[Chicano3000X]

I've looked over over on google but nothing. There is a good photo blog of NYC from the 80's and it was pretty amazing.

80's Los Angeles fascinates me. From what I hear, it was one of the most dangerous times in the city's history.

[SLO]

I've looked over over on google but nothing. There is a good photo blog of NYC from the 80's and it was pretty amazing.

80's Los Angeles fascinates me. From what I hear, it was one of the most dangerous times in the city's history.

I dunno how much worse it actually was, I just remember my sister telling me that the police issued warnings for people driving through downtown at night, not to stop for people or park in downtown for any reason and they were free to run red lights. At the time I only remember thinking it was dangerous, but thats how the big cities are. Have you looked at the noirish Los Angeles photo thread. Not many, but it seems there are some 70s-80s pics..

[Centropolis]

I dunno how much worse it actually was, I just remember my sister telling me that the police issued warnings for people driving through downtown at night, not to stop for people or park in downtown for any reason and they were free to run red lights.

Hard to believe that...You'd get pulled over in downtown East St Louis for running a light, unless the LAPD was just that goofy.

[mello]

Hard to believe that...You'd get pulled over in downtown East St Louis for running a light, unless the LAPD was just that goofy.

I think he meant if you pulled up to a 4 way light saw there was no one around then you could run it. I doubt they were cool with letting you just go right through the intersection without stopping or almost stopping first.

[Centropolis]

My gut just tells me that seems like a strange thing for a cop to say, regardless of how terrible downtown L. A. was.

[SLO]

I think he meant if you pulled up to a 4 way light saw there was no one around then you could run it. I doubt they were cool with letting you just go right through the intersection without stopping or almost stopping first.

You are right. It was explained as a judgement thing. This was a time car jackings got popular. Most likely the scenario....

[J. Will]

I used to have a huge (dimensionally huge) aerial photo book called "Above Los Angeles" that I bought when I was a kid filled with 1980s pictures. I looked for it a few months ago though and couldn't find it. If I ever do find it I'll scan some of the pages and post them here.

[llamaorama]

You could just watch a movie from the era.

That's before Hollywood movies were made in Vancouver.

[glowrock]

Just watch "CHiPS" or one of the dozens of other shows set in L.A. during that time period... Though with CHiPS, you're pretty much always in the San Fernando Valley and parts of Pasadena, Glendale and Burbank... ;)

Aaron (Glowrock)

[plinko]

I started photographing downtown LA in 1990 and at that time everything east of Hill Street was kind of a 'no-go' zone. West of the 110 from downtown wasn't real pretty either from what I remember. I do recall that this was also when the red line was under construction through downtown and it was a total mess.

But that's totally anecdotal and I was 14 and didn't live in the city (Santa Barbara) so only visited maybe once a month (my parents actually encouraged my hobby of city exploration and would take me places to take pictures).

[J. Will]

You could just watch a movie from the era.

That's before Hollywood movies were made in Vancouver.

They started filming Hollywood movies in/around Vancouver in the last 70s/early 80s. Rambo First Blood for instance. By the mid 80s a huge percentage of Hollywood movies were being filmed there.

[sopas ej]

Ah, LA in the 80s! I remember it well, those were my teen years (I graduated high school in 1988). Parts of LA probably were dangerous back then, but I didn't care. I just knew what parts to avoid. I loved downtown LA in the 80s, my friend and I would explore Union Station at 2am when hardly anyone was there, and we'd have virgin drinks at the revolving lounge at the Bonaventure Hotel. Little Tokyo was fun too back then, you just had to run the gauntlet of panhandlers and bums. The really scary part of downtown was the old Greyhound Bus Station on Los Angeles Street. Oooh that was scary! That was the part of downtown where at a red light, a bum or bums would start wiping your windshield with newspaper. Somehow, newspaper really cleans your windshield really well!

The TV show "Moonlighting" (my favorite show when I was in high school) showcased LA in the 80s with lots of exterior shots. Watch the movie "Less than Zero," a laughable 80s film, as well as "Night of the Comet."

I remember 1984-1985 being a really magical time for LA, being that it was still basking in the glow of hosting the 1984 Summer Olympics. Speaking of which, there aren't very many city shots, but if you wanna see some glimpses of 80s LA, here's a photo thread on Found City Photos that I did of the '84 Olympic Games:

Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=184406)

And for shits and giggles, here's a thread I did of the 1932 LA Summer Olympics:
Los Angeles 1932 Summer Olympics (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=171850)

[bunt_q]

I just remember my sister telling me that the police issued warnings for people driving through downtown at night, not to stop for people or park in downtown for any reason and they were free to run red lights.

No kidding, in L.A.? I got stopped by police going into downtown Johannesburg once and was told basically the same thing.

[J. Will]

No kidding, in L.A.? I got stopped by police going into downtown Johannesburg once and was told basically the same thing.

My University of Windsor friends told me that same thing about Detroit - that the cops would advise you not to stop for red lights late at night.