Los Angeles Travel Guide

Los Angeles is city of dreams, fashion and Hollywood. It is the quintessential 21st century American city. The city embraces and absorbs everything in its path - from culture to food to people – and makes it its own. It reflects and (to some) warps it back in a manner that is uniquely L.A. L.A. is America's Dream Factory and the creating of that fantasy rubs off on the citizens who actually live here. Take the base of the American spirit that anything is possible, add in the belief that life is like a movie, and add lots of sunshine – you can reinvent yourself and anything really is possible. No matter your nationality, you too can travel halfway around the world to win an Oscar?, live in Beverly Hills, or come  penniless from a small Austrian village and become governor of the state. The city has everything, whether you're jet setting, roughing it, or in between. L.A. is cosmopolitan, quaint, crazy, quiet, sophisticated, down-home and everything in between. There is wealth as well as poverty, sometimes only blocks away. You can have and see it all. Geographically, L.A. County really encompasses hundreds of suburbs and other cities. The city of Los Angeles itself encompasses the "downtown" area, much of the urban vicinity to the west and northwest, and a narrow corridor extending south of the center. However, many famous locations such as Beverly Hills and Santa Monica are actually independent cities on their own and not legally part of L.A. But of course, outside of city politics, no one really makes that distinction. So, while we’re really crossing legal boundaries, we just call most of it all Los Angeles. L.A. is all about the neighborhoods (some, as mentioned, are technically cities) – many are world famous – Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Universal City, Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice, Burbank, San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, Century City, South Central  (now South Los Angeles), as well as Marina Del Rey, South Bay, Westchester, & El Segundo. Also included are the equally famous streets, such as Sunset Blvd, Melrose Ave, Olvera St, Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica Blvd, and Mulholland Drive. And these are just the well known ones – there are literally hundreds of other cities, places and streets equally interesting. The question is where to begin? -Taken from world66.com