Downtown
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For the nation's second
largest city
LA's downtown is actually very small and is eerily quiet on
the weekends. We were recently standing in the middle of
a major 6 lane Blvd in downtown just laughing to
ourselves about the total lack of people and cars present!
Certain streets are surprisingly empty. Depending on where you are
(compared to the congestion of the freeways), even on weekdays
parts of downtown can feel surprisingly empty.
Most people do not associate Los Angeles with walking but in
fact if you are in shape and have some time downtown can be an
excellent area for walking. A number of unique districts are all
within walking distance of downtown and you can easily walk
through the main core (tall buildings) of downtown in a short
time. The city has informative round colorful signs posted at
any landmarks or in locations of historical interest.
Parts of downtown on the
weekends do see traffic and visitors especially along Hill Street, near
Pershing
Square and just south of the main part of
downtown in old town and the jewelry mart area where there are shops
that are open for business on the weekends. Also the LA Live area (in
the western part of downtown next to the Staples Center and Convention
Center) can be popular especially when public events are being held. You
can walk the entire downtown district in about half a day, taking some
time to stop and explore various outdoor sites along the way.
Bunker Hill is a modern clean part of downtown that features
some of downtown's main high-rises and financial buildings.
Steps wrap around the edge of the US Bank building (the
quintessential Los Angeles high-rise), leading to the top of
Bunker Hill where you will be greeted by a bronze statue of a
naked woman on a pedestal. |
The US Bank building
is significant because of its quickly identifiable shape but also because it is the city's
tallest building and is the tallest building in the United States west
of the Mississippi (for reference and perspective, the tallest building
in the world, the Burj Dubai is nearly 2.5 x the height of the US Bank
building!) This building has also been featured in a number of movies and is
one of the buildings that tells you "this is Los Angeles".
The city has posted a number of informative permanent signs located at
some of the highlights downtown and these are interesting reads. Note
that Lonely Planet has published a free pocket guide for downtown Los
Angeles which you can pick up in front of the Grammy Museum.
Regarding parking, LA's downtown is somewhat interesting in that there
are a number of open air ground parking lots (rather than massive
parking garages you would normally find in cities of this size). Parking
is always cheaper on the weekends, dramatically so in some cases.
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Angels
Flight is located on the back (south side) of
Bunker Hill just off of Hill Street next to the small park in
this area. This is an extremely short funicular.
This funicular was rebuilt in its
current location about 1/2 block from where it originally was located.
It reopened in 1996 but after an accident closed from 2001 until
reopening in March 2010.
Now you can again take the ride that was so popular by commuters
for many years.
Also note the small hillside park next to Angels Flight. This is a
nice spot to lie down on the grass when its warm out (and how often is
it not warm in LA?). This park was featured in the movie 500 Days of
Summer.
Photo to left is of the steep railroad leading up Bunker Hill |
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City Hall -
This impressive timeless looking building was
completed in 1928 and is home to the Mayor's office as well as
the City Council offices. The public observatory is located on
the 27th floor (M-F). To get here requires taking 3 elevators
(after going through security and getting a name tag); the first
one to the 22nd floor, the 2nd to the 26th floor and then a
short stop up one floor. Spy the backed up traffic on the 101 to
your east, look down on the grime of skid row splayed out for
blocks to the south west, or
the LA River, and then continue walking around the
outdoor platform until you are staring right at downtown. On the 26th floor just below the Tom
Bradley room there are many paintings of all the mayors of Los
Angeles. There however, is sadly one major picture missing, that
of a woman mayor.
This was the tallest building in California for 30+
years. |
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This building has made appearances in a number of movies
including War of the Worlds. No parking is allowed in front of
the building but there are several private lots in the vicinity
- hint: parking gets cheaper the further you are from City Hall.
Visit:
www.lacityhall.org |
Fashion Institute & Museum -
see our review here
Grammy Museum -
see our review here
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LA Times offers free public tours of
their facility in downtown Los Angeles 2x per month (location:
1st and Spring Streets - not far from City Hall). As of press
time these tours are given on the last Tuesday and Thursday of
each month. 35 people max - be sure to reserve *well* in
advance! Like City Hall
the LA Times building is a historical one having been founded in
1935.
As a result part of the tour explores the history of the
inside of the building including the tall hand painted murals
inside the "globe lobby". This is on our list of places to visit
during an upcoming trip. Phone: (213) 237-5757 or visit:
www.latimes.com/about/mediagroup/latimes/tour
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The Los Angeles Convention Center
is located in the western part of downtown near
where the 110 and 10 freeways merge. This is a major convention
center with often multiple events held on the same day due to
its size. There are four different exhibitor halls, a main
concourse and lots of meeting space.
There are several parking
garages to serve the convention hall (follow the signs to the
garage that serves the particular hall where your event is being
held).
If you are here on the weekend and don't mind parking a
bit further from the convention center you can find
cheaper parking in some of the lots 4-5 blocks away. Visit:
www.lacclink.com |
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LA
Live
is a massive entertainment complex that cost nearly 2
billion located across from the Staples Center next to downtown. This is the
largest entertainment complex on the West Coast and includes the indoor
Nokia Theatre and outdoor Nokia Plaza, the
Grammy Museum, a number of restaurants, bowling
and an arcade.
The 54 story Ritz Carlton anchors one end of this complex
as well as a
huge 14-screen movie theatre. If you drive by the 110 near downtown on a regular basis
you most certainly would have had plenty of time to watch this skyscraper being built
- during its construction you probably were able to watch actual floors come together during
an afternoon drive by on this freeway.
LA Live is LA's 1.7 billion dollar answer to try and get people to hang
out in and around the south part of downtown and to add a central plaza
for musical and other events. This certainly has worked especially on
the weekends as a number of events are held in the plaza.
This entire
complex is situated right across the street from the Staples Center and
near the Convention Center. This is a popular place to be whenever there are
sporting events across the street. A number of restaurants are
also part of this complex. Visit:
www.lalive.com
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Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
-
see our review here
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Olvera Street
is a very historical
district across from Union Station near downtown Los Angeles.
Our latest visit was right after the Blessing of the Animals
which is held annually on the Saturday |
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before Easter Sunday. This includes a
parade and many people bring their animals to receive the holy water
blessing. Parking is available within a block or two walk - private
lots, typically timed at 20 minutes. Public restrooms are in the main
square under the round pagoda. Olvera Street is historically the
original birthplace of modern Los Angeles - this is where the original
Pueblo was built in 1781.
Today it is setup for tourists - the main
street contains a colorful collection of various Mexican souvenir shops
- there are also several Mexican restaurants here as well. On occasion,
live music will play in the plaza. Since this was the original Los
Angeles many years ago there are a number of very historical buildings
on site including the Avila House built in 1818 which is the oldest
residence building in Los Angeles. It is open for public tours. For more
information, visit:
www.olvera-street.com
Sister Cities -
Los Angeles currently has 24 sister cities from around the
globe. The photo of the "sister cities sign" here was taken
almost across from City Hall near downtown. This is a dual
relationship between Los Angeles and her sister cities -
culturally and financially.
We are still waiting for the other City of Angels (Bangkok,
Thailand) to jump on board and become a sister city of Los
Angeles.
For more information visit:
www.lacity.org/SisterCities or
www.lasistercities.com |
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Dave's Pick