L.A.: Don't Drink the Water

Los Angeles has always been about water and real estate. Now, as the city runs out of the latter, and the state runs out of the former, crises may loom. Today's New York Times runs a piece on public drinking fountains, having asked eight illustrators from around the country to sample and judge the local waters in parks and squares, and to describe the action around the fountains. The cities included Baltimore, San Francisco, Portland, New York, Denver, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Each profile came with a sketch and lengthy description -- except the one for Los Angeles.

Jon Han's findings of an afternoon visit to Westwood Park were terse and to the point, his drawing depicting one of those inverted L-shaped "fountains." Han wrote:

"Fountain: The water was lukewarm, with a sour mineral taste.
Fountain Goers: No one drank from the fountain, except me."