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May 21, 2007
Los Angeles Magazine Chooses Its Side
I live in East Hollywood. I get my mail at the Los Feliz post office. The neighborhood sign near my apartment says Little Armenia. My zip code says 90027.
You'd think a magazine called Los Angeles would know which part of the LA I lived in.
But perhaps the publication is outsourcing its subscription-hustling duties to the same guys covering the Pasadena city council meetings because not only did Los Angeles mail me an offer specially designed for those in and around the 310, but they stereotyped Santa Monica, West LA, Venice, and Brentwood so poorly it makes me wonder if it's a joke.
"Living on the Westside is more than a daily dose of celebrity sightings... It's also knowing who's the best holistic vet, where to go for organic baby clothes, what store carries 400,000 bottles of wine, and the location of a magical oasis where you'll find private gardens and swans named after Greek gods."Wait, are Westsiders that ridiculously lame that they care what the names of swans are? If they are then maybe they do need a discount to a magazine that doesn't know where 90027 is.
Although I am a huge fan of magazines, this fair city, and bargains, I think I will pass on this offer.
Besides, once they discover I don't live anywhere near the 405 (generally considered the dividing line between east and west) and am, in fact, East of the 101 - closer to Downtown than Westwood, I wouldn't be surprised if they charged me full price, as they seem to want to do to the rest of us on the Eastside.
Full offer after the jump.
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"Besides, once they discover I don't live anywhere near the 405 (generally considered the dividing line between east and west) and am indeed East of the 101, I wouldn't be surprised if they charged me full price, as they seem to want to do to the rest of us Eastsiders."
I don't think the folks in Beverly Hills and Century City would appreciate hearing that they now live on the "Eastside", since they are both east of the 405. This just shows that living on the "Westside" of L.A. is purely a state of mind.
I'll give you a pass because you're not an L.A. native, but the L.A. Magazine marketing pitch is very funny to me: I'm a native of L.A. and a UCLA Urban Planning Alumni. I can tell you that it has been fascinating to watch how the dividing line between the East and West of Los Angeles has migrated from Main Street (if you check street signs in LA city, they don't say 'East' unless you are East of main) -- now all the way almost 15 miles West to the 405 Freeway.
Twenty years ago, the 'Westside' would have been somewhere around Crenshaw or La Brea, depending upon how far south you were ( La Brea, especially if you were south of the 10 freeway).
After the 1992 Riots, it moved to around La Cienega. Now it's the 405 Freeway.
This would make a great article, along with including how South Bay Cities (Gardena, Lawndale) changed the name of Compton Blvd. to Marine Ave. after NWA put out "Straight Outta Compton" in the 1989.
Cheers!
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"Besides, once they discover I don't live anywhere near the 405 (generally considered the dividing line between east and west) and am indeed East of the 101, I wouldn't be surprised if they charged me full price, as they seem to want to do to the rest of us Eastsiders."
I don't think the folks in Beverly Hills and Century City would appreciate hearing that they now live on the "Eastside", since they are both east of the 405. This just shows that living on the "Westside" of L.A. is purely a state of mind.
I'll give you a pass because you're not an L.A. native, but the L.A. Magazine marketing pitch is very funny to me: I'm a native of L.A. and a UCLA Urban Planning Alumni. I can tell you that it has been fascinating to watch how the dividing line between the East and West of Los Angeles has migrated from Main Street (if you check street signs in LA city, they don't say 'East' unless you are East of main) -- now all the way almost 15 miles West to the 405 Freeway.
Twenty years ago, the 'Westside' would have been somewhere around Crenshaw or La Brea, depending upon how far south you were ( La Brea, especially if you were south of the 10 freeway).
After the 1992 Riots, it moved to around La Cienega. Now it's the 405 Freeway.
This would make a great article, along with including how South Bay Cities (Gardena, Lawndale) changed the name of Compton Blvd. to Marine Ave. after NWA put out "Straight Outta Compton" in the 1989.
Cheers!
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The dividing line between Eastside/Westside is the 405? I've heard La Cienega (from Wikipedia - makes sense, as that is where the 310 area code starts)is the dividing line; that it used to be Western. But the 405? That makes for a pretty small Westside, doesn't it? Is there an official word on this?
Personally, I'm a 90027 local myself, and swans kind of creep me out.
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Ha!
Got the same offer in the mail and wondered the same thing. Still renewed my subscription with the "westside" rate. We'll see if I get it.
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wait, isn't the west side arguably a hell of a lot richer than the "east side"? how come they're getting the discount? :P
that said, there was a huge brouhaha on blogging.la a while back about where the "east side" actually is. i think a lot of people these days would say western (i.e., the "east side" is los feliz, silverlake, and echo park), but a lot of boyle heights-area folk laugh at that. they would say technically it's supposed to be the LA river, but i doubt anyone in beverly hills even considers that still los angeles...
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Wait... doesn't L.A. end west of Vermont?
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The Westside is SCARY. No one really needs to be west of BH unless they're going seaside. I avoid the 405, Brentwood and non coastal Santa Monica like the plague. If you can't take the 10 or the 101 to get somewhere in Los Angeles (note: non-"LA" places such as Pasadena, San Pedro and Palm Springs are perfectly acceptable) it probably isn't worth going to!
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The westside scares you? Really? That is hysterical! Frankly at the rate of gentrification all of LA is going through, I see no difference at all except it's hotter eastside, and the air inland comes in chunky style. I am westside, 90034, no fancy offer has arrived yet and I have no idea what they are talking about with the swans.
Sounds like India generated ad copy alright.
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i can live with the cutoff being La Cienega, but when i moved here in 1984 there was no 310 area code so perhaps im basing my perceptions on pre-Wikipedia information.
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The 405? Generally considered the dividing line by whom? That would put Westwood Village and UCLA on the East Side, among others.
A better case can be made for La Brea, Western and the LA River, to be sure.
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When I moved to the 90027 twelve years ago, popular wisdom was the west side ended at Highland. With the asshole fest that has become Hollywood at night, I'd say the west side now ends at Vermont.
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The 405?! I think La Brea is pushing it, but we'll leave it at that. And for all the LA River complainers, Eas Los is east of the River. That's right, East Los Angeles or East L.A.
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Forget the East/West dividing line, who carries 400,000 bottles of wine? Inquiring minds in Hollywood want to know! I can hit this place on my next trip to Dockweiler!
On a related note, there isn't an issue of Los Angeles Magazine (and yes, God help me, I have a subscription) that doesn't make me ache for the good old days of Buzz Magazine. It's been years - am I the only one who misses it?
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You're all thinking geographically, when the dividing line, at least as far as the way most people treat it, is based on fuzzy boundaries characterized by:
Westside: a high proportion of adherents to the oldest Abrahamic faith;
Eastside: a high proportion of people who self identify with the country to our South; and
Southside: a high proportion of people who can trace their ancestry to a benighted continent south of Europe. (Although that's much less true now than in decades past.)
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All the comments here make me laugh! I was born and raised in L.A. and there is no way "westside" would be based on something like area codes, since L.A. and areas outside the city at one point all fell under 213 (and the westside did exist back then). Just as the first comment indicated, "westside" (just like "eastside") really is a state of mind, not a precise geographic indicator. This is a fun game though, isn't it -- westsiders arbitrarily naming some major street (take your pick) as the dividing line between them and the rest of the city?
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I love this debate - it will rage on forever in Los Angeles until an official decree is made, which is unlikely.
So, here's my two cents and comments from others.
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Wake up kids. it's L frikkin A. You're ALL west siders!
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Okay...so what's the deal? Will anyone help me out here? I just moved into "the 90027" and like the original posting indicates, signs nearby display "Little Armenia". Isn't this Los Feliz however? I live on Kenmore (area of Franklin and Vermont).
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Bret,
im sure the LA City Nerd can give you actual coordinates, but i consider Los Feliz to be North of Sunset, and since I am South of Sunset i consider my neighborhood to be Little Armenia.
and also cuz the nice sign tells me so.
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when USC first opened it was considered to be in west los angeles...
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The historical "center" of LA is 1st and Main, downtown. That's where the streets switch from N/S and E/W. You're definitely west of there.
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the problem is that there are competing terms at play here. There is East Los Angeles, there is West Los Angeles, and there is the Westside and the Eastside. West LA generally is west of La Brea and includes Compton. the Westside is generally West of La Cienega and may or may not include Culver City. East LA is east of Downtown, the East side is generally East of La Cienega and North of South LA.
How come there is no North LA?
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Me me me!
(Waving hand in the air)
I miss Buzz magazine!
I live on the westside in Rancho Park. I moved here when there was one area code. East LA seemed like a far away land back then.
And yes, someone please answer that burning question -- where is the store with 400,000 bottles of wine?
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Seriously, can someone tell me how I might get reprints of ten year old Buzz magazine articles online? I miss LA.