Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [90]
But if the ballet of cranes is any indication, that may be about to change. An entire entertainment district is springing up around the Staples Center, while on Grand Avenue, Frank Gehry is masterminding a snazzy retail and residential strip. But the real changes are more subtle.
Once deserted as soon as the lawyers, execs and cubicle slaves went home for the day, life is returning to Downtown streets. Thousands of young professionals, college kids and artists are snapping up stylish lofts in gorgeously rehabbed art deco buildings and modern new developments. Bars, restaurants, a big supermarket and a movie theater have followed in their wake. And the growing gallery district along Main and Spring Sts draws scores to its monthly art walks. Of course, things don’t change overnight, so don’t expect Manhattan. But the momentum is undeniably there, and for adventurous urbanites, now is an exciting time to be Downtown.
If you’re open-minded and don’t mind a little grit and grime here and there, Downtown is your oyster. Thanks to its compactness, it’s also one of the few LA neighborhoods that’s best explored on foot. The walking tour on Click here takes you on a journey of discovery of main and hidden treasures. If you’re arriving by car, you can save by parking away from the congested Financial District and Pershing Sq areas. There are several lots in South Park and Little Tokyo, for instance, charging only $4 or $5 all day. An excellent way to get around is by DASH shuttle Click here
EL PUEBLO DE LOS ANGELES
Compact, colorful and car-free, this vibrant historic district sits near the spot where LA’s first colonists settled in 1781. It preserves the city’s oldest buildings, some dating back to its days as a dusty, lawless outpost. More than anything, though, El Pueblo is a microcosm of LA’s multi-ethnic heritage and the contributions made by immigrants from Mexico, France, Italy and China. To learn more about this fascinating legacy join a free guided tour leaving from the Old Plaza Firehouse (right) at 10am, 11am and noon Tuesday to Saturday.
If you’re more the DIY type, you can also pick up a free self-guided tour pamphlet at the El Pueblo Visitors Center (Map; 213-628-1274; Sepulveda House, 622 Olvera St; 10am-3pm). It’s in a converted Victorian building right on Olvera St (Map; www.calleolvera.com; ), a festively chaotic Mexican marketplace. Its gaudy decorations and souvenir stalls might scream ‘tourist trap,’ but there are actually some fairly authentic experiences to be had. You can shop for Chicano art, slurp thick Mexican-style hot chocolate or pick up handmade candles and candy. At lunchtime, construction workers and cubicle slaves swarm the little eateries for tacos, tortas (sandwiches) and burritos.
Even few Angelenos know that there would be no Olvera Street without civic champion Christine Sterling, who bullied and cajoled her famous friends – including LA Times publisher Harry Chandler – into saving LA’s original business district from being razed for a railway station. With her vision, their money and free prison labor, Olvera St opened to great fanfare in 1930.
There’s a small exhibit about Sterling, the ‘mother of Olvera St,’ in the Avila Adobe (Map; 213-680-2525; E-10 Olvera St; admission free; 9am-3pm), the oldest surviving house in LA. Built in 1818 by a wealthy ranchero and one-time LA mayor, the ranch-style home was later used by the military, then became a boardinghouse and a restaurant. Restored and furnished in heavy oak, it’s open for self-guided tours and provides a look at life in the early 19th century.