Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Los Angeles in Depth
Los Angeles ranks as the second-largest city in the nation; its citizens
hail from 140 countries and speak 86 differ ent languages. In fact, Los Angeles is one of
only two U.S. cities without a majority population.
But unlike many of the world 's greatest metropolitan destinations, L.A. is seen mor e
in the context of the pr esent—even the future—than the past. This young city is all the
more intriguing because that past is fresh and easily excavated (both figuratively and liter-
ally); the sense of simultaneously having one foot in y esterday and one in tomorr ow is
part of what makes disco vering L.A. so r ewarding. In this chapter, we give you a little
rundown on the histor y of E l Pueblo de N uestra Señora la R eina de Los Angeles (the
Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels), along with some other useful backgr ound
on the local views and customs that give an insight into the city and its inhabitants.
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LOS ANGELES TODAY
Having survived a long, leisur ely pioneer-
ing infancy, and a slightly uncouth adoles-
cence, Los Angeles has blossomed into one
of the world 's major cultural centers. The
movies, TV sho ws, and music pr oduced
here ar e seen and hear d thr oughout the
world; the pop pr oducts of the city 's
efforts govern who w e are, how we spend
our time, and how we think more than we
like to admit.
As Los Angeles hur tles into the 21st
century, the city is going thr ough some
drastic changes. I ntense gr owth and
increased ethnic div ersity hav e fueled a
climate of political and philosophical
existing in parallel univ erses. There's the
beautiful sho wbiz to wn, home of starlets
and hunks who cr uise palm-tr ee-lined
streets in sleek convertibles on their way to
the studio. The other univ erse is a multi-
ethnic P acific Rim metr opolis, sw elling
uncomfortably fr om the influx of ne w
residents, yet enriching the city with cul-
tural div ersity. I n this other L.A., y ou'll
encounter Vietnamese, E thiopian, R us-
sian, and Ecuadorian enclaves in formerly
run-down parts of town. You'll find a city
straining to gr ow technologically into a
new century, right next to the to wn eager
to preserve its golden (and sometimes iso-
lationist) roots.
change; in many ways, there are two L.A.s,
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LOOKING BACK AT LOS ANGELES
IN THE BEGINNING
Los Angeles was founded b y the S panish
on the site of a Native American village in
1781, but it wasn't until after the first film
studio was established, in 1911, that Los
Angeles r eally took off . Within 5 y ears,
movies such as D. W. Griffith's
Birth of a
Nation
were being pr oduced by the hun-
dreds. B y World War I, the H ollywood
studio system was firmly entrenched, with
the young trio of Charlie Chaplin, D oug-
las Fairbanks, and “America's Sweetheart,”
Mary Pickford, at its fore.
