HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Photography Forums > My City Photos


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #1  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 9:11 AM
Palmero Palmero is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 13
Westlake/MacArthur Park: L.A.'s Grandest Neighborhood

It's understandably a bold claim to make, considering the non-stellar reputation it currently has and the abundance of trash and grime in certain parts of the area, not to mention the relatively high crime rate. But they didn't call it the Champs-Elysees of L.A. for nothing, and you can definitely see its former grandeur amid the taco carts and the fake ID sellers - in the detailed facade of buildings, the grand apartment buildings, and of course the amazing MacArthur Park.

I think it's one of the most beautifully laid out neighborhood in L.A., with the park at its center, surrounded by grand buildings like the Park Plaza Hotel, Ansonia Apartments, and the iconic Westlake Theater sign. Too bad so much of the buildings have become swap meets or discount stores, but there are still lots of interesting buildings, and its walkability and proximity to downtown (not to mention Langer's, home to the best pastrami in the country) still makes it a pretty desirable neighborhood.

Here are some photos I took not too long ago on a day with very strange but beautiful weather. The light from the sun was amazing, but there were also lots of ominous rainclouds next to unrealistically blue skies, which made for some interesting juxtaposition.

























































































































Reply With Quote
     
     
  #2  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 12:24 PM
Danny's Avatar
Danny Danny is offline
Universal Traveler
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Madrid
Posts: 2,165
Smile

Thanks for sharing your pics, Palmero!

I see what you mean, very nice grey and white rainclouds and bright blue skies. Those days are specially good to have a walk and take pictures, like you did.

I´ve liked the area of L.A. you´ve covered in your thread. We didn´t visited it when we stayed in L.A. Interesting part of the city, indeed.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain!
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #3  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 4:48 PM
destroycreate's Avatar
destroycreate destroycreate is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 1,608
What great photos! I love it. Westlake reminds me a lot of the non-gentrified areas of the Mission District in SF.

By the way, what type of architecture is this building in the middle (perhaps KingOfTheHill could clue me in?). I'm in love with this style and it's common all over the Los Angeles area.

__________________
**23 years on SSP!**
Previously known as LaJollaCA
https://www.instagram.com/itspeterchristian/
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #4  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 5:13 PM
BrandonJXN's Avatar
BrandonJXN BrandonJXN is offline
Ascension
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Riverside, California
Posts: 5,401
You can see my apartment (brick building second from left).


This is my street (Union Drive).


I like Westlake more than I thought I would. I've been here a year and it's a very interesting neighborhood. The people are friendly, always a vibrant and alive feeling, and on the weekends, expect to be overloaded with some of the best smelling food ever. Awesome pictures of my hood.
__________________
Washed Out
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #5  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 5:31 PM
ChrisLA's Avatar
ChrisLA ChrisLA is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: San Fernando Valley
Posts: 6,662
Nice, good work.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #6  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 5:39 PM
Muji's Avatar
Muji Muji is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Posts: 1,183
Awesome photos. Westlake is definitely an underappreciated neighborhood, still beautiful under the grime. I also think it has the liveliest street life of any residential neighborhood in the city. MacArthur Park is always a mixed bag, but it seems particularly nice on clear winter days.

As for the building you asked about, destroycreate, it's probably best classified as Second Empire Revival. It's got the distinct mansard roof and and even proportions of Second Empire architecture, but with the subdued details and very vertical look of later art deco.
__________________
My blog of then and now photos of LA: http://urbandiachrony.wordpress.com
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #7  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 7:04 PM
LosAngelesSportsFan's Avatar
LosAngelesSportsFan LosAngelesSportsFan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 7,838
nicely done. i think its only a matter of time before the area returns to its former glory. Development is squeezing from all sides. Koreatown and Downtown surround it and im guessing that large scale projects and gentrification will start in the next couple years
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #8  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 7:53 PM
Kingofthehill's Avatar
Kingofthehill Kingofthehill is offline
International
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Oslo
Posts: 4,052
Tons and tons of develop opportunity there. Two transit lines, the city's best urban park, a generally above-average pre-war building stock and inventory, and the fact that it is hemmed in by growing and expansionary Downtown, Koreatown, Echo Park, and Silverlake, means that it has a bright future. I can't wait to see this area take off. I went to a really cool art gallery opening in the American Cement Building, a loft complex in the cheesegrater-like building featured in several of the photos. The views were incredible.

destroycreate, that building would probably be considered Second Empire Revival, as the mansard roof, juliet balconies, and distinct proportions would suggest. However, most people here would probably (incorrectly) call it a "Chateau" building, which are far more common in LA, and while they are similarly French-influenced and derived, usually feature rounded, corner turrets, often topped with small spires.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #9  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 8:00 PM
LAsam LAsam is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 2,774
Quote:
Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan View Post
nicely done. i think its only a matter of time before the area returns to its former glory. Development is squeezing from all sides. Koreatown and Downtown surround it and im guessing that large scale projects and gentrification will start in the next couple years
Agreed... that area still has a ways to go but it's inevitable that gentrification will come. The real estate is just too prime and the bones are just too good.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #10  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 8:08 PM
destroycreate's Avatar
destroycreate destroycreate is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 1,608
How is this area crime-wise just out of curiosity?

Thanks for the architectural input, by the way ^^.
__________________
**23 years on SSP!**
Previously known as LaJollaCA
https://www.instagram.com/itspeterchristian/
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #11  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 9:12 PM
aquablue aquablue is offline
BANNED
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,741
Wow, I'm surprised this area given its features and location isn't a more in demand area. If developed, this area appears to have the bones and potential to be one of l.a most Beautiful areas. Very European vibe to the place in terms of buildings and the park.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #12  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 10:58 PM
LosAngelesSportsFan's Avatar
LosAngelesSportsFan LosAngelesSportsFan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 7,838
Quote:
Originally Posted by destroycreate View Post
How is this area crime-wise just out of curiosity?

Thanks for the architectural input, by the way ^^.
used to be very bad in the 90's... gotten much much better but still worse than the neighboring communities
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #13  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2013, 11:42 PM
DtlaCuriousity DtlaCuriousity is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 65
Great pics! Remember when Will tried to stop Carlton from going to MacArthur Park? Man, that is a beat neighborhood - lots of character, soul, and good food. Only real place to get some good Central American Pan Dulce really. It does have a lot of potential, but I'm thinking it's a long ways off.

Also, there needs to be a better way to connect the two parts of the park. I know there is a walkway under Wilshire, but I don't think it's enough.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #14  
Old Posted Jan 17, 2013, 12:54 AM
koolkid koolkid is offline
Have no regrets
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New York
Posts: 155
Beautiful neighborhood. Very "LA Noire". But if you guys seriously consider this "grimy" then I'd hate to think what you'd think of New York neighborhoods. :S
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #15  
Old Posted Jan 17, 2013, 2:04 AM
Quixote's Avatar
Quixote Quixote is offline
Inveterate Angeleno
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 7,474
^ This will be the hardest neighborhood to gentrify because of its established reputation as an immigrant community. It's not lower middle class like Echo Park; it's the poorest of poor places.
__________________
“To tell a story is inescapably to take a moral stance.”

— Jerome Bruner
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #16  
Old Posted Jan 17, 2013, 2:30 AM
mello's Avatar
mello mello is offline
Babylon falling
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: San Diego
Posts: 2,605
Great thread, question for Three Hundred: Do you have a car in this neighborhood? I assume parking would be a real pain. Also what is your apartment like? I've been in apt buildings similar to these (in look) having lived in Crown Heights Brooklyn for two years and they were pretty grimy and extremely outdated on the inside.

They were actually kind of depressing. So seeing that WestLake is a poor immigrant area I would assume the inside of these buildings are pretty funky. I hope yours is decent, maybe you could talk about others you have been in.
__________________
<<<<< I'm loving this economic "recovery" >>>>>
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #17  
Old Posted Jan 17, 2013, 2:50 AM
STLgasm's Avatar
STLgasm STLgasm is offline
Red brick mama.
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: City of St. Louis
Posts: 4,724
Wow, great pics!
__________________
http://stl-style.com
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #18  
Old Posted Jan 17, 2013, 2:52 AM
Kingofthehill's Avatar
Kingofthehill Kingofthehill is offline
International
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Oslo
Posts: 4,052
Quote:
Originally Posted by Westsidelife View Post
^ This will be the hardest neighborhood to gentrify because of its established reputation as an immigrant community. It's not lower middle class like Echo Park; it's the poorest of poor places.
Yeah, Central American neighborhoods, such as Westlake and neighboring Pico-Union, are among the crummiest places LA has to offer. Of all the different immigrant groups' neighborhoods, the Central American ones here have to be among the absolute worst.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #19  
Old Posted Jan 17, 2013, 5:27 AM
Grantenfuego's Avatar
Grantenfuego Grantenfuego is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 108
Great shots. This is the exact sort of neighborhood I would like to visit next time I'm in LA.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #20  
Old Posted Jan 17, 2013, 8:21 AM
pwright1's Avatar
pwright1 pwright1 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 2,463
What a great set. I love this part of LA. So lively and interesting with tons of people in the streets and in the park. I'm there often enough, Thanks for showing the world our Westlake hood. I love it.
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Photography Forums > My City Photos
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 4:14 PM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.