Self guided stories
in every city

How do you tell the story of a place that doesn't exist anymore? Near where I live, a busy highway used to be a Great Depression-era Hooverville, temporary shelters built by people with nowhere else to go. Right next to it was a golf course for the city's wealthier citizens. Today, people are again camping in nearby areas, and homelessness remains a major issue here.

I want Storydex to help us see modern challenges in historical context. But it's hard when these places have literally been paved over. I'm still figuring out how to put vanished places back on the map. If you have ideas, send them my way!

I got off at Union Station in LA with Storydex open on my phone, thinking I'd spend the day bouncing from downtown museums to lunch spots. But I never even left the neighborhood around the station. Turns out there's one small hill by the train station where LA's first settlers arrived called El Pueblo, and it's packed with hidden stories: a garden that was once a burial ground for the city's founders, a centuries-old house that hid liquor during Prohibition, and a massive mural that nearly crumbled away before being saved by a last-minute rescue mission.

I spent hours wandering, glued to my screen reading these stories, which is great for testing, but terrible for sightseeing. That day made me realize Storydex needed audio. Now it's in the app! Next walk, my phone stays in my pocket.

Storydex is finally live on the Apple Store! (Android soon, should be easy, right?)

My goal was to get Storydex ready for summer vacations, so please try it out on your travels. I'm especially interested in your thoughts on story quality and topics that resonate most. Huge thanks to everyone who tested the early versions, I wish I had everyone's emails so I could thank you directly. If you want to stay in touch, sign up for updates on the site.

Enjoy exploring!