Los Angeles

Chinatown

Lisa See ’79 spent lots of time in her grandparents’ family store in L.A.’s Chinatown. Here she remembers being entranced by Chinatown’s sights and aromas.

Read More

Forecast LA

This past spring, LMU’s Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles surveyed 60 of the 88 local mayors and 2,400 residents to assess their view of Los Angeles, the state and the nation.

Read More

This Is Indian Country

For most of the past century, a migration has been taking place within the United States: Native Americans have been moving from tribal and rural lands to America’s cities. Today, Los Angeles has become the “urban Indian capital of the United States.”

Read More

Imagined L.A.: Brian Doyle on the City’s Past and Future

Brian Doyle says that of all literary forms the essay is “closest to the human voice at play; the most naked unadorned form, with none of the filters and often stilted self-indulgent vibe of the other forms; the essay is you and your friend having a pint and telling tales with glee and tears.” Doyle has never set foot in Los Angeles. But his song of this city, an original essay, describes a place we recognize.

Read More

King Tuna

Hollywood, freeways, the aerospace industry, the beach, the mountains, Olvera Street and the Dodgers — they all probably would be found on most people’s lists of iconic images of L.A. life.

Read More