The United States of LA

This post is part of a TNGG series on cities.

Los Angeles is a big city. You obviously know that, but I meant in terms of surface area. The city encompasses so much land that one can’t just say, “I live in Los Angeles.” A fellow resident would look at you and say, “And… where exactly do you live?” Many outsiders don’t realize that many of the “cities” Angelenos refer to are not actually cities at all, but zip codes within the massive and effervescent Los Angeles.

Each one of these micro-cities encompasses its own culture and vibe of entertainment, nightlife, people and food. Los Angeles is like its own miniature, very flavorful world; you don’t have to travel too far to feel like you’re in an entirely different place. I moved to Los Angeles knowing that as a young member of Gen Y, I would never run out of stimulation. There are new things to do and explore around every corner in this multi-faceted city.

Hollywood, believe it or not, is one of these subsets, just another zip code within Los Angeles. One of the most coveted locations within the city, Hollywood is best known for its nightlife. The glitzy clubs are liberally sprinkled along the few-mile stretch of both Hollywood and Sunset boulevards. Each club has its own elaborately themed décor, varying styles of music depending on the night, and a crowd of people outside begging to get in. My House, for example, is a club made to look like a fancy Hollywood Hills home, adorned with living room areas made to be VIP tables, a kitchen-esque area that doubles as a bar, and a huge dance floor in the center for DJ’s to entertain the masses.

Downtown, also well known to most outsiders, maintains a lot of business and industry. However, it has been recently renovated, creating a more friendly atmosphere. No neighborhoods or apartments will be found here, and although Downtown was once a dangerous, dirty place, hidden beneath our only massive chunk of high-rises are little bars and restaurants worth frequenting even if you live as far as the Westside. Seven Grand is a bar worth frequenting if you make it down to this metropolitan area, known for its whiskey, it can be a fun, youthful hangout.

The Miracle Mile, also known as the Mid-Wilshire area, contains the majority of our museums and culture in Los Angeles. LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) lives on this stretch of Wilshire Boulevard, where modern art thrives seven days a week. Walking along this strip, you can find countless museums of not only traditional art, but of cars and even slightly creepy miniatures that encompass the area. Statues, sculptures, and hundreds of decorative street lamps are all eye candy among the chunks of sparkling office buildings.

East of Hollywood is the new and improved Silver Lake area, once known for its gang violence, the neighborhood now accommodates a special breed of Hollywood youth known as a hipster. The old, badly beaten Victorian-style homes still stand with bars on the windows. But, instead of guns and drugs, Silverlake is now home to funky kids in hats and skinny jeans looking for the traveling Kogi taco truck, a hipster phenomenon of Korean taco madness.

Surprisingly, these are only half of the subsets located in the greater Los Angeles area. The culture and entertainment are endless and undying in this city and it will continue to evolve, considering most of these neighborhoods didn’t even exist in their current permutations a decade ago. It is always a new and exciting day in this city, with a fresh world to visit on every street corner.