I may not know the difference between San Diego, San Francisco, or LA, but at least 4 million people do.  This is the population of the city.  The metro area holds another 9 million.  The Greater Los Angeles Area, which is the entire enchilada, totals 18 million and encompasses about 34,000 square miles, bigger than the entire state of South Carolina.  I know, I couldn’t believe it either.  Why do we even have a South Carolina?  By square miles it is the largest Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in the U.S.  By population it is second.  New York is first.  

LA is extremely diverse ethnically.  About half the population identifies as Latino, many of which are Mexican-Americans.  30% identify as White or having European ancestry, 10% Asian-American, and about 8% African-American.  Those are the large groups, which is not to say other groups aren’t present.  They most certainly are.  Much of LA’s population is foreign born. 

We’re staying in Hollywood, which is an eclectic mixture of Art Deco and the mentally ill.  After stepping out of our hotel, mom and I witnessed a CVS employee violently removing a non-paying customer.  The likely homeless shoplifter was obviously not well, physically or mentally.  I suspect the staff asked him to leave and he got hostile.  These situations are volatile and require advanced training to handle.  This young employee took it upon himself to remove him and take back the pilfered merch.  I’ve never known a CVS employee to go the extra mile, or the first mile, so it was quite a shock to see one so engaged with his duties protecting the company store.  The few, the proud, the CVS employee. 

Hollywood Boulevard reminds me of Times Square in the 80s.  Most people were fellow tourists, who looked to be from all over the world.   We all gawked at squares in the sidewalk with names on them.  It’s unclear to me why we did this, but we all did.  We even pointed out people we recognized, as if engaged in some sort of strange, walkway bingo with no prize or end.  Just squares.  As far as the eye could see.   A temporary madness, really.  

One of the large, well-known ethnic neighborhoods of LA is Koreatown, where we had lunch.  It is the most densely populated neighborhood in the area, and has the largest concentration of Koreans outside Korea.  About 120,000 people call this neighborhood home, of which roughly 100,000 are Koreans.  It’s known for its nightlife.      

Recently mom has become enamored of Korean culture.  Her entry into the rabbit hole started with K-dramas, which led her to K-pop, and then onto Korean culture, food, and language.  She runs a Korean Drama Facebook group (American Lovers of Korean Dramas) and website (to be launched soon).  She has written (and published on Amazon) her own K-drama short stories.   I sense a trip to Korea in my near future, which is fine with me.  I need the airline miles.  

Seems like I always need the miles.  Do you think Delta is using game theory and meaningless milestones, like “Diamond Status” and token give-backs, to continually incentive me to spend more and more money only on Delta, thus ensuring customer loyalty and causing me great emotional distress when I must fly a different airline that I do not have status on?   Unlikely.  I’m smart, unlike those other airline milage people.  I don’t need the miles.  I want the miles.  I can quit anytime.  

I digress.

After Koreatown we hopped over to Downtown LA, or DTLA.  Yes, more abbreviations.  On our way we passed Thai Town, Little Armenia, and Chinatown.  Every group gets a town.  You know you’ve passed from one neighborhood to another when the language on the signs change.  Maybe there’s an architectural flourish which pays homage to the homeland, but otherwise neighborhoods meld into each other.  The city can feel schizophrenic.  

  

DTLA sits on a rise above the surrounding basin, which likely appealed to early settlers.  Here are some of the tallest buildings in the American West, like The Wilshire Grand Center and US Bank Tower.  This area is the central business district for the city and also where it all began, the genesis of LA.  I visited the statue of our man, Neve, in the park across from Union Station. 

On our way back we passed through yet more neighborhoods, these not for a particular ethnic group but instead for rich people.  Hancock had these cute, quintessential California homes.  I would move tomorrow into any one of them if I had a cool million or three to spend.  

     

Dorthy Parker said LA was, “… 72 suburbs in search of a city.”  I find the quote apt.  Every group has their place, every place has the usual amenities and creature comforts, just stylized to suit the place.   You find where you belong and set up shop.  I wonder if this is a characteristic of diverse towns and cities the world over:  We have our ethnic enclaves, the neighborhoods we call home among people who look like us and share our stories, but we work with everyone because everyone wants to make money.  There’s magic in the overlap.  I suspect what makes big cities such great economic and cultural engines is the overlap.   

Here in LA, everything overlaps.  

Off to The Getty and, later, Malibu.