Communities
Los Angeles is made up of so many smaller neighborhoods that they're best listed by region. The more popular and famous regions will be described in greater detail.
Beach/Airport Area
Mar Vista Playa del Rey Playa Vista Venice: Home to Muscle Beach and the Venice Boardwalk, Venice is LA’s alternative beach commu-nity, home to a mix of tourist shops and bohemian restaurants and cafes. Venice’s three-mile stretch of beach invariably features an often bizarre collection street entertainment.
Street performers include painters, models, musicians, singers, jugglers, acrobats, mimes, comics, magi-cians, prophets, fortune tellers and others. It’s a crowd full of tattoos, outlandish clothing, nudity, pierc-ing and strange hairdos. The Boardwalk includes courts for basketball, handball, shuffleboard and paddle tennis.
Muscle Beach is a fenced-off area where bodybuilders pump iron. Finally, the food ranges from typical circus or beach-side faire to more elaborate, organic dishes.
Downtown
Boyle Heights Chinatown: The original Chinese settlement in LA dates back to the 1860s. A mix of political, eco-nomic, and social pressures caused the relocation of Chinatown to make way for Union Station.
The best remaining structure of Old Chinatown, the 1890 Garnier Building in El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, houses the Chinese American Museum. Chinatown is now a vibrant area full of shops and restaurants. Chinatown’s newest ethnic Chinese immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos own most of the shops and stalls. These bazaars offer real bargains on clothing and toys.
Central City Central City East Echo Park Elysian Park Griffith Park/Los Feliz: Be sure to visit the rolling park’s three golf courses. However, the famous Ob-servatory is currently closed for renovation.
Hancock Park Hollywood: The area is no longer home to Hollywood’s top studios (except for nearby Paramount), but local officials have really worked on improving the area around the famous hand and footprints outside The Chinese Theater. Visitors can enjoy new shops and attractions around the Kodak Theater and the Walk of Fame. Koreatown Los Feliz Mid-City Mid-City West Mid-Wilshire: Known as the Miracle Mile, this stretch of Wilshire Blvd. includes the famous La Brea Tar Pits and its museum right alongside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, one of the world’s great museums.
Mt. Olympus Mt. Washington Park La Brea: While this stretch along Third and Fairfax on LA’s west side is named for a large housing development, it’s home to the area’s two top attractions -- the Grove (a huge outdoor mall home to shops, restaurants, stores and its own trolley car) and the world famous Farmers Market (no apostrophe).
According to the Market’s own information, the original Farmers Market was created in 1934 when 18 farmers parked their trucks on vacant land at Gilmore Ranch to sell fresh produce to “locals” who flocked to the location.
The original merchants at the Market – the farmers who sold produce from the back of their trucks – paid 50 cents a day in rent. To this day, more than 90% of the Farmers Market’s 70 shops and stalls are owner-operated and employ more than 500 people.
At least 20 sons and daughters of Farmers Market merchants work at the Market (one young restaurateur employs his mom and dad, another worked for his Dad at the Market and now employs his daughter).
On an average day, visitors to the Market toss about $35 into the wishing well. Since 1949, the total – all given to charity – exceeds $600,000 from the market’s 3 million annual visitors. Pico Union Silver Lake Westlake Wilshire Center.
San Gabriel Foothills
Atwater Village Cypress Park Eagle Rock El Sereno Glassell Park Highland Park Lincoln Heights Montecito Heights Monterey Hills Mt. Washington.
Pasadena: Home to the 100,000 seat Rose Bowl, Cal Tech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena retains its pleasant small town feel and atmosphere. Visitors flock to Old Town Pasadena for its dining shopping and architecture. Two popular destinations are Jake’s Pool Hall and The Equator Coffee House nearby. South Pasadena.
San Fernando Valley
Arleta Canoga Park Chatsworth Encino Granada Hills Lake Balboa Lakeview Terrace Mission Hills North Hills North Hollywood Northridge Pacoima Panorama City Porter Ranch Reseda Shadow Hills Sherman Oaks Studio City: The major throughway through the Valley is Ventura Blvd., and many of its best shops and restaurants center around the intersections through Studio City. Dupars and Vivian’s are popular break-fast stops, while Mexicali is hopping every night for dinner.
CBS Studios Radford nearby was once home to Republic Studios and is open now for tours. If you like French dip sandwiches, visit The Dip on Ventura -- a simple, outdoor cafe that serves heaping sand-wiches. Near Sepulveda Blvd. and Ventura, enjoy the down home cooking of Angelina’s Soul Food Kitchen.
Sun Valley Sunland
Sylmar Tarzana Toluca Lake Tujunga Valley Glen Valley Village Van Nuys West Hills Winnetka Woodland Hills
Westside
Bel Air Beverly Crest
Beverly Hills: If shopping is high on your list of activities, a pilgrimage to Rodeo Drive is probably in order. But, other, less famous shops east and north of that Beverly Hills landmark offer deals all their own.
Brentwood Castellemare Century City Cheviot Hills Pacific Palisades Palms Rancho Park Sawtelle West Los Angeles Westwood: Home to UCLA, the neighborhood is going through a renaissance with new businesses, shops and restaurants opening throughout the area. Check out the inexpensive breakfasts at Headlines, the banana donuts at Stan’s and the old-fashioned movie house, The Fox.