Los Angeles, CA

Spanning nearly 500 square miles from the Southern California coastline to the San Gabriel Valley, Los Angeles is the second-largest city by population in the United States, with about 4 million residents. Internationally renowned as the western hub of art and culture in the United States, Los Angeles features a variety of neighborhoods and tourist destinations steeped in historical significance.

NEIGHBORHOODS AND DISTRICTS

While best known around the world for Hollywood and beaches, the Los Angeles area is much more, with a rich variety of neighborhoods and communities.

• Downtown Los Angeles is the administrative and artistic nucleus of the city and is itself divided into a range of sub districts and neighborhoods devoted to distinct products and cultural traditions, including the Arts District, the Financial District, the Fashion District, the Jewelry District, the Broadway Theater and Commercial District, and the Toy District.
• The Historic Core of Los Angeles in southwestern downtown was a bustling urban area prior to World War Two, with major skyscrapers and theaters being constructed along Broadway in the 1930s and 40s. The Los Angeles Civic Center in northern downtown contains the LA Law Library, City Hall, and various state and federal courthouses. Bunker Hill, in northwestern downtown, houses the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, which includes the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper Forum and Walt Disney Concert Hall.
• Downtown also features historic Chinatown--the oldest and third most populous Chinatown in the country with more than 12,000 residents--as well as Little Tokyo to the southeast and Koreatown to the west of downtown.
• East and Northeast Los Angeles, bordered on the west by the Los Angeles River and on the east by the San Gabriel Valley, contain many of Los Angeles' oldest and most densely populated residential suburbs, with a large concentration of Hispanic communities settling in the area in recent decades. This cultural heritage is reflected in many of East Los Angeles' landmarks, including the Latino Walk of Fame, the Mariachi Plaza in the Boyle Heights Neighborhood, and the Plaza de la Raza in Lincoln Heights. The historically wealthy Lincoln Heights and Mt. Washington neighborhoods feature Victorian mansions built in the 1920s and 30s. Eagle Rock, in northern Los Angeles, is home to Occidental College and is known as a haven for artists and intellectuals.
• West of downtown Los Angeles, Echo Park and Angelino Heights contain an abundance of Victorian homes and hilltop vistas. Densely populated Westlake is home to MacArthur Park and has recently seen an increase in gentrification stemming from the influx of students from the nearby University of Southern California.
• Hollywood, famous for its motion picture industry and related tourist attractions such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theatre, also contains a number of residential areas. The Hollywood Hills showcase some of the most expensive real estate in the United States, while ethnically diverse East Hollywood has been home to Armenian, Thai, and El Salvadorian immigrants since the early 1900s.
• Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and Holmby Hills form what is known as the Platinum Triangle of extremely affluent neighborhoods, while Westwood, to the south and west, houses the University of California at Los Angeles. Santa Monica is a coastal resort town to the southwest of Brentwood, known for its surfing and skateboarding communities.
• Southern Los Angeles includes the neighborhoods of Hyde Park, Crenshaw, and Watts, among others. The neighborhoods surrounding the University of Southern California in the West Adams and University Park area remain relatively safe, while communities in surrounding areas continue to struggle with poverty and crime.
• The southernmost part of Los Angeles, known as the Harbor Area, contains the port of Los Angeles on San Pedro Bay, as well as the port towns of San Pedro and Wilmington.
• North and Northwest Los Angeles, located in the San Fernando Valley, contain nearly 40 percent of all Los Angeles residents. Encino, North Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, West Hills and Granada Hills are some of the better-known incorporated areas of the Valley. Griffith Park, between North Hollywood and Burbank, is the largest urban park in the U.S. It includes the Harding and Wilson Municipal Golf Course and the Roosevelt Municipal Golf Course, as well as the Los Angeles Zoo and the iconic Hollywood Sign. The San Fernando Valley is home to many of the corporate headquarters of California's entertainment conglomerates, including CBS, NBC-Universal, Disney/ABC, and Warner Brothers.

ECONOMY AND INDUSTRIES

Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world and the country's largest manufacturing area. The city has one of the busiest ports and has become the distribution center of the West Coast and a gateway to Asia. The country's major motion picture, television and recorded music operations are based here.

The major employers in the city are the Northrop Grumman Corporation, AECOM Technology Corporation, City of Los Angeles, UCLA and CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. Apart from this, the majority of population is engaged in construction, health care and educational services.

There are a number of major companies that are based in the city. 20th Century Fox, Latham & Watkins, Univision, Metro Interactive, LLC, Premier America, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, O'Melveny & Myers, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, Paramount Pictures, Sunkist Growers, Incorporated, Fox Sports Net, Capital Group, 21st Century Insurance, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf all call Los Angeles home.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

The Los Angeles metropolitan area offers an incredible number of venues for its unique art and fashion culture, and for its professional sports teams, which include the Clippers (NBA), the Lakers (NBA), the Sparks (WNBA), the Kings (NHL), the Dodgers (MLB), and the Galaxy (MLS). Museums include:

• The Museum of Contemporary Art, with two downtown locations and one in West Hollywood
• The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• The Getty Center, atop the Santa Monica mountains in Brentwood, featuring five art galleries, a central garden, a research institute, and a conservation institute
• The Hammer Museum at UCLA
• The Norton Simon Museum of Art in Pasadena

Performing Arts/ Sports Venues include:

• The Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles in downtown
• Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, home to many Broadway plays and musicals
• The Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, annual site of the Academy Awards
• The Hollywood Bowl in Pasadena
• The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the only facility in the world to have twice hosted the Olympics
• The Staples Center in downtown, home of the local basketball and hockey teams, as well as many concerts and events
• Rose Bowl stadium, host of the annual Tournament of Roses college football game
• Various small music venues, such as the Whiskey A Go Go, the Rainbow Room, the Roxy Theatre, and the Troubadour

EDUCATION

Major colleges and universities in Los Angeles include the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, Loyola Marymount University, Occidental College, California State University at Los Angeles, Los Angeles City College, and the American Film Institute.

LOCAL MEDIA

Los Angeles features a vast array of locally produced print and broadcast media.

Radio options range from local college stations to nationally syndicated shows:

• KROQ 106.7 FM (Rock and alternative)
• KXOL 96.3 FM and KBUE / KBUA 105.5 / 94.3 FM (Spanish language)
• KATY 101.3 FM (Adult contemporary)
• KCRW 89.9 FM (National Public Radio)
• KDAY 93.5 FM (Hip hop/ rap)
• KDLD / KDLE 103.1 FM (Indie rock)
• KFSH 95.9 FM (Christian contemporary)
• KUSC 91.5 FM (University of Southern California, classical)
• KLOS 95.5 (Classic rock)
• KFI 640 AM (Talk radio)
• KFWB 980 AM (News)

Los Angeles also has over 60 local televisions stations, including:

• KCBS
• KABC
• KNBC
• KTTV (Fox)
• KCET (PBS)

Local newspapers include:

• The Los Angeles Times
• The Los Angeles Daily News
• The Los Angeles Sentinel (African American)
• La Opinión (Spanish language)
• The Hollywood Reporter and Variety (entertaiment industry trade news)

DID YOU KNOW?

• The Los Angeles region consists of five counties. If the area were a state, it would be the fourth-largest.
• Based on containers, the Port of Los Angeles is the busiest in the U.S. and one of the busiest in the world.
• The average annual rainfall in Los Angeles is only 15 inches. Any area receiving less than 10 inches annually is classified as a desert.
• The Los Angeles Times first hit the newsstands in 1881 under the name the Los Angeles Daily Times.
• The first recorded snowfall in Los Angeles occurred in 1881.
• There are 841 museums and art galleries in Los Angeles County, giving it more museums per capita than any other city in the world.
• The first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902. Michigan beat Stanford.
• Los Angeles was originally named El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de la Porciuncula, which means Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angeles of the Small Portion.
• Philippe's restaurant opened in downtown L.A. in 1908 and lays claim to inventing the French dip sandwich. Cole's, also downtown, begs to differ.
• One of the two nodes connected to create the Internet was located in UCLA's School of Engineering and Applied Science.
• The first motion picture theater opened in Los Angeles on April 2, 1902.
• The Hollywood Bowl is the world's largest outdoor amphitheater.
• Los Angeles is home to 200 colleges and universities, including USC, UCLA, Pepperdine University, Occidental College and Loyola Marymount University.
• Griffith Park is the largest municipal park in the United States, covering more than 4,000 acres.
• Los Angeles is home to the world's third-largest cathedral, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
• The Hollywood Walk of Fame includes more than 2,300 stars, covering featured players in film, TV, music and radio.
• Former L.A. Lakers player and general manager Jerry West is the model for the NBA logo.
• Los Angeles County has more residents than 40 states.
• Los Angeles is the largest city in the United States without an NFL team.
• Roughly 10,000 earthquakes occur in the Los Angeles region each year, but most are of such low intensity that we do not feel them.