The 210 freeway borders north San Gabriel Valley. I grew up along the northern edge of the 210 freeway in multiple cities; Azusa, Duarte, Monrovia, Pasadena, Tujunga, and Glendora. I am interested in how the freeway becomes alive and permanent in daily life. How individuals living next to the freeway must take its existence into account through their day. I also am intrigued by the freeway landscaping on 210 as some of the most densely wooded areas near my home were on the banks of the freeway. First by general photography, and later with maps, I will explore the relationship between freeway communities the freeway itself. I believe the conventional debates about freeways and the residents at its banks, grossly undermine the embodied, sedimented, and affective relationships people have with the freeway in their everyday lives. My visualizations will work to produce the 210 freeway from Pasadena in the east to San Dimas in the west as a kind of neighbor.
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