Tu Ciudad, May 2008. Never received the June issue.
According to LA Observed, Tu Ciudad, the magazine aimed at upwardly mobile “acculturated Latinos” (chuppies?) in Los Angeles has folded.
I have mixed feelings about the magazine’s demise. In the magazine’s first year, I really enjoyed the articles and their LA based coverage. Lately though, it seems like the writers and editors are all living in Brentwood or something because almost nothing in the magazine interests me. Each page was filled with mundane things I couldn’t afford to buy and the articles were a bit boring. On the other hand, I did look forward to reading it for the occasional guest writer and because I enjoyed smirking and rolling my eyes at the people and businesses they were promoting. It was obvious they all ran in the same circles and worse yet, it seemed the staff rarely ventured over to the Eastside. I’m basing this assumption on their frequent exultations to Loteria Grill. There are at least four restaurants in Lincoln Heights alone better than that bland cuisine. Well, Tu Ciudad you made a decent attempt, but in the end I bid farewell to your good idea/bad execution magazine!
Anyone else shedding crocodile tears for Tu Ciudad?
Hmmm, I wonder what will happen with my subscription?
It’s okay being that it was the “Free 1 yr Subscription” I didn’t pay for!, the last issue I got was the June/July issue “Best of Latino LA” it was cool except for the taco recommendations they gave from Long Beach They were trippen when they said Don Chente was the best taco resturant. I could of took them to plenty better taco trucks in that case.
Chican@ Art mag also folded this month (officially–unofficially, it was moribund for a while already).
one magazine that came out a few issues over several years that I really liked was Sal Si Puedes. that was some interesting stuff, I wonder what happened with it.
print is too expensive, even if you DIY “donated” copies from certain copy centers that are lax with their monitoring, like a certain zine that I know of.
I liked it enough to support it. I liked the first version rather than the watered down version it’s become.
I was a little annoyed that they never really paid attention to LA Latino blogs.
My favorite part was usually the last page.
i think, if i remember…they profiled your blog once though,no cindylu?
what I find disheartening, or mas bien something that I yearn for is a Southwest Mag based by Chicana/os Latinaos that has consistency or just plain ole’ survives. they all seem to come and go. BOCA was around and then gone. Nothing against the east coast (e.g. Cubanos), but a lot of latino-based mags don’t represent here. There was that arts-media based mag “ChÃn” out of NY (i think) which was pretty hot, but then I never saw it again at the newstands. There’s another one, more WestCoastish, real glossy…i forget the name.
If you had a subscription you’ll get another ‘similar’ magazine to take its place until your subscription runs out. That’s what usually happens in this situation.
You’ll get a notice from the going out of business magazine about this, if you haven’t already.
I hadn’t looked at it in over 6 months. I’m sorry to see it go. It was solid.
A magazine can’t be all things to all people. And when it’s a magazine aimed at a latino audience there’s the inevitable bitching and whining about how it’s not authentic enough, neglected to cover this or that, etc.
If you feel so bad about it, start your own damn magazine. It’s easier just to whine, isn’t it?
Hell, you can even start a blog. Sadly, most LA Latino blogs are a waste of time. They’re either ineptly written, uninteresting or knee jerk reactionary. That pretty much goes for all the bloggers who post here.
Thanks for the compliments, exile! I really value your very interesting, well written opinions, because they don’t seem like whining at all. Good job homie.
Yay! LAEastside has its first troll!! Isnt that some kind of accomplishment or indicator of our success? Usually ittakes a while to attract some malicious loser who prefers to make anonymous attacks, but that came pretty quick. His miserable behavior is probably why he is an exile of the eastide because that punkass behavior in the barrio usually gets you a beat down.
I agree that the magazine was hit and miss, but over all I liked some of the articles they had.
I loved their last issue because they published a picture of mine in their letter to the editor page ^_^
I also agree that when you have some one randomly negatively commenting means that The L.A. Eastside has reached a milestone.
People like exile, who have too much time on their hands to be posting ignorant comments, inspire me to keep blogging.
This city needs bloggers who focus on their perspective view of this city.
Maybe exile should start his own blog about what he hates rather than posting it here.
I never heard of this magazine (not distributed at South Gate) until now that it folded, so I don’t know much about its mission or content. If it was pointed toward upwardly-mobile “Latinos” in L.A., couldn’t it have suffered by the fact that it was trying to catch some of the readership of the L.A. Weekly and failed to do so?
It sucks to know that another publication has folded, especially here in L.A., where there exists a growing niche for smaller magazines.
We should definitely re-start this magazine and include it as an insert in Alarma!
Does the “Low Rider” magazine empire count? Is it too declasse and gaudy?
Can upscale ethnicity-focused magazines really survive? They seem to point toward making their readers into yuppies or Europeans.
If that’s the goal, then, why wouldn’t the reader turn to the real thing – (insert name of yuppie mag here) or (another one but not so obviously yuppie)?
I remember going to a job interview on the Miracle Mile a few years ago.
The gig asked for a Spanish bilingual Graphic Designer for a new LAtino
mag coming out. At the interview I noticed that most of the directorial staff
had been recently imported from SPAIN. They’d all walk by and look at me with that “smelling poop” look while speaking Spanish with that Castillian lisp.
Before walking out on the interview I asked them “How do you expect to relate to American-Latino culture with a bunch of Gachupines?
How should I celebrate the troll? A beer? Whining on my own blog? Whining here? Being uninspired? Hmmm…
MetroVaquero,
No, they didn’t “profile” me. They gave a few inches to bloggers in LA and I was quoted for the article. They only included best blog in one (maybe 2?) of their “best of LA” issues.
They put my nonprofit for best of east LA, which was cool, the other places they noted not so cool.
They fell into the ‘best of list…’ dead zone many rags fall into lately.
I applauded the effort but once the lists started coming out in some form or another it was wack. I think lists come from the men’s rags and USA Today. Printed media is dying.
We are all (becoming) a bunch of zeros and ones, becoming energy. Matter doesn’t matter like it used to.
But there is more that matters in this than the once believed in solids. Quality does take quantity and time, not lists.
See what happens when you make me read my old SSP copies.
So someone disagrees with you and that makes them a malicious, evil troll? Wow.
It’s obvious some of you couldn’t make a living writing if you had to. You’ve neither the talent nor the disposition for it.
Better to have a circle jerk blog where only those who think like you respond or read, no?
(Hey Art: That post about being one of those welfare losers who lived in the projects was HEAVY man. It was really touching. Threating a beatdown? EWWWWWW. I’m scared now.)
No, the site hasn’t arrived. Sorry to dissapoint you. It came out while I was doing a google news search. I was hoping against hope it might actually be worthwhile but it isn’t (e.g. Colchones? Who cares?).
[comment edited due to no good maliciousness-ed. chimatli] Gawd, your blog is boring.
Mediocrity becomes you.
Anyway good luck with the site. It’s obvious you’re gonna need it.
Wait, didn’t you already tell us all about your dislike for this blog? Move along then, we get it. If it’s all just swill, what does it make the marrano that keeps drinking from the trough?
Oh yeah, I keep meaning to comment on the magazine. Ciudad tried too hard to be a Latino version of Los Angeles Magazine, and if you emulate a pretty terrible magazine, your results are sort of a given. It almost could have become better, but it took a turn towards the marketplace instead, a sad and boring road that doesn’t offer much to their intended audience. I’d rather they made it than not, but one thing I’m not going to miss is the treacle from Marcos McPeak Villalobos; that shit was insipid. I read it as a form of self-punishment.
That looks like Sofia Mulanovich on the cover, cutie Peruvian surfer girl.
I supported this magazine and thought the first issue was quite good, but typically it tried to kiss too many gringo and hispanikkk asses and thus lost focus. They lost me with the stupid ass the new Angelenos are 1/2 latino issue which was the editors pwn personal excuse for marrying a gringa. In fact the new Angelenos are overwhemingly Indigena, but only if you still had interest and knowledge of the community would you actually know this. As for my subscription, they jacked it once that issue came out. I was suckered.
Another good Hispanic Mag is the Men’s mag “OYE” (Open your Eyes)Aside the focus of pretty “Latina girls” they often have really good articles..you can’t hate on that lol
I was one of the latinos-hispanics, mexico americanos that got a free subscription to Tu Ciudad last year.
I believe that the mag was owned or funded by the same owners as Los Angeles magazine.
It had a few interesting article and stories.
But as “old media” which all magazines and newspapers are, it did not stand out.
As they mentioned in the LA Times article, people in espanol and latina are the top mags in the hipanic-latino market in terms of revenue $$$.
I think Tu Ciudad tried to attract and generate revenue and big advertisers.
But the problem was that its circulation was too low, about 117,000 and over 70% was free subscribers not paid. You really cannot ask for or charge premium ad rates for that.
And yes i also hated the “lists” issues, because that was an easy and lazy way of filling issues with content, by gathering stuff.
Anyways I will take Dona Junta’s advice and check out “OYE” magazine and see whats up.
I’ve never liked ethnic magazines that’s whole point seemed to be “look we’re just like white people.” It’s weird and sad, because you don’t have to copy a successful model to be successful, you have to just do what you do well and screw appealing to the cashola set.
That aside I did read it. I would read it and bitch, but you know you have to start somewhere, sadly the most ambitious people are usually the most artless.
I have to say though Chicano Art was nice, but they spent WAY too much money on production, it was way too pretty in comparison to the little amount of ads it was getting. The vanishing of that magazine was sad to me, it was nice. I hope they start it again and be a little cheaper about the production aspect.
browne
Marcos oh god I hate that guy, by the way I remember when he was just McPeak. Odd how his name changed….
Browne