Why are there oil pumpjacks laboring away along the La Cienega shortcut through Baldwin Hills to LAX? Why, until 2017, was an oil derrick pumping vigorously on the grounds of Beverly Hills High School,...
Explaining Los Angeles
Los Angeles is a complex place. Patt Morrison is explaining how it works, its history and its culture.
Photo: ca-times.brightspotcdn.com
Long ago, when the world was young and there were only landlines, one area code ruled them all, from the Mexican border to Bakersfield: 213. Then it began to divide and multiply. 714 was born, and 805,...
Death Valley, the Central Valley, Silicon Valley — meh. Here, there’s only the Valley. The San Fernando Valley, for way too long the Rodney Dangerfield, the red-haired stepchild of Los Angeles. Anywhere...
Oh, sure, now Los Angeles is a blue town, a liberal town, and one that rejoices in its diversity. But it could’ve been a close call. Before the Civil War, half of L.A.’s Anglo residents were Southerners....
Through our months of COVID cabin fever, at least we can take some pleasure in fantasizing about what we’re going to do once we get off pandemic parole. Long before Disneyland — even before Walt Disney...
You say “San Pay-dro,” I say “San Pee-dro” — let’s call the whole thing L.A. It’s supposed to be a “tell” — that in Los Angeles, you can sort the locals from the pretenders and parachutists by how they...