Old men smile at each other's stories over games of dominoes played on card tables set up on the street corner. Ladies in their Sunday best daintily nibble cake at outdoor cafes, and children run laughing around the fountain in the park. People stop to chat as they meander along the boulevard. This is not a scene from another era; it's a typical Sunday afternoon in Leimert Park.
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A 33-year-old white woman from Sherman Oaks, now living in Eugene, Oregon, has made national headlines today as news comes that her memoir was largely fabricated. Last week, Margaret Seltzer who goes by the pen name Margaret B. Jones was featured in the New York Times' Home & Garden section in a fascinating story about her book, "Love and Consequences." One LAist reader explains her fascination about it in an e-mail: more ›

It's a sad day week for those who frequent Fairfax Village, for those who need a late-night nosh alternative to Canter's Deli, or for those who love some vegan pizza -- Nova Express Cafe announced (letter below) that they are closing their doors this Wednesday at 2 a.m. (not be too confusing, that would officially be Thursday, 3 hours in). more ›

-- Neighborhood Project: Little Armenia more ›

A Metro bus collided with two cars this afternoon, injuring twelve. "Four patients transported to area hospitals with minor injuries, eight were treated and released at the scene," Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman d'Lisa Davies said in a text alert. more ›

These neighborhood projects are a heck of a lot of work. All of the writing, research, fact-checking, map-making, walking around, metro-riding, photographing, uploading, downloading, sun-block wearing, and image re-sizing is not easy. Trying to maximize my lazing potential, I volunteered to document the Jewelry District figuring that the neighborhood's mere six square blocks shouldn't be too much work. I got off the Metro thinking "I've been here a million times, I know where the points of interest are, this shouldn't take long, I'lI take like 15 pictures, and I'll be out of the sun and sprawled out supine under a ceiling fan in no time." But many, many pictures and five hours later, I can safely say, damn, was I wrong. The Jewelry District is vibrant, visually engaging, and architecturally absorbing -- a neighborhood-sized vintage curiosity of antiquarian intricacies. more ›

• "A very, very good night for Barack Obama just got better," the LA Times said after it reported that the winner of the South Carolina Primary was on the receiving end of two Kennedy endorsements; Caroline Kennedy endorsed Obama this morning in the NY Times and Sen. Ted Kennedy issued his endorsement later in the day.
• Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton moved on from South Carolina and defended critics of her husband's campaigning, saying, "everybody just needs to take a deep breath. We need to be focusing on what's important in the lives of Americans."
• The Federal Government isn't making too many friends these days and a new rule along the borders might not change that. People crossing the border must now prove they are a U.S. citizen, eschewing the long standing policy of orally declaring your citizenship. I fear this does not spell the end of those fabled Tijuana donkey shows.
• "I'm in a totally happy place," said former Dodger Mike Lieberthal explaining why he decided to retire yesterday. The Dodgers declined the option on the two-time all star and valley boy who was last year's back up to Russell Martin.
• Good news, foodies: the Daily News found that the number of restaurants who have received a C from the Department of Health has declined dramatically since inspections began a decade ago, while the number of eateries with an A have increased 40 percent from last year. I'm sure this doesn't include taco trucks, but, hey, ignorance is bliss.
• Rains continued Sunday, dumping as much as 4 inches on the Southland. Downtown record about 10 inches, eons more than the 1.65 inches Downtown received at this time last year. Don't freak out, L.A. drivers, the storm might taper off by this evening, forecasters say.
• In case you missed it, LAist had a big week. A few highlights: the Neighborhood Project continued with a look at Country Club Park;
• To Catch a Predator bait Dani Miura was interviewed and;
• The Roman Catholic Archdiocese has sold off their 3424 Wilshire Boulevard Archdiocesan Catholic Center to Jamison Properties for $31 million to raise money for the hundreds of outstanding sexual abuse lawsuits. An interesting debate in the comments section ensued.
• We have a big week ahead with some big name interviews, great music reviews and continued news, politics and art greatness

We always encourage you to press that little recommend button at the bottom right hand corner of every post if you enjoyed it. For one, it tells us what you want more of here at LAist. So here's this week's three most recommended and commented posts, as recommended and talked up by you: more ›

Sometimes the news really does paint our wonderful town as something of a racial powder keg, which makes it all the more gratifying when you stumble across a truly diverse neighborhood. Hugging the western border of Koreatown, just south of tony Hancock Park and just north of West Adams, sits a neighborhood where true diversity is a reality. Just how diverse is Country Club Park? Ask yourself this; where else in town can you find a vegetarian soul food restaurant steps from a Goth club, across the street from a Korean church, next door to a Mexican market, up the block from a Korean BBQ, next door to a sushi place? It’s no wonder the LA Legal Defense Fund calls this neighborhood home. Every group in the city seems to be represented. And though the tenuous presence of gangs and pockets of poverty cause hiccups, homesteaders of all backgrounds seem eager to discover this unusual urban enclave. more ›

The community of Watts seems to be undergoing a shift in atmosphere, reports the Daily News, as the area's gang violence has been decreasing, thanks in part to the Watts Gang Task Force. In terms of statistics, homicides were halved last year from the year before--11 in 2007 as compared to the 24 in 2006, and 2007 saw "a three-month stretch without a single slaying. Gang homicides for the approximately 1-square-mile home to an estimated 2,000 gangsters dropped from 13 in 2006 to eight last year." The larger area, known as the South Bureau, which includes 35,000 Watts residents, also saw a marked decrease in homicides from 2006 to last year. more ›

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A photoshoot held earlier this month was captured by a building employee who explains that the photos were being taken to help promote the sale of units NoHo Lofts, one of many housing structures that have taken over the landscape in NoHo Arts in the past several months. The development of NoHo has really taken off over the past few years, but concerns about "pricing out" current area residents may make selling apartments more of a struggle than developers expected. For more about the area, check out LAist's Neighborhood Project: NoHo Arts District. more ›

Picture it: North Hollywood, 2007. Two old pals get together to work on an installment of LAist's Neighborhood Project but are easily distracted by watching episodes of The Golden Girls on dvd. Deeply entrenched in a bout of hunger, the two turn to the internets to find a local pizzeria that isn't a great big multinational chain (one of them used to be the LAist Food Editor, after all, and has these lofty ideals about consumerism) and they land on the site of a well-known nearby establishment. The pizza is ordered, delivered, and consumed, and the two are left remarking that it was one helluva pizza. more ›

Sherman Oaks has a lot going for it. From movie and TV stars to community activism, from dingy Valley corner strip malls to high-end boutiques, this neighborhood of nearly 52,000 residents is never a bore (come on, Desperate Housewives films a bunch here). It is named after General Moses Hazeltine Sherman, a well known real estate developer who bought a good amount of land in the area and sold it off. The community was... more ›

Today we are all supposed to be thankful, so that's exactly what I am going to do, right now, in enumerated fashion, just for you. more ›

LAist continues to cover the Hollywood Writers Strike with visiting guest "strikers" such as KT Tunstall and Presidential candidate John Edwards. To celebrate Veteran's Day, they visited a Civil War reenactment and to celebrate Geography Week, they asked all the Los Angeles City Councilmembers about the districts they represent finding that LA's 180+ official neighborhoods are not easy to define. And to help better understand neighborhoods, the latest Neighborhood Project focused on Franklin Village, where the hipster culture and Scientology meet. In Beverly Hills, one writer takes us on a photo tour of a house that looks like it's straight from Alice in Wonderland. And what's Los Angeles without a University of California sociology of sexuality class being taught by pornstars? more ›

Los Angeles has over 180 official neighborhoods. These are those communities designated with the city sealed blue sign. However, if you tried to figure out your neighborhood and its official boundary, there's a good chance you are going to come upon a) conflicting information b) no information, or c) confusing information. Trust us, we know. We've been digging into official Los Angeles city neighborhoods with our Neighborhood Project and have yet to come upon... more ›

It has been a long time coming, but after a temporary hiatus, we're happy to announce that today our ongoing Neighborhood Project makes its return to LAist. We're hoping to bring our readers a new neighborhood entry on a (fairly) regular basis. First up in this second round of Los Angeles neighborhood tours is Franklin Village, an entry completely written and photographed by a couple of regular LAist readers (and a few of their... more ›

How does the idea of hilltop vistas, the quiet charm of tree-lined streets, and a quick and easy one mile trip on public transit to Downtown grab you? Well, it certainly proved an effective lure for the fresh-off-the-train Midwesterners settling in Los Angeles who flocked to our city's first suburb in the late 1880s. A real estate boom in 1887 saw the construction of numerous majestic Victorian homes in the new neighborhood, but a... more ›

Northridge has become famous for Cal State University Northridge, and infamous for the Northridge quake. In reality, the earthquake's epicenter was beneath Reseda. Although the San Fernando Valley is very particular about each neighborhood's boundaries, the history of one area sometimes bleeds over into the next. It would be easy to paint the Valley with a single brush. But that would be a gross oversimplification. What makes Northridge stand out from its neighbors? Its... more ›

There is so much more to Baldwin Hills than meets the eye. Home to the largest middle and upper middle-class African American community in Los Angeles, this hillside neighborhood ties together one of the most important strongholds of black culture in town, forming the residential nexus of the Crenshaw area. Baldwin Hills has gone through many permutations over the decades, and has been the site of some of the most significant events in the... more ›

Although Chinatown is no longer a hub of activity relative to other parts of Los Angeles, it contains significant portions of the cultural history of the city within its tiny one-square-mile boundaries. It has served as the gatekeeper to America for many generations of immigrant groups, not only from China but from all over the world. It’s been a launching pad for all of the true believers that clung to the promise of a... more ›

Known to some as La Brea Park and dubbed “America’s Champs Elysee,” Miracle Mile has put up a long fight to become one of the most visited neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Despite the area’s slight congestion, Miracle Mile is a great place for culture, business, and happy living.... more ›

The Watts area of Los Angeles is located in South LA, and is fighting to change the infamous reputation the area has for gang violence, and riots. Named after Charles H. Watts, the area has always been a haven of affordable housing that attracts mostly the working class. With small single story one or two bedroom houses, and housing projects, the Watts community is tightly knit. And being home to the Watts Towers, one of 4 nationally recognized historical landmarks in Los Angeles, Watts is a distinctive community with a unique history. more ›

Once the heart of the Arts and Crafts movement in Los Angeles and a bohemian artists' colony, Garvanza is today one of Northeast LA's hidden treasures seeking to retain its turn of the century identity while creating a liveable neighborhood for the twenty-first century. Although many consider Garvanza to be just a part of Highland Park, this small and hilly area brimming with historic buildings has more than enough charm and character needed to... more ›

Studio City may actually be what out-of-state folks are talking about when they imagine L.A. (I personally had always wondered...) Wide boulevards lined with palm trees and shops, neighborhoods yielding houses used on TV sitcoms, plaques on the sidewalk commemorating John Wayne films, and filming going on around nearly every corner; as Vankman said to Vigo, it's "the sweet life out in Southern California's beautiful San Fernando valley". For Los Angelenos, it's either a... more ›

The 96 year-old town of Van Nuys is awash in history and witness to a vibrant international culture exemplified by its many ethnic eateries, shops and government offices. Considered by many to be the nerve center of the San Fernando Valley, Van Nuys, or, The Nuys, is bordered by Sun Valley to its north, Valley Glen to the east, Sherman Oaks to the south, and Lake Balboa to the west. more ›

Virtually ignored in most travel guides, this 90-block garment district is arguably the most underrated destination neighborhood in Los Angeles. The Fashion District is dismissed by many as an "off the beaten path" kind of area, when in fact it should be among the top two or three places every visitor to the city should see. That's because LA has become the clothing manufacturing center of America, and the Fashion District is its pulsing heart. More than that, it presents a one-of-a-kind experience only possible in Los Angeles, a funky cross between New York’s Canal Street and a Middle-Eastern bazaar (but with Mexicans). You can buy almost anything here, from shoes to toys to a new pet, and there's no place on the West Coast where you can stretch a 10 dollar bill farther. From the charm of its sidewalk cafés to the persistence of its street hawkers, this is the most frenetic, exciting urban experience in LA. It is also one of downtown's fastest growing neighborhoods, as thousands of new residents will attest. more ›

Stores on Fairfax Avenue. Photo by Terry Stamatis. The first time I saw it over a year ago, I thought it was fluke, a coincidence, a mis-hap. But no, it is true, on Saturday mornings in the Fairfax District, Orthodox Jewish families en route to synagogue share the sidewalks with Gay couples walking hand-in-hand on their way to brunch. There are no contemptuous faces or grunts. Instead, they pass each other on the street,... more ›

First, I absolutely love the neighborhood project. I'm thinking about moving to many of the areas listed, so the profiles really help. more ›