There’s more to Los Angeles than its suburbs
September 23rd, 2009 by Tim Uden
Los Angeles is noted mostly for its suburbs like Hollywood, Santa Monica and Venice Beach and many people consider LA a vast suburban sprawl lacking a central core. In fact many travellers who visit Los Angeles don’t even set foot inside the city centre.
The focus on the importance of Los Angeles’ suburbs is best illustrated by the fact that, out of around 30 hostels in the LA area only one – Stay Hotel – is in the city centre.
Although downtown Los Angeles doesn’t have the buzz of many other big cities such as Chicago, New York City or San Francisco; downtown Los Angeles is still worth a visit.
It is the oldest part of the city and it includes historic areas such as El Pueblo de Los Angeles plus some brilliant architecture such as Los Angeles’ 28-storey City Hall and the art deco Union Station.
If you’re planning a trip to Los Angeles, don’t write off the city centre and if you’re visiting without a car, then it makes sense to stay in the city centre to take advantage of LA’s public transport system, which is centred on Downtown Los Angeles.
Downtown LA may not have the same vibe as New York City, but it does have history, quirky shops, world-class museums, interesting neighbourhoods on the city fringe such as Chinatown and Little Tokyo. With the trend of people moving back downtown it will only get better.
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