# Explain Los Angeles geography **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212 "2012-02-08T17:37:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/81 "2012-02-10T02:52:02Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Somehow I get the feeling that you have a _lot_ of interesting stories you could tell. With an Early Tom Waits soundtrack… We need an “Ask the…” thread. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/82 "2012-02-10T03:02:01Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I was previously unaware, but I have gay friends in the Valley, so I may have to ask some questions. Why was I not informed?!? And being one of them, I’ll tell you. 😉 None that I know of. Oil can harrys sometimes has food, but it’s nothing special. Some pizza or pasta from what I’ve seen. Though they did still do the 2 for 1 drinks as of last year. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/83 "2012-02-10T05:00:53Z")
What about this place called Inglewood? All I know about it is that Marsellus Wallace has no friends there. And that it’s a 20 minute drive from some place, but that it can be done in 10. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/84 "2012-02-10T05:14:51Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Yeah, I was going to ask about that too. What’s the deal with the asterisks? I’ve lived here going on 18 years, and I’ve never seen it written that way before this thread. I have no idea what it’s supposed to mean. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/85 "2012-02-10T06:11:04Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > What about this place called Inglewood? All I know about it is that Marsellus Wallace has no friends there. And that it’s a 20 minute drive from some place, but that it can be done in 10. You wanna stay away from Inglewood unless you have someone showing you around. Its Comptonish. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/86 "2012-02-10T13:17:36Z")
> [@Anamorphic](#): > > I’ve lived here going on 18 years, and I’ve never seen it written that way before this thread. I have no idea what it’s supposed to mean. I lived there for 30 years, and them asterisks is stars, Honey. Like, you know, on [The Walk Of Fame?](http://www.hollywoodchamber.net/) And there’s another place the OP might enjoy. Hollywood Blvd, also on Vine St., in the Hollywood downtown area. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/87 "2012-02-10T14:31:36Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > You wanna stay away from Inglewood unless you have someone showing you around. Its Comptonish. It’s a very closed community, and very tight knit in a lot of ways. A girl I worked with back in LA lived there (her husband grew up there) and she said in a lot of ways it lives up to all its stereotypes both good and bad. It’s also right next to LAX and is most recently notable for keeping Walmart from building a store within it’s city limits. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/88 "2012-02-10T15:01:54Z")
Where’s the “barrio” where Marc Maron lives? A lot of his guests complain or comment about how out-of-the way his Cat Ranch is. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/89 "2012-02-10T15:10:02Z")
According to Block Shopper, he lives at [1854 Phillips Way, Los Angeles-Highland Park, CA 90042](http://losangeles.blockshopper.com/property/5479016024/1854_phillips). ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/90 "2012-02-10T15:16:33Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Where’s the “barrio” where Marc Maron lives? A lot of his guests complain or comment about how out-of-the way his Cat Ranch is. Technically the barrio is East LA, but I don’t know if Maron is using it to mean that or not. There are lots of heavily Latino areas in LA, of which several are rapidly re-gentrifying. Parts of South Bay like Hawthorne as well as Eastern parts (but not East LA) like Echo Park or Highland Park. It’s also possible that he does live in East LA but when white folks say they live in “the barrio” they usually don’t mean that they live in East LA, just that they live in a heavily Latino part of town. 15 years ago most of the city of Hollywood would have qualified. Edit: blondbear says he lives in Highland Park. So…not actually the barrio. Not that bad a part of town either, look like he is right next door to Eagle Rock. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/91 "2012-02-10T15:19:08Z")
Wow, that seems fairly central to me. I guess his showbiz buddies live way out in the suburbs so it’s a pain for them to go into the city. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/92 "2012-02-10T15:27:45Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Wow, that seems fairly central to me. I guess his showbiz buddies live way out in the suburbs so it’s a pain for them to go into the city. Meh, it’s not really, mostly because of traffic patterns and population centers. Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Mount Washington are all right in the middle of a bunch of mountains so there aren’t a lot of easy ways to get in an out of that area. You have to essentially go through Glendale or Downtown to get there, and either way is a pain. Add to that that he is living on the far north eastern edge of where most of the population of the city lives and it CAN be pretty out of the way especially if most of his friends live on the West Side. Heck, even if they live in Hollywood getting to the routes that will get you to that part of town can be difficult. It’s not really a straight shot. Downtown isn’t central in Los Angeles, and almost no one lives there (they are trying to change that, but it’s happening slowly.) The “center” of LA is probably closer to Hollywood/West Hollywood with Santa Monica being the far Western edge (at the ocean) and Downtown being the Eastern edge with East LA really being almost a whole other city. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/93 "2012-02-10T17:15:14Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > There are lots of heavily Latino areas in LA . . . when white folks say they live in “the barrio” they usually don’t mean that they live in East LA, just that they live in a heavily Latino part of town. Yes, which is kind of silly–Spanish is spoken in about 40%\* of homes in Los Angeles (though obviously not exclusively), so to say that you live in “the barrio” is kind of meaningless. East L.A. (which is not part of the city of Los Angeles, but rather an unincorporated area just east of downtown L.A.), is kind of unusual, in that not only is it 95% Latino, but just about all of that population is of Mexican origin–not Central or South American. > [@NAF1138](#): > > 15 years ago most of the city of Hollywood would have qualified. Yes–among the public schools of East Hollywood, the children speak close to fifty different languages\* at home, though the majority are Spanish, English, Armenian, Thai and Korean. > [@NAF1138](#): > > Edit: blondbear says he lives in Highland Park. So…not actually the barrio. Not that bad a part of town either, look like he is right next door to Eagle Rock. Whatever “bad” means, I would personally say most of Highland Park is a great place to live, though it has started to get a little gentrified, and some of the annoying types from Silverlake seem to be going there. \*Part of my job is to determine these statistics. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/94 "2012-02-10T17:25:28Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Yes–among the public schools of East Hollywood, the children speak close to fifty different languages\* at home, though the majority are Spanish, English, Armenian, Thai and Korean. I am a proud alumnus of said public schools (though as part of a magnet program so…only sorta kinda), and honestly would have guessed something like that. I remember that at alumni day assemblies they would spend 15 minutes or so at the top going through the ethnic demographic breakdown of the school showing how wonderfully diverse the student population was. > [@](#): > > Whatever “bad” means, I would personally say most of Highland Park is a great place to live, though it has started to get a little gentrified, and some of the annoying types from Silverlake seem to be going there. For clarity, when I say not bad I mean that I personally would be happy to live there as opposed to much of East LA where, as open minded as I feel I am, I would not live by choice. Some of East LA is also pretty nice, but a lot of it not so much. It’s not really the barrio in any meaningful sense of the word. I have several friends who either grew up in that part of town or moved there when they wanted to settle down and raise some kids. It’s nice. It will be Silverlake before 2020. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/95 "2012-02-10T17:49:49Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > It’s nice. It will be Silverlake before 2020. Today I often hear people complain about the “hipsters” “invading” Silverlake, but we should keep in mind that all of those areas north, north-east, north-west of downtown (including Pasadena, too) have ALWAYS had a lot of “bohemians”–the word that was used previously. In fact, most of these districts have long been bifurcated and mixed: You have the corridor of lower-income apartments buildings (often with high percentage of immigrants) along the main arteries (e.g., Sunset Blvd.), and then then the homes as you go up into the hills. However, East L.A. throughout has stubbornly stayed the same for a long time. Once it had Jewish and Japanese communities, but that was a long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/96 "2012-02-10T18:27:09Z")
This thread has been very educational. Now I know that there’s a Bob Hope Airport. And where Bill and Ted were from. It’s funny how much of LA’s geography was previously known to me by name but not with any spatial reference: Sunset blvd, Mulholland Dr, North Ridge (of earthquake fame) Griffith Park (God knows how many times I’ve seen the observatory in b flicks), And “The Valley” amongst others. Thanks to the entertainment industry, LA geography has a mythic quality. Everyone knows of it, but not about it. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/97 "2012-02-11T17:20:16Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > This thread has been very educational. Now I know that there’s a Bob Hope Airport. And where Bill and Ted were from. > > It’s funny how much of LA’s geography was previously known to me by name but not with any spatial reference: Sunset blvd, Mulholland Dr, North Ridge (of earthquake fame) Griffith Park (God knows how many times I’ve seen the observatory in b flicks), And “The Valley” amongst others. > > Thanks to the entertainment industry, LA geography has a mythic quality. Everyone knows of it, but not about it. Nitpick: It’s not “North Ridge”, it’s “Northridge”. One word. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/98 "2012-02-11T18:32:33Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > Nitpick: It’s not “North Ridge”, it’s “Northridge”. One word. Damn. I was going to say it, but thought it too pedantic. Too pedantic? For the SDMB? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/99 "2012-02-11T19:22:07Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Damn. I was going to say it, but thought it too pedantic. > > Too pedantic? For the SDMB? 😃 Nothing is too obscure or too pedantic for the SDMB! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212/100 "2012-02-11T20:44:58Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Meh, it’s not really, mostly because of traffic patterns and population centers. Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Mount Washington are all right in the middle of a bunch of mountains so there aren’t a lot of easy ways to get in an out of that area. You have to essentially go through Glendale or Downtown to get there, and either way is a pain. > > Add to that that he is living on the far north eastern edge of where most of the population of the city lives and it CAN be pretty out of the way especially if most of his friends live on the West Side. Heck, even if they live in Hollywood getting to the routes that will get you to that part of town can be difficult. It’s not really a straight shot. Downtown isn’t central in Los Angeles, and almost no one lives there (they are trying to change that, but it’s happening slowly.) The “center” of LA is probably closer to Hollywood/West Hollywood with Santa Monica being the far Western edge (at the ocean) and Downtown being the Eastern edge with East LA really being almost a whole other city. I grew up on Mt. Washington. IMHO getting in and out of HP/ MW isn’t that hard, but getting to Hollywood from there is. Same problem Glendale or Pasadena has. MW has the Pasadena Freeway on one side, the Glendale freeway on the other and the 134 to the north. The problem is getting into Hollywood requires getting over the east end of the Santa Monica mountains which is Griffith Park pretty much. Either go around the Eastern end and get to Western or to the west where the Hollywood freeway runs. BTW when I went to HS in Highland Park my HS was 55% Hispanic surname, Asian about 12% and us paddies at 33% I know the Hispanic % went up after I graduated, and when I went there the residents considered HP a bario. What % would meet the definition of a bario? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-los-angeles-geography/612212.md?page=6)