Los Angeles! It's Glitz, Glamour, Hollywood and a Whole Lot More!!
Overview
When To Go
Activities
Shopping
Getting There & Around
History
Is LA a figment of its own imagination?
Starlit and moonstruck, LA beguiles scores of curious tourists, hopeful starlets and wannabe rock gods every day. But there's a lot more to it than the siren call of fame and fortune. It's a thriving, multilayered city filled with world-class everything: museums, music, food, architecture, gardens.
Although often gridlocked by traffic, LA moves to a rhythm all of its own. A vortex of creative energy spawns a never-ending stream of movies, inventions and trends. Hollywood and Disneyland are givens, but LA's hidden enclaves have a surprising subtlety and flavour which flout the stereotypes.
The peak season in LA is July/August, when every day is sunny and hot; reservations and a fat wallet to match soaring prices are highly recommended. If you prefer smaller crowds and lower prices, the shoulder seasons (March to May and September to November) are a good bet, but remember that June often brings heavy coastal fog. Chances of rain are greatest in winter, but less smog and congestion make up for the occasional sprinkle. The city gets busy around major holidays, especially Thanksgiving.
Weather
Los Angeles enjoys a Mediterranean climate and is protected from extremes of temperature and humidity by the mountain ranges to its north and east. August and September are the hottest months, January and February the coolest and wettest. Offshore breezes keep the beach communities cooler in summer and warmer in winter than those further inland, particularly the San Fernando Valley, which is the hottest area in summer and the coldest in winter. The average LA temperature is around 70°F (21°C), though smog-shrouded summer days can get well over 90°F (32°C), while winter temperatures around 55°F (12°C) are not uncommon.
You've heard it a thousand times: LA is the city where you can surf in the morning and ski in the afternoon - and you can, as long as you get up early and have a warm wetsuit. Beach-lovers can also indulge in coastal hikes, tide-pool gazing, swimming, surfing, diving, fishing and sunbathing.
surfing, hiking, downhill, swimming (outdoor), cycling, team sports, basketball
Surfing
In Malibu, Surfrider Beach is a surfing favourite. To the North, Zuma is the largest and sandiest of LA's county-owned beaches, with rough surf and plenty of oily hardbodies. Manhattan Beach in the south is jam-packed on summer days with swimmers, volleyball players and the American-as-apple-pie local residents - it's arguably the nearest thing you'll find to the 'California Dream'.
Hiking
Urban hiking is your best bet but to experience the great outdoors LA's surrounding mountains are good day-hike destinations. Try the rugged Santa Monica Mountains, especially Topanga State Park or Malibu State Park, both inland from Malibu, or Griffith Park, north of Hollywood.
Downhill
The main area for downhill skiing is Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino National Forest, 180km (110mi) northeast of LA. The season lasts roughly from mid-December until March or April and, contrary to the cliché, the skiing is generally only good in the morning. Groomed runs and moguls are excellent, but don't expect much powder. The best part about Big Bear is the weather - sunshine 90% of the time and T-shirt temperatures in spring.
Swimming (outdoor)
The most popular and populated swimming beaches are Santa Monica, Venice and Manhattan but, with miles and miles of wide sandy shores to enjoy, even they rarely get packed with people. Zuma Beach is one of LA's most beautiful, and the swimming, body-surfing and people-watching here is excellent. Immediately south of Zuma, Westward Beach is good for families.
Cycling
One of the best bike trails in LA is the South Bay Bicycle Trail, a flat 35km (22mi) paved path that follows the beach south from Santa Monica to Torrance Beach. The newly expanded LA River Bikeway runs alongside a surprisingly wild and pleasant stretch of the river from Atwater Village to Burbank.
Team sports
Prefer sitting on your butt and watching other people exert themselves? The LA Dodgers baseball team are the focus of sporting fanaticism in summer; they play from April to October at Dodger Stadium, just north of Downtown.
Basketball
To check out the legendary LA Lakers, head to the Staples Center, next to the Convention Center in Downtown, during the winter months. For something a little more homespun, UCLA's college basketball team, the Bruins, is one of the best in the country and well worth a look.
Although 'Gapification' (the proliferation of retail chains like the Gap, Banana Republic, Pottery Barn and others) is widespread and malls abound, countless offbeat shops in LA's many distinct neighbourhoods will reward those with a knack for browsing and a flair for the unusual.
Orientation
Most first-time visitors to LA are instantly overwhelmed by its size and sprawl. Unlike other metropolises, LA is a decentralised hodgepodge with no single, clearly defined hub. It helps to know that what is commonly referred to as 'LA' is really 'LA County', a conglomeration of 88 cities of which LA is just one. The heart of the city of Los Angeles is Downtown, about 19km (12mi) east of the ocean and hemmed in by the I-10, I-5 and US 101 freeways.
East LA, a Latino-dominated area, edges against Downtown, as do the historically African-American neighbourhoods of South Central. Most areas of interest to visitors are west of Downtown LA, including Hollywood and the epicentre of gay and lesbian culture, West Hollywood. Farther west is rich-and-famous territory: Bel Air, Brentwood and Beverly Hills. Hugging the northern coast are the posh beach towns of Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica. Farther south along the coast are Venice, followed by the international airport, the South Bay communities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, upmarket Palos Verdes, and the port towns of San Pedro and Long Beach. The Hollywood Hills, part of the Santa Monica Mountains, are a physical and (some might say) ideological separation between Los Angeles 'proper' and the San Fernando Valley, which extends to the northern boundary of LA County. This quintessential suburbia is characterised by faceless strip malls and major TV and movie studios. South of LA County is Orange County, home of Disneyland, and another necklace of beach towns ranging from rad to ritzy, including Huntington Beach (aka Surf City USA) and Mediterranean-flavoured Laguna Beach.
Getting There
If you're flying into Los Angeles, you'll most likely land at Los Angeles International Airport, 30km (20mi) southwest of Downtown LA. If you choose not to fly, Greyhound, the only nationwide bus company, serves Los Angeles from cities all over North America on buses that are fairly clean and comfortable. Amtrak, America's national rail system, operates throughout California and across the USA. In LA, trains arrive and depart from Union Station in Downtown LA.
Bus
Greyhound buses serve LA from cities all over North America. The main LA depot is in a seedy part of Downtown, although the station is reasonably safe inside. Still, avoid arriving after dark unless someone is there to meet you with a car. Other LA-area Greyhound stations are found in Hollywood, Pasadena, Long Beach and Anaheim.
Megabus, which conducts all of its ticket sales and reservations online (www.megabus.com), is another cheap, reliable transport option to consider, with express services to Las Vegas, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco and more. Coaches leave from Union Station, behind the Amtrak Terminal building.
Car
The LA area is a web of highways and byways, so if you have your own wheels, there are always several routes to choose from. From San Francisco and Northern California the fastest route is six hours via the always boring - and in summer miserably hot - I-5. The alternative is the US 101, a curvy and picturesque eight-hour route. The most scenic - and slowest - route is via the Pacific Coast Hwy (PCH or Hwy 1), a 10-hour trip. The downside to this road is its susceptibility to fog, especially in summer. From San Diego and other points south, I-5 is the obvious route. If you're coming in to LA from Las Vegas or the Grand Canyon, take the I-15 to the I-10, then head west to Downtown and beyond.
Train
Amtrak, the national rail system, operates several trains to and from Los Angeles. The main station is Union Station, an impressive art deco depot one block from El Pueblo in Downtown LA. From Seattle and San Francisco, the Coast Starlight operates several times weekly in each direction. There is also regular service from LA to Phoenix, New Orleans and points beyond, as well as several trains daily to and from San Diego, including the sleek Pacific Surfliner .
Plane
A major travel hub for the Pacific Rim region, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the third busiest airport in the world. It's right on the coast south of Venice Beach and north of Manhattan Beach. If you can, try to avoid LAX gridlock by flying into one of these regional airports: Bob Hope Airport (BUR), in the San Ferdinando Valley, about 25km (15mi) northwest of Downtown; Long Beach Airport (LGB), about 40km (25mi) south; John Wayne Airport (SNA), about 65km (40mi) southeast in Santa Ana, Orange County; and Ontario International Airport (ONT), about 65km (40mi) east. With all these options, finding a flight or connection to just about anywhere on the continent is never a problem. Departure tax is included in the ticket price.
Public transport from LAX can be unbearably slow, but at least it's cheap. From outside any terminal catch the free shuttle bus C to the LAX Transit Center, where you can swap to a city bus. Free shuttles also run to the Metro Aviation Station, where you can catch a Green Line train headed in the direction of Redondo or Norwalk. For Downtown LA, hop on the Green Line, then connect to the Blue Line at the Imperial/Wilmington station. If you're headed for Disneyland, consider the Airport Bus, which makes the trip hourly or, in peak times, half-hourly. Buses also serve the area's regional airports.
If you're not the public transport type, door-to-door shuttle buses will drop you at your destination: they're quicker than the bus and cheaper than a taxi (unless there's three or more in your group.) All major car rental agencies have desks at or near any of the LA area airports, although rates tend to be the most competitive at LAX.
Getting Around
Contrary to popular belief, LA does have a fairly comprehensive public transport system. Nearly all communities are served by buses, and a subway and light rail system hits many of the major area attractions, such as Hollywood and Universal Studios. Still, the automobile remains by far the most popular mode of transportation. Before rushing headlong into the bumper-to-bumper melee, consider all of your transport options.
Bus
Although LA is definitely built for cars, it is possible to get around on public transport. Main public bus operators include: Metro, which goes most places; Big Blue Bus, which serves the West LA area; Culver City Bus, which does Culver City and the Westside; and DASH, operating within local communities, including Hollywood and Downtown.
Car
LA sprawls over such a huge area that, unless time is no factor or money is extremely tight, you're going to want to spend some time behind the wheel of a car. Despite the sheer volume of traffic, the city isn't hard to navigate if you stick to the major arterials and avoid rush hours. If you want to get down to the nitty-gritty of LA streets, grab a copy of the Thomas Guides map book.
Walking
Tell an Angeleno, 'I'll just walk' and they're bound to try talking you out of it. Unlike other American cities, LA was built horizontally rather than vertically, and all but a few strips were developed with motorists, rather than pedestrians, in mind. If you hate to see all those sidewalks going to waste, sections of Downtown, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and central Hollywood are walkable - once you've driven or caught a bus there.
Taxi
Unlike New York or Chicago, LA isn't a place you can just thrust your arm out and expect to hail a taxi. Except for those lined up outside airports, train stations, bus stations and major hotels, cabbies respond to phone calls rather than hand waves.
Underground rail
Metro Rail's Red Line subway runs between Downtown's Union Station and North Hollywood via Hollywood and Universal Studios. The light-rail Blue Line goes from Union Station to Long Beach, Norwalk and Redondo Beach.
Disabled Travellers
Public buildings are required by law to be wheelchair accessible and to have special restroom facilities. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (tel: 800 266 6883; www.metro.net) and the Big Blue Bus company of Santa Monica (tel: 310 451 5444, www.bigbluebus.com) are among the companies operating a fleet of wheelchair-accessible buses. Car rental companies can supply hand-controlled vehicles, but you must book them well in advance.
Larger hotels have suites for disabled guests. Telephone companies can provide relay operators for the hearing impaired; call 800 735 2922 (voice) or 800 735 2929 (TDD/TTY). Many banks provide ATM instructions in Braille, and audible crossing signals and dropped curbs are common at busier roadway intersections.
Major airlines, Greyhound buses and Amtrak trains allow service animals and often sell two-for-one packages when attendants of seriously disabled passengers are required. Ask when making your reservation that assistance with connecting flights be available. (Note: Airlines must accept wheelchairs as checked baggage and have an onboard chair available, though some advance notice may be required, especially on smaller aircraft.)
Pre-20th-Century History
The earliest residents of the Los Angeles area were Gabrieleño and Chumash Indians, who arrived in the desert region between 5000 and 6000 BC. The first European known to have visited the LA basin was Portuguese sailor Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who cruised the coast in 1542. In 1769, the Spanish governor of California, Don Gaspar de Portolá, and Franciscan priest Junípero Serra led an expedition north from San Diego, looking for places to build missions and Christianise California's natives. Eventually, 21 California missions were established along El Camino Real (The King's Highway), two of them in what was to become Greater Los Angeles.
In 1781, 44 volunteer settlers from San Gabriel established a new town along a stream about 15km (9mi) southwest of the mission. They named the settlement El Pueblo de Nuestro Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río Porciúncula (The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the Porciuncula River). Los Angeles, as the pueblo became known, soon developed into a thriving farming community.
Upon Mexican independence in 1821, many of that new nation's citizens looked to California to quench their thirst for private land. By the mid-1830s, the missions had been secularised and a series of governors began doling out hundreds of free land grants, thus giving birth to the rancho system. The prosperous rancheros quickly became California's bigwigs, while immigrants from the United States became the merchant class. By the mid-1830s, there were still only 29 US citizens residing in LA. Most Easterners hadn't heard about California until 1840, with the publication of Richard Henry Dana's popular Two Years Before the Mast , an account of his experience plying the hide and tallow trade.
As part of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States acquired all Mexican territories west of the Rio Grande and north of Arizona's Gila River, including Alta California. Two years later California was admitted as the 31st state of the union. The big push behind this rapidfire recognition was gold; first unearthed near the San Fernando mission in 1842, that find was soon eclipsed by James Marshall's famous 1848 discovery on the American River in northern California, which ignited one of the greatest gold rushes in history. The sudden stampede of tens of thousands of Argonauts (80,000 in 1849 alone - hence the nickname '49ers) had an undeniable impact on LA. Southern California's rancheros were called upon to feed the miners, and they quickly discovered that the new wealth of the mining camps could earn them 10 times the profits they were earning from their cattle.
With statehood, Los Angeles was incorporated (on 4 April, 1850) and made the seat of broad Los Angeles County. It was an unruly city of dirt streets and adobe homes, plus many saloons, brothels and gambling houses. By 1854, northern California's gold rush had peaked and the state fell into a depression. As unemployed miners flocked to LA, businesses that had harnessed their futures to miners' fortunes closed their doors. Making matters worse for the rancheros was the land commission sent west by Congress in 1851. Everyone who had received a land grant two decades earlier was now forced to prove its legitimacy with documents and witnesses. By 1857, some 800 cases had been reviewed by tribunal, 500 in favour of the original pre-rancho landowners.
When the first transcontinental railroad, the Central Pacific (later renamed the Southern Pacific), was completed in 1869, San Francisco was California's metropolitan centre. LA's isolation made it unattractive to San Francisco's robber barons, but a spur line finally reached LA in 1876, just in time to service the upstart Southern California orange-growing industry. The first commercial grove proved immensely successful, and spurred the development of other orange-growing hubs, especially in what is now Orange County. By 1889, more than 5200 hectares (13,000 acres) were planted in citrus.
Modern History
By 1900, LA's population had jumped from 2300 in 1860 to 100,000. After a hard-sell campaign, more Easterners heeded the advice of crusading magazine and newspaper editor Horace Greeley to 'Go West, young man'. When they arrived, they discovered the downside of living in this coastal town with no natural harbour and a woefully inadequate fresh-water supply. Construction of a harbour at San Pedro, 40km (25mi) south of Downtown, began in 1899; the first wharf opened in 1914, the year the Panama Canal was completed, and - suddenly 12,880km (8000mi) closer to the Atlantic seaboard - San Pedro soon became the busiest harbour on the West Coast.
Bringing drinkable water to the growing city required a more complex solution. In 1904, LA's water bureau superintendent William Mulholland visited the Owens Valley, 370km (230mi) northeast of LA, and returned with plans to build an aqueduct to carry snowmelt from the mountains to the city. Voters approved the plan, and by November 1913, Owens River water was spilling into the San Fernando Valley at a rate of 120 million litres (26 million gallons) per day. Today, the daily flow has increased to 2.4 billion litres (525 million gallons). Much of the rest of the city's water, as well as Southern California's electricity, comes from dams on the Colorado River, 320km (200mi) east.
LA's population soared to one million by 1920, and two million by 1930, which had a lot to do with the discovery of oil. During WWI, the Lockheed brothers and Donald Douglas established aerospace plants in the area, and by WWII the aviation industry employed enough people to lift LA out of the Depression. A real estate boom, capitalising on the influx of aviation employees, brought capital to the region as well as new suburbs south of LA. And then there were the movies.
Ever since the studios first landed in LA, the city has raced to live up to the hype created by 'the industry'. That image helped lure two new breeds of immigrant: the eccentric artist and the fashionable hedonist, drawn by the broad sandy beaches and the temptation of living the Hollywood lifestyle.
Despite the economic upswing, trouble was brewing. For decades policy-makers had turned a blind eye to ethnic friction, including the 'zoot-suit riots' in 1943. By the mid-60s, South Central LA had reached the boiling point. The bubble burst in August 1965, with one of the nation's worst-ever race riots. The primarily black district of Watts exploded with six days of burning and looting.
Recent History
Today civic leaders and political activists search for new answers to LA's age-old problems of limited natural resources, economic disparity, rising population pressures and, of course, traffic gridlock. The 1990s was a hard decade for LA. In 1992, racial and economic tensions flared again in the infamous 'LA riots', which cost 51 lives and US$100,000,000 in property damage, much of it directed at Korean shopkeepers. In contrast, a ray of hope came with the city's unified response to the spate of natural disasters that occurred in the 1990s. The surprising number of earthquakes, wildfires, floods and mud slides helped meld Angelenos together in a common cause.
The first decade of the 21st century has seen the city strengthen. Its economy is fairly robust, its unemployment low and crime rates sinking. In 2003, there was a monumental blurring of fiction with reality as action movie caricature Arnold Schwarzenegger ran for, and was elected as, Governor of California. In April 2005, Antonio Villaraigosa became LA's first Latino mayor.