Below I have put up a video tour of Los Angeles, California.  I lived in Los Angeles for four years while studying for my doctorate and although I didn’t like the city much when I first moved there, I learned to love it!  It really is a great city with a lot to offer in terms of culture because the city attracts people from all over the world.  Los Angeles is California’s largest city with a population of around 4 million people living in and around the city.  The city name, Los Angeles, means “The Angels” in Spanish.  It is for this reason that Los Angels is often referred to as ‘The City of Angels.’  The city has many other nick names as well, including: L.A., La-La-Land, Tinseltown, and the Southland.  Although Los Angeles has much to offer it is best known around the world because of its large entertainment industry.  In fact another way people often refer to Los Angeles is as “The Entertainment Capitol of the World.”  Los Angeles is a major tourist destination in the United States, much like New York or Miami, but if you can’t get to Los Angeles any time soon, the following video gives a great overview of all this city has to offer.  Below I’ve given a little more information about some of the sites you see in the video.  Enjoy!

The video starts off walking down the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  This sidewalk* has stars in the pavement with the names of famous actors and actresses.

Around 18 seconds into the video you see the famous Hollywood sign.  This sign was first built in 1923 to promote real estate** development in Hollywood.  It later fell into disrepair but was built again and still remains in the Hollywood Hills today while the area around the sign has never been developed with houses.

Around 28 seconds into this video you see the famous sidewalk outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater.  This is where famous actors and actresses have left their hand and foot prints in cement.

At 45 seconds the video begins to look at Downtown Los Angeles, beginning with the theater district, which includes the modern silvery Walt Disney Concert Hall.  This impressive building was designed by the architect Frank Gehry.

Around 1 minute and 20 seconds into the video you begin to see the area of the city called the Westside.  This is mostly a residential*** neighborhood, which is located not far from the ocean.  Small homes in this area of Los Angels can cost between $500,000 and 1 million dollars.

One minute and 36 seconds into this video you begin to see the Universal Studios City Walk.  This is a street that is connected to the Universal Studios Hollywood Theme Park.  It is free to walk around on this street, to do shopping and to eat at the many restaurants, but you have to pay admission to enter the Universal Studios Theme Park.

At 2 minutes and 5 seconds into the video you are taken to Beverly Hills.  This is actually its own city and not technically part of Los Angeles City, but since Beverly Hills is surrounded by Los Angeles City on all sides most people don’t know Beverly Hills is its own city.  This is one of the most expensive places to live in the Los Angeles area.

You are introduced to Venice Beach around 2:10 minutes into the video.  There is a very popular boardwalk**** along this beach where people are often selling artwork and doing street performances.

At 2 minutes 58 seconds you begin to see the streets of Santa Monica.  Again, like Beverly Hills, Santa Monica is its own city located within Los Angeles.  It is located next to Venice Beach.  There are lots of upscale shops and nice homes in Santa Monica.

At 3 minutes and 4 seconds into this video you are taken to Long Beach.  Traveling along the coast, Long Beach is the next major city south of Los Angeles.

* sidewalk = a paved or asphalted path for people to walk on at the side of a road
** real estate = property consisting of houses and land
*** residential = an area designed for people to live in
**** boardwalk = a promenade or walkway along a beach or waterfront