Downtown
Los Angeles
Union Station
Olvera Street
Chinatown
Central Market
Bunker Hill
Historical monument Chinatown East Gate. This entrance to New Chinatown was built in 1938 by it's Chinese-American residents. One of the first outdoor malls in the United States. It's neon installation dates back to the 1940s.
This photograph depicts a work by international mural artist... Skyscrapers to the right shot upward from Bunker Hill.
Designed by architect Frank Gehry. This city asset and cultural treasure was initiated in 1987 by Lillian Disney, widow of Walt Disney. It's construction was completed 16 years later in 2003.
In 1781 Spanish civilians settled the Native American village of Yang-na. The new town called El Pueblo de Nuesrta Señora Reina de Los Angeles (The People of Our Lady Queen of Angels) became the principal urban center for the Alta California ranchers and farmers. Today the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District houses the oldest standing residence in the city and stages a variety of Mexican and Native American cultural events throughout the year.
Founded in the beginning of the 20th century. 小東京 (Shō-tōkyō) or J-Town is the economic and cultural center for the largest Japanese-American population in North America. This live/work neighborhood became a National Historic Landmark District in 1995.
A National Register of Historic Places, Los Angeles Union Station is the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States. Its architectural style combines Art Deco, Mission Revival and Streamline Moderne. This unique location has appeared in many movies, including Ridley Scott's 1982 film "Blade Runner."
This picture depicts a razed to the ground Bunker Hill. Angels Flight Railway remains standing and continues to operate today.
Photo by Hugh Arnott, May 8,1959 Police evict Aurora Vargas and family to make way for Dodgers Stadium. "Houses moved from the neighborhood were reportedly used on the set of To Kill a Mockingbird. The ironies of this production history are stunning: a putatively antiracist film is actually an archive of racist urban development" - John David Rhodes
Photo by Hop Sing Tong Benevolent Association September 2017. Monks are pictured here honoring the traditional Zhongqiu Harvest, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.
The history of Downtown Los Angeles is a story of displacement and reconstruction. This three hour tour will explore the diverse communities that make Downtown L.A. an interesting place to be. We will visit historical monuments including Chinatown East Gate, Union Station and Angels Flight.
This walking and driving tour will begin in Union Station. From there we will walk to the city's first settlement of El Pueblo de Los Angeles/Olvera Street, then continue into Chinatown; a community made infamous by Roman Polanski's 1974 film Chinatown. From here we drive through downtown's Civic Center/Little Tokyo, The Fashion District and The Historic Core/Broadway Theater District. The tour ends in New Downtown/Bunker Hill with a 360° view of Los Angeles from Westin Bonaventure's revolving lounge.
Stops and drive-bys along the way will include other cultural landmarks like Santa Fe Freight Depot/Sci-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture), the Coca Cola Building and Indian Alley.
Los Angeles is one of the most ethically diverse cities in the world. Downtown's native and immigrant cultures work and live among an architectural landscape of Mission Revival, Art Deco and Streamline Moderne. After decades of decline, developers started reinvesting in downtown Los Angeles, around the early 2000s. Areas of gentrification now border Skid Row, which contains the largest stable population of homeless people in the United States. A dark-side of the sunshine state, whose Noir films constructed a narrative that helped tear down the working class housing of Bunker Hill.
