Zooey Deschanel Says She's No Westsider: Where is L.A.'s Westside, And How Come So Many People Get it Wrong?

Robert90033

Downtown Los Angeles is the Heart of the City, the Central City, El Centro, El Pueblo. From the Center all of the City's "sides" radiate. What is being called "eastside" today is actually the near westside, west Central L.A., or the Historic Westside. If anyone wishes to tag the eastside label to the area you can see it as the eastside of the westside but the westside never the less. Don't believe it? Just check out the street signs and addresses all indicate west. Unfortunately the people who still insist on calling it eastside have the power of the media behind them and as such it is their voices being heard more often thus making their error reality to them.

bwunderlick

How about this: a true Angeleno wouldn't think of their home as something to be judged by foreign royals. Oh there's some trash in a parking lot? Get the fu*k over it!

Cameronj2

But you live in... the Valley.

Pep

As someone who lives in Echo Park, I don't consider myself "Westside" or a resident of East Los Angeles.But, I think many Los Angeles peeps think "Westside" is a state of mind and way of living, rather than just a geographic location. My "Westside" friends are typically white, rather well off, ex fraternity boys who surf and shop at J Crew. My east side friends are typically artists, maybe hipsters, and more often than not, not white. Just saying. As someone who lives in what is apparently Central Los Angeles, the city is not so much defined geographically as it is by its people.

Robert90033

Pep, You live on the eastside of the westside. The Historic westside/old westside, where the City initially pushed westward towards the ocean. What was referred to as the "Western Addition" to the City. Western Ave. was then the western boundary of the City. So if the area you live in is the eastside of anything, it is the eastside of the westside but the westside nevertheless.

guest

who surfs and shops at jcrew?

Dennis Romero

Actually J. Crew was just announced as the new sponsor of the Triple Crown of surfing in Hawaii. They're changing the name to the Preppy Crown.

Dennis Romero

Pep, sounds like your definitions are more about stereotypes than people.

Jay Nau

WHO GIVES A SHIT

Mshai001

maybe it's arbitrary, but it seems like Western Ave would be a logical dividing line between Eastside and Westside. To claim ancient city history in delineating these boundaries seems arcane and academic. Cities morph. Plain and simple. Perhaps another factor determining East from West should be driving time to get to the beach. 20 minutes or more and you are an Eastsider.

Dennis Romero

Also, I was just looking at our Thomas Bros. wall map in the office:

Inglewood, certainly a Westside city by many a local African American's standards (unless, of course, they don't get the same voice in this as the residents of Santa Monica and Beverly Hills do) stretches EAST of Crenshaw to Van Ness and has an eastern boundary that is 1.5 miles from the downtown-centric 110 freeway.

Bradley Stebbins

It's no different an argument than the state of Ohio. Sure, Ohio doesn't border the Atlantic Ocean, but since it's in the Eastern Standard time zone and is a lot closer to NYC than San Francisco, for all intents and purposes it's on the EAST SIDE of the country.

Dennis Romero

Bradley, actually I've heard of people refer to Ohia as "back east." But midwest is more apropos. Yes, the west is vast and relative, sort of like L.A.'s San Gabriel Valley and IE, which would make the breadth of the Westside greater, not lesser (see above).

Dennis Romero

I think people get worked up because it's about identity and the ability to retain one's culture and history. Nobody's moving Beverly Hills anywhere (despite attempts to adopt the name by adjacent areas). Wonder why.

My 2cents

Dennis:

I understand the need to retain one's culture and history, but I think there is an over importance placed on this one relativist term. The history, accomplishments, and struggles speak for themselves, no matter what you call the area (East Los Angeles, the Eastside, East of the River, the "Original Eastside", etc), or if you just refer to the individual neighborhoods that make up the area.

Lumping people from Silver Lake, Echo Park, etc with the Westside is just as offensive to many, whether they are "white hipsters" or not. I would argue that this new lexicon arose largely from these sentiments and also with seeing an ideological and geographical alignment with the history and culture around them in the neighboring eastern areas of Los Angeles. Hell, if the economy ever gets back on track, in 50 or so years, much of the historic eastside could bear a striking resemblance to the Echo Park and Silver Lake of today.

Also, I'm all for moving Beverly Hills. How about we move it to somewhere in Arizona? It would make getting the Subway to the Sea built a lot easier, helping to bridge the gap between east and west.

Ted D.

Really - East vs West - wow - shit-hole is a shit-hole is a shit-hole - let's just rename the whole thing "Little Tijuana" so nobody get's confused as to the size and scope of this "city" and know when you start seeing pretentious - clear headed assholes you've officially arrived on the "West-side" of "Little Tijuana" (somewhere around LaBrea...).LOLLike anyone else in the country could give a shit about a place with so many inferiority complexes no one who currently exists here - until they go back home - seems to care about either..?I read these blogs with you idiots and just laugh.

My 2cents

Exactly. For example, when the United States was founded Philadelphia was the center of the revolution, so does this mean that today, anything west of Philadelphia is the Western United States?

Dennis Romero

My 2: There's a big difference between a city center and an expanding country's center. Besides, by that logic, Monterey Park would be the start of the Westside since L.A. and environs has shifted so far east.

My 2cents

Dennis:

Not sure how big the difference is between an expanding city and an expanding country, or even expanding world for that matter, besides scale.

What about the "Far East" which is actually closer to get to by going west?

Which brings me back to my point that "Westside" and "Eastside" as used currently in relation to Los Angeles and its current culture are not necessarily historically and geographically defined, as opposed to the geographic or historical "west side" or "east side" of the city of Los Angeles.

Just semantics for the most part, but "people" on both sides really seem to get worked up into a tizzy over it.

Bradley Stebbins

Stupid argument, yes, but Silver Lake and Echo Park are definitely the East Side. Why? Because they're a hell of a lot closer to the downtown than they are to Sawtelle. It's science.

Dennis Romero

Bradley:

This makes no sense. These communities are west of downtown. Sawtelle is farther west of downtown. That's like saying Boyle Heights should be called Westside because it's not as far east of downtown as Pomona (and while, yes, Pomona is its own city, note that Sawtelle was once its own city as well).

-Dennis

Phillip

I proposed "Eastend" to a friend years ago, as in "the east end of the westside". People who think anything west of downtown is the Eastside drive me nuts, but I rarely run into them down here in Pedro. :)

guest

Thank you Dennis Romero for writing this. We have to keep schooling the new comers that come to change things to fit their idea of this city. We do evolve and change. How come what Latinos change and remake is bad, but what new comers white folks change is good? If we want to truly be 'fluid' (a term new comers like to throw around about borders and history) then they should come here knowing Spanish like many Asian immigrants do.

Guest

It seems as if the LA journalistic community has its panties in a bunch because an actress won't let it stir up trouble for her. She spoke up, and she did it eloquently. Get over it.

Blankside

Straw man! Well played. Now let's discuss whether it's befitting of one of our city's best journalists to pen a nasty attack piece.

Reverberation.com/anotherhuman

Zooey is awesome she can dis anything I'd still like her. She could dis the taste of my cum and I'd still dig her.

Atoma333

Fuckin duh the west side is Santa Monica and Venice. Let's just agree to let vraigslist decide

di is in los angeles

This is nothing but a feeble attempt at distracting us from your highly offensive previous post http://blogs.laweekly.com/info...Why don't you just man up and print an apology?

Liliana Vasquez-Duran

West part of the City of Los Angeles Begins ofcourse West of Main St. I grew up in the area known as University Park Hoover/Adams area and we all knew that once you crossed Main St you began the East Part of the city. BTW the debate is dumb I have lived in West L.A, Santa Monica and now reside in KTown. I love all of my city because I have found all sorts of places that I adore this debate is for the narrow minded jaded people.

Ehm1

LAPD considers the west-side the streets west of La Ceinga Blvd. Sounds right to me.

Dennis Romero

Actually Ehm 1 that's not true. Perhaps you're talking about the West L.A. Division. The Pacific Division, the Wilshire Division, Southwest, Rampart, etc., are west of downtown. In fact, within the LAPD there are four regional "bureaus." The West Bureau proper goes from the Ocean to Hoover Street which, as you might know, is about a mile west of downtown.

Dennis Romero

See lapdonline dot org/assets/pdf/OWB_09.pdf

Dennis Romero

See .lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/OWB_09.pdf

Hotchildnthecity

Cool is cool no matter where you live.get over yourself.

Jjbutterworth

what a dumb debate.

thedailybeard

Had lecture with him right after he got off the phone with the author of this article. Silverlake is not the eastside. Most white people have just never stepped out of their cars or gone beyond the freeway east of downtown. I know that's a generalization, but fuck you.

There's "Eastside" and then there's "East L.A." Nobody confuses the two.

My 2cents

This is the part of the whole debate that I have never understood. For the most part, when people refer to the "Eastside", they are referring to the east side of central LA, not East LA. Why can people not accept the these as two separate terms? Times change. I would argue that now, "Central Los Angeles" is divided basically into 1. the Westside (SM, West LA, West Hollywood, etc), 2. Hollywood and adjacent, 3. the East Side (Echo Park, Silver Lake, East Hollywood, etc), and 4. Downtown. This is not to take anything away from the Valley, South Central, East LA, the South Bay, Northeast LA, and any other LA neighborhood I may have missed, but the neighborhoods numbered above make up the new economic and cultural center of Los Angeles.

Dennis Romero

My 2:

You're right. Forget the map, and downtown as a center, and history. Absolutely. Let's just focus on the "new cultural reality," which is white hipsters in Echo Park and Silver Lake. In fact, wherever white hipsters move in, let's just move the map, rewrite history and pave over culture. Yes.

No. Sorry. It's my job to help write history, and that story I'm not writing.

Downtown is the center of L.A. (is anyone arguing against this?), the map is the map of L.A., and the history of L.A. is the history of L.A. Myopic, I know. Radical even. Maps. Sheesh.

-Dennis

Carl

I think every map of Los Angeles in existance argues against downtown being the center of Los Angeles. Cause, you know, it's not in the center of Los Angeles.

My 2cents

Dennis:

Sheesh yourself.

Yes, let's solely focus on history and geography to define ourselves and totally ignore all other aspects.

You can have your "Geographically Defined, Historic Eastside", but like it or not, people are going to continue to refer to Silver Lake, Echo Park, etc as the Eastside. Cry me a river if you are so inclined. Just make sure you cry it on or near the current LA river so we don't have to redefine the map.

Dennis Romero

My 2:

What people are you talking about? No one mentioned Silver Lake and Echo Park as part of the Eastside 10, 15 years ago, at least not that I can remember. So white folks move into a neighborhood (e.g. "times change") and they get to rewrite history and move the map?

East L.A. proper is in unincorporated L.A. County east/southeast of Boyle Heights. But what the professor and other proper Eastsider are arguing is that the Eastside of the city of L.A. is east of downtown and/or the river: Boyle Heights, El Sereno, Lincoln Heights, Highland Park, Eagle Rock, etc.

Now, if the Westside is going to take up cities like Santa Monica and Culver City and Beverly Hills, which are not part of the city of L.A., then wouldn't the Eastside then logically take up some of the eastern stretches of the county? In in that case saying the Westide is west of downtown would be a conservative estimation given the stretch of the county.

Just sayin.

-Dennis

My 2cents

Dennis:

Your myopic focus on the map is what confuses me. Why do these names have to fit into a cartographer's viewpoint? What makes downtown the absolute midpoint of the city? If you look at the map you posted, it certainly is not, unless you look at the whole county, then the "Eastside" would begin somewhere around West Covina.

These names are just local colloquialisms that residents use to describe their environment and their relationship to others. They are not strictly bound by maps or city limits. Some of the "people" I am referring to are people who cover this city, such as yourself, in publications and blogs and people who live in, or frequently visit the area. If you look at media coverage, I would say there is, and has been in the recent past, a hyper-focus on the areas I numbered above, thus giving birth to the current "Westside"/"Eastside" lexicon.

Times did not change because "white people" moved in, times changed because the cultural landscape shifted. I don't believe anyone is trying to take anything away from the rich cultural history of East LA or the neighborhoods around that area by referring to Silver Lake or Echo Park as the Eastside, the terminology is just a reflection of the new cultural reality of Los Angeles.

P.S.I'm not one of the "white people"

Lauren

"Main Street was called the Calle Principal by the Spanish settlers in the 18th century."Yes, so its the dividing line of the original PUEBLO. Is the professor seriously using this as a rational for calling everything east of Main The Eastside?

Cities evolve, expand and change, and as such vague parlances like westside/eastside etc. may also change their definitions. As the original pueblo grows into a full fledged city, acquires suburbs, and then becomes a larger region melded with other cities (like Santa Monica), these terms may loose their meaning and that is natural.

I understand that in the past the term The Eastside has been associated with several mainly Latino communities east of the river, but if you look at that LA Times map referenced below, is is a much smaller area that what is identified as The Westside or Central LA, so its understandable that it might not make sense to a new generation. Can't we please call it "The Historic Eastside" or something to that effect and be done with the whole silly debate?

As for Deschanel, I think most of us understand that in speaking of The Westside of LA one is referencing a general mentality and demographic associated with communities like Westwood, Santa Monica, West LA, BH, etc. more than a region.

di is in los angeles

Good point that cities do evolve and change. Wall Street was historically the northern border of NYC (that's why they built a wall there) just as Western Ave was, at some point, the western border of LA, yet no one would suggest that we must continue to refer to them thus as that would be nonsense.