[jd3189]

Before living here in LA for residency, I remember years ago on another thread that the only major cities in the country that still retained much of their prewar built environment and seemed urban were NYC, SF, Chicago, Boston, Philly, and DC. LA was sometimes included in this group but was seen as still distinct from those “big 6”.

Now that I have spent some time driving, walking, and taking public transit around the city, I have to say that LA is pretty urban at its core and various other nodes, such as Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, etc. It’s still very car centric with small strip malls and some larger ones anchored by grocery stores like Ralph’s and local supermarkets. However, it’s still is walkable though many of those nodes and many of its urban parts are prewar or at least interwar/ early postwar.

In many neighborhoods, there isn’t only single family homes. A lot of small garden apartments, dingbats, duplexes/triplexes as well as legit large apartment buildings among them. Even the SFHs are on small lots which gives both a sense of independence but also fosters some level of community, unlike the newer suburbs in Texas or Florida. Overall the built area reminded me of parts of Brooklyn ( outside of the brownstones) and Queens. It’s not as intense as Manhattan (although nowhere in this country is) but it wasn’t built with that in mind.

I guess what I’m trying to say for this thread is that despite its faults, LA is legitimately one of the most urban cities in the country and belongs with the other 6 prewar cities. It still has a lot to improve upon but it does belong up there along with NYC, Chicago, and SF.