Running in Los Angeles: the City of Angels
- audreyubertino
- 18 hours ago
- 4 min read
A world-famous Olympic city known for its film industry in Hollywood, Los Angeles is also one of the richest cities in the world and the second largest city in the United States after New York. A sprawling, cosmopolitan megalopolis, sometimes fantasised about, sometimes disparaged, the City of Angels embodies the American dream and, with it, its disillusions...
‘Los Angeles, give yourself to me a little! Los Angeles, come to me as I came to you, feet on your streets, my beautiful city, I loved you so much, sad flower in the sand, my beautiful city.’
This prayer, addressed to the city, is uttered by Arturo Bandini, the main character in the novel Ask the Dust, and alter ego of its author, John Fante. Both Italian immigrants who arrived in Los Angeles in the 1930s, the writer and his character sing in this work of the frenzy of a city with an elusive and tumultuous nature, on which their desires for success, money and happiness come to play or clash.
Almost a century later, Los Angeles continues to be dreamt about, sung about and admired, despite the social and cultural realities it faces. But where does this almost magical aura come from? To decipher this unique city, set off to explore its most iconic neighbourhoods and their history, either on foot or by running!
History and urban planning
Los Angeles is characterised by horizontal urban planning, taking the form of a juxtaposition of neighbourhoods spread out haphazardly over an area of more than 100 km², with no real central district. This unique morphology has its origins in the city's history, and more specifically, in the arrival of Anglo-Saxon Protestant populations. Determined to set themselves apart from the Spanish-speaking community that had settled in the historic centre, they bought former ranches that were converted into housing estates, built as public transport developed. In line with their pastoral ideals, these new inhabitants created low-density neighbourhoods with spacious homes close to nature, establishing a pattern of unlimited urban growth. During the 20th century, the city's urbanisation continued apace, driven in particular by the inauguration of the Southern Pacific railway in 1876 and, later, by the automobile.
Today, the city's metropolitan area has a population of nearly 19 million, including four million in the city of Los Angeles.
A Sun Belt city, Los Angeles offers a pleasant and attractive living environment. Located between the ocean and the mountains, it boasts a wide variety of landscapes and natural spaces, but in reality has few tourist attractions to speak of. Nevertheless, it is home to many renowned cultural institutions such as the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Getty Centre and the Huntington Library, as well as exceptional buildings such as the antique-style Los Angeles Central Library, Union Central and Griffith Observatory, an example of Art Deco architecture overlooking the city and frequently used as a film location. Beyond its architectural heritage, Los Angeles' culture has been shaped primarily by the film and music industries, as evidenced by the number of theatres, concert halls, art galleries and cinemas dotted throughout the city.
Hollywood, the dream machine
Los Angeles' fame is closely linked to the history of the American film industry. Hollywood, one of the city's 29 districts, is its heart. From Paramount to Warner Bros. to Universal Pictures, all the major film studios that have shaped the country's audiovisual landscape are present. Built at the dawn of the 20th century, the empire today embodies the cultural identity of the United States and remains one of the main vehicles for its dissemination throughout the world.
Born in New York, American cinema made a tentative start among European immigrant communities, but it was in California that it became legendary, when producers, attracted by the sunny climate of the East Coast, the diversity of its landscapes, and its cheap land, decided to settle there. They were quickly followed by directors, writers and screenwriters, all seduced by the call of this Eldorado, whose fertile soil held promises of inspiration and success. Actors emerged from anonymity: this was the era of the first film stars, such as Charlie Chaplin. Financing and marketing became the cornerstones of this new system based on the commercialisation of art, which was quickly elevated to the status of entertainment. And the rest is history...
To learn more about the history of cinema, take advantage of the recent opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the first museum of its kind in the country, located a few kilometres south of Hollywood.
Los Angeles, a city of contrasts
Far from the grandeur of the Hollywood sign, lies a multifaceted city with many different neighbourhoods....
A city of opportunity and success, Los Angeles is a paradoxical object of fascination, much like the neighbourhoods and towns that make it up. The Downtown Los Angeles neighbourhood, the historic and financial centre, is populated by skyscrapers, art galleries and shopping centres, but also contains the largest homeless community in the United States, housed a few hundred metres from corporate headquarters.
The wealth and luxury of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, home to the iconic shops of Rodeo Drive and the famous Walk of Fame, have made the city famous. But its legend is just as much a part of the bohemian and artistic culture of Venice, the warm atmosphere of Malibu's beaches, and the violence of the gang wars in South Los Angeles.
Run, walk or cycle with JOOKS, from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica Beach!
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