Los Angeles – July 2007

Los Angeles:
Los Angeles wasn’t at all the city that I had imagined: the one of smog, multi-level bypasses, congested freeways, of wannabe actors and half-starved actresses, and stuck-up, image-conscious people. Of course, you can still find all those things in L.A., but I discovered that there was so much more to our second-largest city than that. L.A. is not like other cities; it is actually an agglomeration of over 80 different communities, each with its own distinct personality and character.

There was the downtown area with its skyrises, commercial district, and crowded apartment buildings – typical urban living. There was Hollywood and the revived West Hollywood with Sunset Boulevard and its newly-trendy bars and clubs. There is the rich and famous Beverly Hills with its coveted 90210 zip code and there is the glitzy shopping of Rodeo Drive. There is the wealthy Santa Monica on the coast with its fancy homes and shopping arcade. There is the famous Palisades and the mountains and beaches of Malibu, made famous by the “Baywatch” TV series. There is the hilly Muholland Drive area of the movie by the same name that twists and turns into the hills and overlooks the wide expanse of the Valley below and the “Hollywood” sign in the nearby hills. There is the Valley itself, hot both in elevated temperatures and in its reputation for over-sexed porn producers and stars.

Los Angeles is a study in contrasts. It is a place that is not only urban, but one that is also washed by the cold waters of the Pacific. It has not only smog and hot concrete, but also fresh sea breezes and palm trees. It is a place where you can go hiking in the brown mountains and then go to the beach to play volleyball or watch as seals or whales or dolphins swim by.

It is an urban fabric woven of many different peoples and cultures and lifestyles. There is the very rich and the very poor. There are the gated communities with the impossibly beautiful homes and manicured grounds of the fabulously wealthy, and then there are the drug addicts hanging out on street corners and the homeless wondering where their next meal will come from. There are the WASPs and the blacks, the Asians and the Latinos. Mexicans make up a whopping 60% of the city’s population. Never have I heard more Spanish spoken, outside of Mexico and Spain. Some downtown signs even proclaim: “We speak English,” which is worth advertising because so many people and shopowners do not. Along with the large immigrant community is a huge crop of East Coast transplants. L.A. is home to both the snobby and the “real.” It has the aspiring actors and the image-conscious and all that goes along with it, including a whole host of related industries. It has the 9-5ers, but also a whole host of artist and others who work on their own time.

L.A. is either loved or hated by most people. One thing it does not do is leave you indifferent, whether it inspires your admiration or disgust. It is a fascinating kaleidoscope of cultures, of religions, of ideas, of landscapes, environments, and architecture, of languages, foods, and people.

I came away with a very different idea of L.A. than I had when I arrived. Of course, some of my preconceptions were true, but I discovered a city that was more complex and more interesting and more diverse than I had imagined. Love it or hate it, L.A. is unique.