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efforts to seal the notoriously porous border. Mexican and Latin American workers still do most of the farm labor and domestic work. In 1994, in the face of increasing unemployment and state government deficits, Californians voted in favor of Proposition 187, which denied illegal immigrants access to state government services, including schools and hospitals. Illegal immigration remains a volatile political topic, especially among conservatives who often employ migrants to tend their yards cheaply while also calling for their expulsion.

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Never mind that there was no natural harbor or that the supply of fresh water was inadequate. Sharp minds and willing spirits would eventually overcome these obstacles. In 1899 LA’s city fathers settled on San Pedro, 23 miles south of LA City Hall, as the site of the port of Los Angeles. It opened in 1907 and became the busiest harbor on the West Coast after the completion of the Panama Canal seven years later. Bringing water to town would be another major challenge. (For more on how this was achieved, Click here.)

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Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974) stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in the story of Los Angeles’ early-20th-century water wars. Robert Towne’s brilliant screenplay deftly navigates the shrewd deceptions that made Los Angeles what it is today.

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MOVIES

The film industry – or simply the ‘Industry,’ as it’s known in LA – has done much to promote California’s image throughout the country and the world. As film, and later TV, became the predominant entertainment medium of the 20th century, California moved to center stage in the world of popular culture.

Entrepreneurial moviemakers – most of them European immigrants – began establishing studios in the first decade of the 20th century. German-born Carl Laemmle built Universal Studio in 1915, selling lunch to curious guests coming to watch the magic of moviemaking; Polish immigrant Samuel Goldwyn joined with Cecil B DeMille to form Paramount Studios; and Jack Warner and his brothers arrived a few years later. With the perpetually sunny weather, most outdoor locations could be easily shot, and moviemaking flourished. Fans loved early film stars like Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, and the first big Hollywood wedding occurred in 1920 when Douglas Fairbanks wed Mary Pickford. What’s more, the proximity of the Mexican border enabled filmmakers to rush their equipment to safety when challenged by the collection agents of patent holders such as Thomas Edison.

Although Hollywood became the cultural and financial hub of the movie industry, it’s a myth that it was ever the center of movie production. There were studios in Culver City (MGM, now Sony Pictures) and Studio City (Universal Studios Hollywood), but moviemaking wasn’t even limited to LA. American Film Company, founded in Santa Barbara in 1910, did box office for years and Balboa Studios in Long Beach was another major silent-era dream factory. And the first big movie palaces were not on Hollywood Blvd but on Broadway in Downtown LA.

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The website www.seeing-stars.com is packed with information and tips for star gazers, even though some of it is outdated and the presentation is a bit unwieldy.

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For star gazers or movie buffs, LA is the equivalent of the holy grail. Experiences are infinite: you can tour major movie studios Click here, be part of a sitcom audience Click here, shop at Kitson and other boutiques favored by today’s hottest stars, see where celebs live Click here, eat, drink and party, buy their old clothes Click here or attend a film festival Click here. Other Southland communities are more low-key, but Santa Barbara, Newport Beach in Orange County and Palm Springs all have their own film festivals and are popular celebrity haunts.

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Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water (1986), by Mark Reisner, chronicles in compelling prose the history of water in Southern California and the ruthless politics that surround it.

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