The Brief

For the first couple of years I lived in Los Angeles, my dad couldn't help himself. Every time the city came up in conversation, he'd burst into song:

"L.A. is a great big freeway," he'd belt out in his baritone, "Put a hundred down and buy a car."

I'd wait patiently as he worked it out of his system.

"In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star!"

This feels like an apt way to start a conversation about the ways people get our city wrong — the way it's condensed down into one thing, one image, one archetype, one ... song?

And look, L.A. is a highly visible place. It's been the backdrop for countless movies and TV shows, which may make some people feel that they know the city. But in fact, that understanding is only screen deep.

Recently on LAist 89.3's daily program AirTalk, we asked listeners: What are the most common mischaracterizations of Los Angeles?

Here's what we learned.

L.A. as epicenter of surf culture

Here's a quintessential L.A. scene at Venice Beach, but it's only one part of what makes L.A. L.A.

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Ashley Balderrama

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LAist

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Tad, who grew up in Redondo Beach, called to talk about surfing, which he has done all his life. "But the idea is that everyone here grew up on the coast with surf culture and beach life, that is not the reality," he said.

The reality is that L.A. has a population of roughly 3.8 million people and covers roughly 500 square miles. Beach and surf culture is just a slice of the pie. A great slice! But just one slice.

Val from Orange shared a similar sentiment. "Orange County has a reputation of being rich people and the beach, but there's so much diversity. That's definitely not all it is," she said.

L.A. as barren desert

"Los Angeles isn't just that" seemed to be the resonant message from callers about a range of stereotypes — one I constantly to convey to friends and family..

Like I tell my dad: "Dad, it's a great song, but you know L.A. isn't just a great big freeway, right?"

For Lisette in Pasadena, the idea that L.A. is just a desert is an image she'd like to correct.

"Hearing that makes me want to flip tables!" she said. "Southern California is a Mediterranean climate that once had marshes and wetlands. This idea of L.A.-as-desert also ignores the climate variations."

This is not an oasis in the desert. It's the Ballona Wetlands on L.A.'s Westside.

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Al Seib

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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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It's true. Drive from the coast to mountains and you may experience a handful of microclimates in that one trip.

As someone from New England, I constantly bump up against people claiming L.A. has no seasons.

"We do have seasons here!" Lisette proclaimed. "But they are Southern California seasons ... subtle," but still seasons.

L.A. as a place where everyone works in entertainment

The film and television machine is huge. That's undeniable. But the idea that everyone works in it and for it? Not even close.

"People I meet or listen to from out of state seem to always think everyone here is or wants to be in the entertainment industry," Liz from South Gate wrote us to say. "They think everyone is stuck up and spoiled. That couldn't be further from the truth."

Are you reading this article instead of working on your screenplay?

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David McNew

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Getty Images

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The truth? Liz's community in southeastern L.A. County, "is made up of the hardest working and most humble folks I've ever known."

Larry Mantle, host of LAist's AirTalk, echoed this. He said Southern California can be mischaracterized by a "Hollywood-centric view of Los Angeles, where palm trees line every street." It makes sense, he explained — after all, a lot of the creatives who write the film and television we consume live in that world!

But, he added, "that ends up being a shorthand for what Los Angeles and Hollywood are like."

Then there's the flip side.

L.A. as post-apocalyptic hellscape

An aerial view of graffiti spray painted by taggers on at least 27 stories of an unfinished skyscraper in downtown L.A. The type of post-apocalyptic scene some outsiders see as a bigger truth.

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Mario Tama

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Getty Images

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Encampments on every street. Wanton criminals. A dystopia of drug addiction and disorder. This is the impression that some people have of L.A., a stark contrast to the glitz and glamour others lean on.

Neither, listeners remind us, paints a fair nor complete picture.

Trey in Woodland Hills remembers when his dad was watching Fox News years ago and heard Los Angeles referred to as a "lawless hellscape." The term stuck.

"That's how he's referred to it ever since," Trey said, "without living here or understanding the beauty and complexity of our city."

L.A. as liberal enclave

People face off at a protest in Huntington Beach. Southern Californians represent a broad array of political views.

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Frederic J. Brown

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AFP via Getty Images

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The geography, the culture, the people — we heard a lot of ways L.A. is mischaracterized.

Katrina in Palm Springs said the biggest misconception she encounters is "that all of California is super liberal." Every time she leaves her house, she feels as though she's bumping up against people all over the political spectrum.

L.A. as endless sprawl

A view from the Park to Playa trail in L.A.

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Chava Sanchez

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LAist

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And now for my favorite mischaracterization — L.A. as an endless sprawl, a great big freeway devoid of anything natural or rugged wilderness.

Wrong-O!

Chris in downtown Los Angeles said, "People don't realize how much nature there is." He backpacks, bikes, hikes and rock climbs all around the region. "L.A. is home to some extremely wild environments," he said, "and you don't have to drive far to access them.

Chris says one of his favorite views is driving east on the 10 during winter months, when you can see the snow-capped Mount Baldy out the window.

"I don't think people comprehend that L.A. has this massive snow-capped mountain."

Will the real L.A. please stand up?

As we all know, there's no one "real L.A." The city is an incredible mix of all its composite parts — the people, languages, landscapes. It's why I live here, and why so many of us do.

Maybe L.A. is mischaracterized because there's only so much of the place that one person can experience at once.

But if these people are anything like my dad, they'll keep visiting. And from one year to the next, grow to know it and love it — not just for one part (in his case, the La Brea Tar Pits) but for the many facets that make up this exceptional place.

Listen to the full AirTalk segment here:

A federal judge has ordered Los Angeles to pay more than $1.8 million in attorneys’ fees and costs to the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights and other organizations that sued the city over what it deemed an inadequate response to the homelessness crisis.

The city is appealing the decision.

The details

L.A. Alliance is a group of business owners and residents who sued the city and county of Los Angeles in 2020 in an effort to push both governments to provide more shelter to unhoused people in the region.

The city of L.A. settled with the plaintiffs in 2022, and U.S. District Judge David O. Carter is overseeing the city’s progress in keeping up with the terms of that agreement. The judge found the city breached its agreement in multiple ways in a ruling last summer.

Specifically, the judge found that the city did not provide a plan for how it intends to create 12,915 shelter beds, as promised, by 2027. The court also found the city “flouted” its responsibilities by failing to provide accurate, comprehensive data when requested and did not provide evidence to support the numbers it was reporting, according to court documents.

In addition to $1.6 million in attorneys’ fees and $5,000 in costs to L.A. Alliance, Carter awarded about $200,000 in fees and $160 in costs to the Los Angeles Catholic Worker and Los Angeles Community Action Network.

The organizations are considered “intervenors” in the suit, representing people experiencing homelessness on Skid Row. Their attorneys include those from the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

Why it matters

In his order, released Tuesday, Carter compared the recent award to the millions of taxpayer dollars city officials agreed to pay an outside law firm representing L.A. in the settlement.

Carter wrote in the order that the attorneys' fees and costs to L.A. Alliance and others “is reasonable, especially in light of the approximately $5.9 million that the City’s outside counsel is charging.”

LAist’s housing and homelessness coverage was cited several times in the order.

“It has fallen to plaintiff, intervenors, and journalists to point out the deficiencies in the city’s reporting,” Carter wrote, referring to data the city is required to report to the court as part of the settlement.

“Plaintiff and intervenors must be compensated for this,” he said.

The city’s response 

Attorneys representing the city filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday.

L.A. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto’s office did not respond to LAist’s requests for comment by phone or email.

Shayla Myers, senior attorney with the Unhoused People's Justice Project at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, told LAist the intervenors participated in the case without compensation “because it's incredibly important given what is at stake in these proceedings that unhoused folks have a voice.”

Matthew Umhofer, an attorney for L.A. Alliance, told LAist he’s thrilled the court is imposing accountability on the city, including sanctions for violating the settlement agreement. But Umhofer said he’s saddened that L.A. Alliance is going to have to keep fighting to hold the city to its promises.

“The obvious city strategy here is hire a big, good law firm to fight on absolutely every front in hopes that the plaintiffs, the intervenors or the court will ultimately give up trying to hold the city accountable,” he said.

What's next

The parties are scheduled to appear in federal court in downtown L.A. on Monday, when a hearing will resume to determine whether the judge will hold the city of Los Angeles in contempt of court.

Carter has said in documents that he’s concerned “the city has demonstrated a continuous pattern of delay” in meeting its obligations with court orders under the settlement and that the “delay continues to this day.”

Every January, the open-air downtown food fair reopens after its winter break and announces new additions to its carefully selected group of regular vendors.

This year’s new vendor class demonstrates the resilience of L.A.'s independent food scene, ranging from a Grammy-nominated producer's Persian-influenced pizza to Southern fried fish celebrating Black American culinary traditions, to an LAist 2025 Tournament of Cheeseburger heavyweight contender.

The reopening also marks the start of Smorgasburg LA's 10th anniversary year, and will feature 41 returning vendors, who've helped build the regular event into a fun, family-friendly opportunity to try new, often cutting-edge food you may not be familiar with.

Doors open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at DTLA’s The Row, with free entry and free parking for the first two hours.

A new year

General manager Zach Brooks said this is his favorite time of year. "We add the new vendors at the beginning of the new year, everyone's excited."

Vendors apply through Smorgasburg's website, and the team meets with every applicant to taste their food before acceptance. Brooks said it's not a vetting process like "Shark Tank" but rather a matter of seeing if it's a good fit. Competition remains fierce, with many more applicants than available spots.

"I think it's just a testament to L.A. and the resilience of people who love this business and have a passion for it, and are going to continue to persevere and start their businesses and want to be out there selling food," Brooks said.

Here are a few highlights:

Viral orange chicken sandwich 

Long Beach-based Terrible Burger becomes Smorgasburg's new permanent burger vendor after standout appearances at LAist's Tournament of Cheeseburgers and the market's rotating Smorgasburger Stand. The smashburger pop-up, run by husband-and-wife team Nicole and Ryan Ramirez, specializes in burgers that draw from pop culture and global influences. They've made waves with a Korean barbecue burger topped with bulgogi barbecue sauce and a viral orange chicken sandwich, previously available only at their Tuesday night residency at Long Beach's Midnight Oil, making its L.A. debut Sunday.

Terrible Burger's viral orange chicken sandwich makes its LA debut at Smorgasburg after being available only in Long Beach.

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Courtesy Terrible Burger

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"We have been big Smorgasburg fans for a really long time before we even started Terrible Burger. We would go to Smorgasburg on dates, just eat and hang out. And it was just always a little dream of, "oh, what if we ever sold food here?" Nicole Ramirez said.

Crispy fried snapper and thick-cut fries 

Orange County-based Hot Grease, run by Asha Starks, is among four vendors graduating from residencies to permanent status. The Southern fried fish pop-up celebrates Black American history through food that honors Starks' family heritage.

"Folks often forget that there are Black folks in Orange County. My family came to Orange County during the second wave of the Great Migration, and they settled in Santa Ana... my food is very cultural. And the story, I feel like, is just as important to highlight," Starks said.

Hot Grease's crispy buttermilk fried snapper with thick-cut fries and "Ill Dill" tartar sauce.

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Courtesy Hot Grease

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Hot Grease serves crispy buttermilk fried snapper with thick-cut fries and small-batch sauces like "Ill Dill" tartar. Honoring the fish fry's history as a site of mutual aid, Starks directs 3% of sales to the Potlikker Line, Hot Grease's reproductive justice mutual aid fund. For January, she's added fish and grits, black-eyed peas and collard greens.

Pizza with a Persian twist

Mamani Pizza brings studio-born energy to Smorgasburg LA with pies featuring Persian-inspired creativity.

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Courtesy Mamani Pizza

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Mamani Pizza, from the Grammy-nominated producer Farsi, part of the music production team Wallis Lane, started making Neapolitan-style pizzas at his West L.A. recording studio a year ago. What began as late-night pies for friends and artists became an underground hit. Most pizzas are traditional, but Farsi adds Persian touches like The Mamani, topped with ground wagyu koobideh, roasted Anaheim chilis, Persian herbs and pomegranate molasses.

Other new vendors

Banana Mama - Asian-inspired pudding
Barranco's Yogurt - Oaxacan fruit yogurt
Franzl's Franks - Austrian sausages
Melnificent Wingz - Gourmet chicken wings
Piruchi - Peruvian street food
RuRu's Golden Tea - Karak chai
Stick Talk - vegan corn dogs
SouuLA - Taiwanese breakfast concept
Unreal Poke - Hawaiian poke
Zindrew Dumpling Shop - Spicy wontons