The “Downtown” district of Los Angeles appears little in tourist guides. But that should change soon, because it is worth a visit.
In any case, this is what Elise thinks, guide for the Los Angeles Off Road tourist agency which offers tours off the beaten track. After accompanying him on an ascent of the Hollywood Sign; after cycling along the beaches of Venice and Santa Monica, head for a much more urban visit: the “Downtown LA” district.
The movie district is not Hollywood
“This is a historic area of Los Angeles. It’s great and can be visited on foot easily, which is not obvious in the city where everything by car reigns”, explains Elise. Each week, she therefore goes through it between 1 and 3 times with her clients during small group tours.
Downtown Los Angeles, home to the city’s only tall skyscrapers, is a center of business. But this has not always been the case. Historically, it was in Downtown that the very first cinemas in the city opened.
“This district was the place where you had to go out to go to the cinema, the theater or the restaurant. This is where you had to be seen in the 20s and 30s,” says the guide. The Hollywood district did not become the emblem of cinema until much later.
In one of the main streets, Broadway (like its New York twin), there are about twenty old theaters which at the time offered tens of thousands of seats. The facades are brick and authentic. They contrast with the rest of Los Angeles, a rather modern city. Hence the interest of tourism in this place.
A “food” and cultural mecca
But it’s not. The Downtown Los Angeles district also concentrates the best museums in the city such as the Broad or the MOCA which regularly offer very beautiful exhibitions.
Close to the main square, Union Square, trendy restaurants adjoin good bakeries. You can also sit down at the Grand Central Market, one of the oldest covered markets in the city.
Downtown Los Angeles is also divided into sub-districts with each more different atmosphere than the next: Chinatown and its pretty boutiques, Little Tokyo and its Japanese second-hand clothes, Angelino Heights and its Victorian houses, Art District and its industrial frescoes.