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Since City Hall can't do it, it's the people's turn, and oh boy, this is going to be fun. Los Angeles has around 180 official neighborhoods, marked by those blue signs, but ask the city for a map defining borders or for a complete list and you won't get much. Defining a neighborhood, a region or anything gets people angry. It's just one of those super passionate issues where neighborhood council meetings turn into screaming matches.
With that said, the LA Times has embarked on a true community project called Mapping L.A. where citizens can help define Los Angeles' neighborhoods, whether they be city designated (Venice, Sherman Oaks, Little Ethiopia), unofficial but commonly used communities (Universal City, East Hollywood, the Shoestring) and the larger regions (dare we say the Eastside?).
"Keep in mind that this is just our first public draft," explained Megan Garvey, a Metro section editor, in an e-mail to LAist. "So far, we have drawn lines for 87 neighborhoods and seven larger regions... Now we open it up for readers to give us their feedback, including posting their own versions of the overall neighborhood boundaries, carving up the smaller enclaves... or just disagreeing with us entirely about something."
There's a lot of work for all of us here to contribute. It's pretty easy to help out, too. Just click on a neighborhood, post a comment, draw a map in their map toolbox (if you want) and click submit. Over time, the Times' map will develop into something that hopefully reflects the real Los Angeles. And then maybe, just maybe, we can all march up to City Hall and set their records straight.
Previously: The LA City Nerd neighborhood map based on found city documents.
