Los Angeles contains eighty-eight incorporated cities within Los Angeles County and sprawls across 502.7 square miles in the city proper. The metropolitan region follows the basin geography created by the Santa Monica Mountains to the north, the San Gabriel Mountains to the northeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Population density varies from 6,999 people per square mile in the incorporated city to under 500 in certain unincorporated areas. The neighborhoods described here exist as named districts rather than administrative boundaries, meaning their borders shift in common usage and census tract definitions often disagree with resident identification.
Downtown Los Angeles occupies the original pueblo site established in 1781 and remains the civic center with City Hall constructed in 1928 at 454 feet, the tallest building in Los Angeles until 1964 when height restrictions were lifted. The Broadway Theater District contains twelve movie palaces built between 1910 and 1931, the highest concentration of such structures in the United States. The Orpheum Theatre opened in 1926 with 2,000 seats. The Million Dollar Theatre opened in 1918 as the first cinema palace on Broadway. The Historic Core south of Temple Street preserves structures from the 1880s through 1920s including the Bradbury Building completed in 1893 with an open-cage elevator and wrought-iron staircases extending five stories. Grand Central Market opened in 1917 and operates across 30,000 square feet with vendor stalls selling prepared food. The Arts District northeast of Little Tokyo converted industrial warehouse space beginning in the 1970s when artists occupied former textile and produce distribution buildings along Traction Avenue and Santa Fe Avenue. Gallery row emerged along these blocks in the 1980s. Residential loft conversions accelerated after 2000 when adaptive reuse ordinances reduced permitting barriers for industrial-to-residential projects.
Little Tokyo occupies roughly seven blocks bounded by Los Angeles Street, Alameda Street, Third Street, and First Street. The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Los Angeles in the 1880s with concentrated settlement in this area by 1900. First Street developed commercial corridors with Japanese-owned businesses including boarding houses, restaurants, and grocery importers. The 1920 census recorded 11,618 Japanese residents in Los Angeles County. Executive Order 9066 issued in February 1942 mandated forced relocation of 120,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast to inland internment camps. Los Angeles County lost approximately 37,000 Japanese American residents. The neighborhood emptied in spring 1942 as residents were sent to assembly centers before transfer to camps including Manzanar in Inyo County. African American families and businesses moved into vacated spaces during the war years. Returning Japanese Americans after 1945 found their former properties occupied or sold. The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center opened in 1980 on a 5.5-acre site. The Japanese Village Plaza built in 1979 replicates architectural elements from rural Japanese towns with a central courtyard and retail shops. The Go For Broke Monument dedicated in 1999 honors Japanese American soldiers who served in the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II. These units earned 18,143 individual decorations including 9,486 Purple Hearts and 21 Medals of Honor, making the 442nd the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in American military history.
Chinatown occupies the area north of Dodger Stadium along North Broadway after relocating from the original settlement near Union Station. The first Chinatown developed in the 1880s near Alameda Street and served Chinese laborers who worked on the transcontinental railroad and in agricultural industries. That area was demolished in the 1930s for construction of Union Station which opened in 1939. New Chinatown opened in 1938 on land purchased by Chinese American business leaders including Peter SooHoo who led the cooperative effort to establish the new district. Central Plaza opened as the commercial core with restaurant businesses and import shops. The gate structures and roof tiles follow southern Chinese architectural patterns from Guangdong province where most early immigrants originated. The 1960 census recorded 10,387 Chinese residents in Los Angeles. Immigration reform in 1965 removed national origin quotas and increased Chinese immigration substantially. The community expanded north along Broadway and east toward the Los Angeles River. The Chinese American Museum opened in 2003 in the Garnier Building, the oldest surviving structure from original Chinatown built in 1890.
Boyle Heights sits east of the Los Angeles River and developed as a Jewish neighborhood in the early twentieth century before becoming predominantly Mexican American after 1950. Eastern European Jewish immigrants settled there beginning in the 1910s when restrictive housing covenants prohibited Jewish families from purchasing property west of Main Street. By 1930 the neighborhood contained more than forty synagogues and Jewish community organizations. The Breed Street Shul built in 1923 seated 1,000 and served as the largest Orthodox synagogue west of Chicago. Jewish residents began moving to West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley after World War II when housing restrictions ended. Mexican American families replaced departing Jewish residents through the 1950s. The 1960 census showed 80,000 residents in Boyle Heights with approximately 70 percent identifying as Mexican American. Mariachi Plaza at the intersection of First Street and Boyle Avenue serves as a hiring site where mariachi musicians gather to meet clients seeking performers for events. The tradition dates to the 1950s when musicians began congregating at that location. Hollenbeck Park opened in 1892 as one of the first public parks in Los Angeles with a lake constructed in 1893 covering 1.5 acres.
East Los Angeles exists as an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County rather than a neighborhood within the city of Los Angeles, though it borders Boyle Heights and shares continuous urban fabric. The 2020 census recorded 118,786 residents in the designated census area with 96.7 percent identifying as Hispanic or Latino. The area developed distinct identity in the 1940s and 1950s as Mexican American veterans returned from World War II and established households along Whittier Boulevard and Brooklyn Avenue, later renamed César Chávez Avenue in 1994. The Chicano Moratorium against the Vietnam War occurred on August 29, 1970, when an estimated 25,000 people marched along Whittier Boulevard to Laguna Park. Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies confronted protesters and journalist Ruben Salazar died from a tear gas projectile fired into a bar where he sat. The event intensified Chicano movement organizing throughout the 1970s. Self-Help Graphics & Art opened in 1973 as a printmaking studio and community art center promoting Mexican American and Chicano artistic traditions. The organization has operated continuously since then producing screen prints and hosting Día de los Muertos celebrations annually.
Silver Lake occupies hillside terrain northwest of downtown between Glendale Boulevard and Hyperion Avenue. The district takes its name from a reservoir constructed in 1907 covering 96 acres and holding 795 million gallons at capacity. The reservoir was one of four built to store water delivered by the Los Angeles Aqueduct which opened in 1913 carrying water 233 miles from Owens Valley. Residential construction on the surrounding hills accelerated in the 1920s with bungalows and Spanish Colonial Revival houses built on steep lots. The neighborhood attracted artists, writers, and film industry workers due to lower housing costs compared to western areas. Neutra VDL Studio and Residences designed by Richard Neutra in 1932 introduced modernist architecture to the hillside. Neutra rebuilt the structure in 1966 after fire destroyed the original. Silver Lake became identified with the gay community in Los Angeles by the 1970s as openly gay residents concentrated in the area. The neighborhood gentrified substantially after 2000 with median home prices increasing from $280,000 in 2000 to over $1.1 million by 2020 according to assessor records.
Echo Park borders Silver Lake to the south and takes its name from Echo Park Lake, a reservoir created in 1868 covering 14 acres. Lotus flowers were planted in the lake in the 1920s and bloom annually between June and August. The neighborhood developed dense housing in the early twentieth century with bungalow courts and small apartment buildings constructed on narrow lots. Central American immigrants, particularly from El Salvador and Guatemala, settled in Echo Park beginning in the 1980s during civil conflicts in those countries. The 1990 census showed Echo Park with 43 percent foreign-born residents. Pupusas, the Salvadoran dish of thick corn tortillas filled with cheese, beans, or pork, became widely available at restaurants along Sunset Boulevard. Dodger Stadium opened in 1962 in Chavez Ravine immediately north of Echo Park after the city evicted residents of the predominantly Mexican American neighborhood that occupied the site. The evictions occurred between 1950 and 1959 despite initial promises that the land would be used for public housing. Approximately 1,800 families were displaced.
Koreatown extends along Western Avenue and Olympic Boulevard west of downtown covering approximately 2.7 square miles. The name became officially recognized by the city in 2010 though Korean businesses established presence in the area beginning in the 1960s. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act removed discriminatory quotas and Korean immigration increased substantially. By 1970 approximately 8,900 Korean immigrants lived in Los Angeles County. That number grew to 60,000 by 1980 and 145,000 by 1990. Olympic Boulevard developed as the primary commercial corridor with Korean-language signage, restaurants, nightclubs, and professional services. The 1992 Los Angeles riots severely damaged Koreatown with over 2,000 Korean-owned businesses sustaining property damage totaling an estimated $400 million. Many businesses never reopened. Korean-language media documented tensions between Korean shopkeepers and African American customers in South Los Angeles neighborhoods prior to the riots. The shooting death of fifteen-year-old Latasha Harlins by Korean store owner Soon Ja Du in March 1991 intensified those tensions. Du received a sentence of five years probation with no jail time, a decision that sparked protests. The Wilshire Boulevard Temple, a Jewish congregation founded in 1862, operates a Byzantine Revival structure built in 1929 at Wilshire Boulevard and Hobart Avenue within Koreatown's boundaries.
Hollywood occupies the area between Western Avenue and Laurel Canyon Boulevard north of Melrose Avenue. The district incorporated as an independent municipality in 1903 and merged with Los Angeles in 1910 to access the city's water supply from the Los Angeles Aqueduct. The film industry established studios there beginning in 1911 when the Nestor Company opened on Sunset Boulevard. By 1915 the majority of American films were produced in Hollywood or surrounding areas due to year-round sunlight, diverse geography for location shooting, and distance from patent enforcement actions by the Motion Picture Patents Company based in New Jersey. Major studios including Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and Columbia Pictures operated production facilities in Hollywood and nearby Burbank. The Hollywood Sign was erected in 1923 as an advertisement for a housing development called Hollywoodland. The original sign included all thirteen letters. The last four were removed in 1949. Each letter stands 45 feet tall. The TCL Chinese Theatre opened in 1927 with a premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's "The King of Kings" and introduced the tradition of celebrity handprints and footprints in concrete forecourt panels. The Hollywood Walk of Fame was created in 1958 with the first stars installed in 1960. As of 2023 the walk contains more than 2,700 stars along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street.
West Hollywood incorporated as an independent city in 1984 after existing as an unincorporated section of Los Angeles County. The 1.9-square-mile city recorded a population of 35,757 in the 2020 census. Sunset Strip, the portion of Sunset Boulevard running through West Hollywood between Crescent Heights Boulevard and Doheny Drive, developed as an entertainment district in the 1920s when the area lay outside Los Angeles city limits and therefore outside LAPD jurisdiction. Nightclubs, casinos, and restaurants operated with less regulatory oversight. The Chateau Marmont hotel opened in 1929 as a residential hotel. The Comedy Store opened in 1972 in a building that previously housed Ciro's nightclub. The Viper Room opened in 1993. West Hollywood established itself as a center of gay culture in Los Angeles with Santa Monica Boulevard developing gay bars, clubs, and businesses beginning in the 1970s. The city became one of the first in the United States with an openly gay majority on its city council after incorporation.
Beverly Hills incorporated in 1914 as an independent city surrounded by Los Angeles. The 5.7-square-mile city recorded 32,701 residents in the 2020 census. The Beverly Hills Hotel opened in 1912 before residential development occurred, built to attract property buyers to the area. Burton Green, a founder of the Rodeo Land and Water Company, purchased the land in 1906 after it had operated as a lima bean ranch. Streets were laid out and utilities installed before homes were marketed. Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford purchased a hunting lodge in 1919 and expanded it into Pickfair, a 25-room mansion that became a symbol of Hollywood wealth. Other film industry figures followed and by 1930 Beverly Hills housed many of the highest-earning actors and producers. Rodeo Drive developed as a luxury retail corridor in the 1960s. The three-block stretch between Wilshire Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard contains flagship stores for international luxury brands. The city maintains its own police department, fire department, and school district independent of Los Angeles.
Bel Air exists as a neighborhood within Los Angeles city limits in the hills north of Sunset Boulevard west of Beverly Hills. Developer Alphonzo Bell purchased 600 acres in 1922 and restricted lot sizes to one acre minimum with setback requirements and architectural review to maintain property values. The Bel-Air Country Club opened in 1926. Access to the neighborhood is controlled by gates at major entry points on Sunset Boulevard though the streets remain publicly owned. The Hotel Bel-Air opened in 1946 on 12 acres with Mission Revival architecture and gardens surrounding a creek. The neighborhood contains some of the highest property values in Los Angeles with median home prices exceeding $3 million.
Westwood borders the UCLA campus and developed as a planned commercial district in 1929 when the Janss Investment Company designed a Mediterranean Revival village to serve the new university. UCLA moved to Westwood from its original downtown location in 1929. The campus occupies 419 acres. Westwood Village contains the highest concentration of first-run movie theaters in Los Angeles including the Fox Bruin Theater opened in 1937 and the Village Theater opened in 1931. The neighborhood attracted student housing and businesses serving the university population. Westwood Memorial Park cemetery contains graves of Marilyn Monroe, who died in 1962, and Natalie Wood, who died in 1981, among other entertainment figures. The cemetery occupies one acre.
Brentwood stretches along San Vicente Boulevard west of the 405 freeway. The neighborhood developed residential character in the 1920s with single-family homes on large lots. The area remained predominantly residential with limited commercial corridors on San Vicente Boulevard and Barrington Avenue. The Getty Center opened in 1997 on a 110-acre site in the Santa Monica Mountains above Brentwood. The museum designed by Richard Meier displays pre-twentieth-century European paintings, drawings, sculpture, and decorative arts along with European and American photographs. Admission is free though parking costs $20 per vehicle. A tram carries visitors from the parking structure to the museum buildings at the hilltop.
Santa Monica incorporated as an independent city in 1886 and occupies 8.3 square miles bounded by Los Angeles to the north and east, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Venice to the south. The 2020 census recorded 93,076 residents. The Santa Monica Pier opened in 1909 as a municipal pier extending 1,600 feet into the ocean. The pier contains Pacific Park, an amusement park with a Ferris wheel installed in 1996 standing 85 feet tall. The pier receives an estimated 8 million visitors annually. Third Street Promenade, a pedestrian-only shopping district covering three blocks between Wilshire Boulevard and Broadway, was created in 1965 and renovated in 1989 with new paving and fountains. The Los Angeles Metro E Line light rail extension to Santa Monica opened in 2016 connecting downtown Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles with thirteen stations along the route.
Venice was developed by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a beach resort with canals modeled on Venice, Italy. Kinney dug 16 miles of canals through marshland and erected Italian-style buildings along a central plaza. Gondolas operated on the canals carrying tourists. Most canals were filled in 1929 when the city paved them for automobile traffic. Six canals remain between Washington Boulevard and Venice Boulevard covering approximately 1.5 miles total. Venice Beach Boardwalk runs along the oceanfront for 2.5 miles and contains vendor stalls, street performers, outdoor gyms, and basketball courts. Muscle Beach weight-lifting platform opened in 1934 at Santa Monica Beach and moved to Venice Beach in 1959 after the original was demolished. Arnold Schwarzenegger trained there in the 1970s. Venice incorporated as a separate city in 1911 and merged with Los Angeles in 1925 after financial difficulties. The Venice Canals were designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1982.