If you have a casual interest in how cities develop, KCET’s “Laws that Shaped LA” series is a fantastic read. Articles are posted every Monday on KCET’s website and highlight a law that had a major impact in developing how the city of Los Angeles developed.
So far, this series by Jeremy Rosenberg has answered questions like:
“Why are all of the skyscrapers flat on top?” You might say this makes the LA skyline bland in comparison to Chicago or New York, but I prefer to think there’s no point in skyscrapers attempting to compete with the natural beauty of the San Gabriel Mountains which provide the backdrop and contrast to Los Angeles’s skyline.
“Why is the city located so far inland away from a harbor?” This also explains why the city’s streets angle in towards Hoover Blvd before straightening out, something I wondered about for a while before attending an LA Public Library event where they discussed historical maps of Los Angeles.
If you look at a map of Los Angeles, you can clearly identify Hoover Blvd as the street where the grid straightens out. You can also identify downtown as the part with the thicker, closer black lines.
Either way, this series from KCET is fascinating whether you are interested in learning some history about Los Angeles, or just like seeing the process of how certain laws impact the way cities develop in incredibly surprising ways.
