GSCENE 25
A lot of people have a lot of views about LA;
don’t go downtown, don’t spend more than an
hour in Hollywood, don’t go on the public
transport system, don’t go out into the
suburbs, just drive through it... they say.
If all taken together it doesn’t leave much to
do except visit Disneyland and head for Las
Vegas. However, it seems that if you dispense
with the traditional ‘advice’ about
LA and do the exact opposite, you’ll enjoy
one of the best cities America has to offer.
Parts of Downtown LA have undergone
significant regeneration, mostly centred
around the Walt Disney Concert Hall – an
absolutely stunning Frank Gehry building at
the heart of a cluster of new cultural and arts
venues on Bunker Hill. The Concert Hall is
one of the most exciting public buildings
anywhere in the world and has helped to
transform an otherwise neglected and
rundown part of the city. A number of new
cultural related buildings have sprung up
around it, including the Museum of
Contemporary Art and the LA Opera, with a
new world class art gallery due to open next
door to it next year.
WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
LA is very spread out and is heavily dominated
by the car, though the public transport system
is excellent and provides a cheap and fast way
to navigate the conurbation, avoiding the
city’s famous traffic jams. It seems fairly safe,
although like any American city care needs to
be taken at night.
The city’s extensive bus networks are all really
good and easy, whereas the Metro system now
covers the majority of places you’ll want to
go. An all day TAPP pass for the Metro or bus
is just $5 and takes you anywhere you like in
the greater LA area or each individual journey
is $1.50. What the Metro doesn’t do is
connect up with Venice or Santa Monica
Beaches, although these are a short hop from
the up and coming Culver City.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART
Paul Elgood visits downtown LA, Hollywood and admires
Gehry’s masterpiece, the Walt Disney Concert Hall
Beverley Hills is also isolated from the fixed
public transport links. This high-end
neighbourhood offers the ultimate experience
in boutique shopping and star spotting. As
well as the world famous Rodeo Drive, it also
boasts a new Westfield shopping mall at
Century City. Beverley Hills is probably best
enjoyed in the streets and shops around
Rodeo Drive, with their more relaxed west
coast feel. The list of other places easily
reachable from Beverley Hills is long and a
good base for driving from.
Hollywood does what it says on the tin. It is
less run down now than in previous years and
is a good starting point to explore the city. It
is perhaps a bit limited for an extended stay
and you’ll encounter a steady flow of people
dressed up as Superman or Charlie Chaplain
trying to sell their tour bus rides. For the
ultimate historic Hollywood experience try
staying at the Roosevelt Hotel. Marilyn
Monroe still haunts the public areas they say.
From Hollywood you can easily access the gay
area and nightlife of West Hollywood; the
historic Downtown or the Farmer’s Market,
which are all worth spending time in, if
Hollywood Boulevard itself wears thin.
Central LA offers one of the best art galleries
in the US and perhaps the world. The LA
County Museum of Art (LACMA) is a cluster
of buildings holding more than 150,000 works
spanning the history of art from ancient times
to the present. Among the museum’s special
strengths are its holdings of Asian art, housed
in part in the Bruce Goff designed Pavilion for
Japanese Art; Latin American art, ranging
from pre-Columbian masterpieces to works by
leading modern and contemporary artists
including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and José
Clemente Orozco; and Islamic art, of which
LACMA hosts one of the most significant
collections in the world. It is a must see.
Another must see in central LA is the space
shuttle, which docked there in October to
spend its retirement. It is already a huge
tourist attraction in its own right.
Everyone seems to end up at the beach in LA;
it is what the locals do. Santa Monica and
Venice Beach sit next to each other, offering
different experiences. Santa Monica offers good
mainstream shopping, hotels and nightlife,
whereas Venice Beach has an entirely different
vibe dropping the chain stores and coffee
shops and attracting a more cosmopolitan
crowd. Experienced together, you can cherry
pick the best of both worlds.
SANTA MONICA PEIR
LOS ANGELES - CITY OF ANGELS
LA has done what Brighton & Hove should have
started to do years ago and used development
opportunities to regenerate its run down areas.
Whatever the debate about the Frank Gehry
plans for the King Alfred a few years back, the
city council should have stepped in and
stopped an architect of this quality being lost
to the city altogether - recession or not. If you
take one look at the beauty of the Walt Disney
Concert Hall you’ll think that Brighton & Hove
made an indescribable error of judgement in
not developing an acceptable set of designs
and affordable funding package for the King
Alfred and so letting an architect of this
calibre slip through its fingers. Gehry isn’t just
world class, he is beyond that and the impact
of a Gehry designed King Alfred would have
been felt for generations in the city – as it has
in LA.
A good example of how this would have
happened locally is the rapid transport
networks which were planned for the seafront
to link up the King Alfred and Marina sites with
the station. LA utilises rapid transport so
effectively; Brighton & Hove missed this
opportunity to provide fast and efficient public
transport along the seafront, taking the
pressure off the crowded city centre routes,
such as Western Road and St James’s Street.
Brighton & Hove has paid a heavy price for
missing out on Gehry.
LA is getting it right. Give it a go, don’t