Pharrell Williams’s new “24 Hour music video,” for the song Happy portrays a lively and diverse L.A. where people walk and dance in the street and where cars are an afterthought.
People who live in L.A. have heard the stereotype hundreds of times– nobody walks in this city. But if people are willing to look past L.A.’s crippling traffic, it is clear that there are groups and individuals who are dedicated to making L.A. a more walkable and bike-able place. Los Angeles Walks, for instance has for the past several years advocated for better conditions for pedestrians. Just last weekend, the 8th annual Great Walk of L.A. took place where hundreds of Angelenos braved a 17 mile trek from Echo Park lake all the way to Santa Monica.
Pharrell Williams’s new “24 Hour music video,” for the song Happy portrays a lively and diverse L.A. where people walk and dance in the street and where cars are an afterthought.
DnA’s pedestrian-extraordinaire Alissa Walker, writes, “this is one of the most accurate representations of LA’s contemporary urban environment I’ve ever seen. If anyone ever asks me what it was like to be a pedestrian in LA in 2013, I can show them this video and say, yup, that’s pretty much it. Smiling people, palm trees, and sun.”
Watch the edited version below, but make sure you check out the 24-hour version of Happy.
We Are From L.A. / PHARRELL WILLIAMS / HAPPY from iconoclast on Vimeo.