Downtown Los Angeles skyline facing northeast toward the San Gabriel Mountains.
Downtown Los Angeles is the center of the metropolis of Los Angeles, California, if not necessarily its heart. The sprawling mega-city is so large that its downtown is, in many ways, a district like Hollywood, as much as the leading area of the city. It is home to the city and county's government, many of the city's major arts institutions and sports facilities, a variety of skyscrapers and associated large corporations and an array of public art, unique shopping opportunities and the hub of the city's freeway and public transportation networks. Downtown Los Angeles is generally thought to be bounded by the Los Angeles River on the east, the 101 freeway on the north, the 10 freeway on the south and the 110 freeway on the west.
Downtown Los Angeles can be divided into seven or so major subdistricts:
- The Civic Center and Little Tokyo
- The Fashion District
- The Historic Downtown Core
- New Downtown (aka Bunker Hill or the Financial District)
- The old Pueblo and Chinatown
- South Park
- The Wholesale District/Skid Row (aka "The Nickel"--for its location on 5th street).
Most major upscale department stores once operated in Downtown Los Angeles. However, many of them were shuttered in the 1970s and 1980s and most moved into newer more modern office, hotel and shopping complexes in the Financial District. Macy's Plaza and Robinson's May are just two prime examples.
Unlike Manhattan, Downtown Los Angeles was void of any nightlife until recent years as the residential population increased. Several developers discovered around 2000 that there was a latent market in Los Angeles for renovated lofts and well-secured luxury apartment complexes among commuters who were sick and tired of commuting from the suburbs. Another sign of the fledgling downtown renaissance is that the Ralphs supermarket chain recently agreed to open its first downtown store; the opening has been pushed back to be opened in the summer of 2006 (according to the Los Angeles Downtown News issue on December 9, 2004).
- The Downtown core is comprised of larger city blocks than most cities of the United States, in distinct contrast to the smaller residential lot sizes of the residential areas of the city. The buildings date from the early 1900s, with the topmost floors of most of the office buildings at mostly 14 and 15 stories. This was enforced because of the earthquake risk; thus, the Los Angeles City Hall was the tallest building for decades at 454 ft., until the development of Century City, in the western part of the Los Angeles basin. One unique building, the Bradbury building, was the largest cast iron structure at the turn of the century, with a lacy, airy interior. The Grand Central Market somehow captures an early 1900s feel, with customs in distinct contrast to the current supermarkets of the U.S. The former Ambassador Hotel, now closed, sits at the edge of the Downtown core, next to the new financial district.
- South of the Downtown core, the Nickel contains large eateries, again, distinctly reminiscent of the early 1900s.
- Next to the Downtown core, the bustling Union Station is an example of the massive buildings, on a heroic scale, that served a vanished rail passenger market until during the 1990's when a subway line and six commuter rail lines began taking passengers there; adjacent to Union Station is the historic center of the city, enshrined for local consumption as Olvera Street.
- Up the hill from Union Station, the Civic Center buildings devoted to federal, state and city administration, Parker Center (LAPD headquarters) and City Hall fill the side of the hill up to the Music Center, a complex of music and theatrical halls which imitates the architecture of New York's Lincoln Center. In 2003 the Walt Disney Concert Hall opened to increase the number of major theaters at the Music Center to four. Also in the building is the smaller Redcat theater and art studio. Near the Music Center are the Museum of Contemporary Art, or MOCA , and the Colburn school of performing arts.
- Down the hill, Little Tokyo still contains businesses with Japanese roots. Some of the buildings and sidewalks date back to the 1800s and still include hitching posts for horses. Little Tokyo also contains the Japanese American National Museum and another Museum of Contemporary Art campus.
- South of Bunker Hill is the Library Tower, now known as the U.S. Bank Tower. At 1018 ft (310m), it is the tallest building between Chicago and Hong Kong. It was initially called Library Tower because it was built next to the Los Angeles Central Library in a successful attempt to save it from shutting down. The library itself, built in 1925, is quite beautiful.
- The South Park area of town includes the Los Angeles Convention Center and Staples Center. Many lofts and apartments are being built in this area, which is seeing a much needed revival.
U.S. Bank Tower in Downtown Los Angeles is the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.
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