Fun in Los Angeles, From Hollywood to the Hills

Los Angeles is the 2nd largest city in the United States, with almost four million people, and 13 million in its
metropolitan area. It is the many decentralized neighborhoods
with different landmarks and atmosphere that make Los Angeles
real estate a very diverse market. L.A. varies from the suburban
sprawl of the San Fernando Valley, to Downtown, East L.A.,
South L.A., Harbor Area, Hollywood and other smaller
neighborhoods such as Venice Beach, and more exclusive areas l
ike BelAir and Brentwood.

In the Hollywood area, there are such famous sites as
Universal Studios which is both a major tourist attraction and
still, a film studio. You can go behind the scenes and see how
movies are made, and see the guide to special effects known as
‘the Fast and the Furious, Extreme Close-Up”. Kids get to meet
their favorite cartoon character. Attractions at the associated
theme park include the Shrek ride and “Revenge of the Mummy”
roller coaster ride.

L.A. is a large manufacturing and trade center, as well as being
a center for the entertainment industry. Its port, Los Angeles
combined with Long Beach, is number one in the US. It is still
headquarters for leading companies such as Northrop Grumman,
the defense contractor, and Occidental Petroleum. Nearby in
L.A. County are headquartered Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros.,
in beautiful downtown Burbank and offices of major Asian car
manufacturers.

Despite LA’s reputation as a strictly Hollywood town,
there is more serious culture there too. Take a look at the
Getty Center, a museum of Western Art. It includes paintings
from Rembrandt to Van Gogh. There is also the very luxurious
and intimate setting of art at the Getty Villa in nearby Malibu.
Likewise there is the huge Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
on Wilshire Blvd., with the largest art collection in the
western United States, whose plant and campus is undergoing
extensive renovation and expansion. Other museums in the area
are the Natural History Museum of L.A. County, at 900 Exposition
Blvd., the Page Museum of the La Brea Tar Pits and the
William S. Hart Museum and Ranch in Newhall, north of L.A.
The Page Museum is located at 5801 Wilshire Blvd in Metropolitan
L.A. and it’s also the site of an actual tar pit where
prehistoric remains are recovered in Hancock Park, a few
blocks from Santa Monica Blvd.

Another thing that makes L.A. such an amazing city is the
variation of topography, from sea level, to over 5,000 feet
in the mountains of L.A. You literally can go from surfing
to skiing in the same metropolitan area, perhaps in the
same week. In terms of more vicarious recreation, major
league teams in L.A. include the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Kings
(NHL) Hockey and L.A. Clippers and the L.A. Lakers (NBA)
Basketball.

The Los Angeles metropolitan area is served by 5 major
commercial airports and other smaller airports. The main
Los Angeles airport is Los Angeles International Airport and
there are four other commercial airports, plus general aviation
airport, Van Nuys Airport.
There are several public colleges and universities in the city,
including the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA),
California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), and California
State University, Northridge (CSUN).

Howard Giske writes about nationwide real estate. For more about
Los Angeles homes
see, http://www.losangeleshomesguide.com/