Los Angeles Travel Information
As the second largest metropolitan area in the country
with a population of more than 16 million, Los Angeles is the
West's iconic city, the place where movie stars, big money, bigger
traffic jams and modern culture meet over Pacific surf, Santa Monica Mountain
vistas and sometimes, a blanket of smog. Getting a a thumb on the pulse
of
such a vast and diverse urban area is a challenge: Hollywood legends,
Malibu surfers,
rush hour snarls, CalTech, graffiti and "Valley Girls" represent but a
limited picture of what and who greater Los Angeles is, if this densely
packed part of the world can really be in anyway so succinctly
defined. The key is to realize that there
is no L.A. — except as a title for the hundreds of cities
and neighborhoods that have been lumped together by virtue of their location
here on the Pacific
coast, many of which share a map square but not much more.
Though it is surrounded by suburbs both famous and infamous,
edged by film-worthy beaches and dominated by drama (both fictional
and otherwise),
downtown Los Angeles proper is suspiciously normal. Rows of unassuming
skyscrapers and nine to five business doesn't
make for a great tourist attraction, but they do serve as a reminder
that
there really is a city here after all. Compact residential
neighborhoods, including Little Tokyo and Chinatown, along with the
Financial District, the Fashion district, the Art District, the Jewelry
district and the Old Bank District, form the core
of downtown Los Angeles. Importantly, L.A.'s heart is also where you'll
find significant sights related to this city's early settlement like El
Pueblo de Los Angeles, a historic park that counts amongst its
attractions of note some of the oldest buildings around (think early
19th century).
Another reason for the culturally minded to make the trip through
traffic to the center of this expansive urban area is the list of
museums and architectural oddities on hand; the Museum of Contemporary
Art (MOCA) is here, as is the Wells Fargo History Museum, the Chinese
American Museum and in the building category, structures like City Hall
(an Art Deco addition) and the Caltrans Building (oh-so contemporary). Also in the general vicinity is the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (a good spot to
do your homework on the La Brea Tar Pits), the University of Southern
California, the California African American Museum and the California
Science Center, amongst other things.
Leaving downtown behind, visitors will find
the extremes that L.A. is better known for. To the west is affluent, often glamourous Hollywood and Beverly Hills, where movie stars and
photo-snapping tourists shop and dine along palm-lined boulevards. The
upscale homes of Brentwood and Bel Air give way to the quirky,
youth-dominated vibe of Melrose Avenue. To the north are Glendale,
Burbank, and Pasadena, where athletes and scholars pursue their
endeavors at the feet of the San Gabriel Mountains. The Inland Empire
continues to the east, stretching to the city of Ontario and beyond.
There's even skiing at places like Bear Mountain, Mountain High, Snow Summit, and Ski
Sunrise. Los Angeles is located in southwest California about 60
miles north of San Diego. Go-California also offers separate coverage
of Coastal Los Angeles and the Orange County area.
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