Obviously throughout bloglandia the debate of where is the real Eastside and Westside has raged and I believe that Militant Angeleno’s proposal is the best so far, so that ends that debate as far as I’m concerned.
The other day my home boy told me a story that made me scratch my head, laugh and wonder: ‘Is this a new front on the culture wars?’
He told me about how he ‘checked’ two of his homies for claiming L.A. when both of them are from the Valley.
My homie said, “You need to be born and raised in the city limits of L.A. to claim L.A. while traveling in Southern California. When you travel outside, you can claim L.A. because most people aren’t gonna know what a Reseda or North Hollywood is. There is a persona and image of what LA is, Palmdale, Inglewood nor Beverly Hills are L.A. We work hard to make that image and don’t want peeps claiming what itsn’t theirs”Â
WOW, I know I got some L.A. pride but I never heard it like this!
Made me wonder about it. Yes my friends from the Valley or Inland Empire or even San Gabriel have no clue about the heart of L.A. with its gleaming buildings and skid row funk right next to each other. They have a strip mall view and we got something else. For them parking is a given when running an errand.Â
I have friends who moved here and have lived here for 15 plus years, but they have never traveled more than 5 miles from where they live. They have lived in L.A., but don’t knowL.A.
I think you have to know the ‘center’ of L.A. and all outline areas to really get the flavor of what most people in general consider L.A. no matter how long you lived here if you don’t go all over the area you won’t understand what L.A. really is.
You need to know: Downtown (The Alley, Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Olvera St., Financial District, Metro), the USC area, South L.A.’s history and changes, Pico Union, McArthur Park, Hancock Park, what is on Fairfax and Melrose, Inglewood (gotta know how to get to LAX without the freeway), the Westside, the beaches (Redondo to Pt. Dune), the Valley (all of it), all the Hollywoods (N, E, W, and their differences), Pasadena (old and South and plain), San Gabriel Valley (it’s big), Pico Rivera, Whittier, Montebello, a lil bit of the north OC like La Habra and Seal Beach, South Gate, Huntington Park, Bell, and of course the nooks and crannies of our beloved Eastside. You need to know El Mercadito, El Oyo, the views from Flat Tops, Elysian Pk., and Mt. Washington, (a few good taco trucks, panaderias, a spot for menudo, birria, and great chilaquiles).
All of these areas have there own flavor and funk. There are some overlapping similarities but there are small attitudinal differences that if you lived in LA long enough and got around to these areas, you would know.
So what do you think? Are we over thinking this?
I guess this is native born conversation. We know we aren’t the plastic people from some far away state that came here to be a star and thus play into the plastic life image that the whole of LA is saddled with.
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
