Suburbs of Los Angeles

[sydlee]

Originally Posted by thelopez2

What do you consider suburbs of Los Angeles, is everything outside of Downtown consider a suburb? Do suburbs grow up to become cities? If you moved from another state, and now live in a suburbs of LA is it similar to your previous ones? If I liked living in a LA suburb would I like a suburb in Colorado or Denver?

A suburb of Los Angeles is a nearby community outside of the city limits of Los Angeles within L.A. County. For example, the communities of El Sereno and Boyle Heights are within the City of Los Angeles and considered as such. But one street over from El Sereno, you've got Alhambra and South Pasadena, suburbs of Los Angeles with their own respective city council, police force, etc. Similarly, Westwood and Palms are communities within the City of Los Angeles, but Santa Monica, is a separate suburb like Alhambra and South Pasadena with its own civic entities. You can easily tell if a suburb or part of the City of Los Angeles by looking at a place's mailing address (e.g. Westwood's address is "Los Angeles," but South Pasadena's address is "South Pasadena).

I would not say LA suburbs necessarily "grow up to become cities". Many suburbs have always been cities in their own right, and some are about as old as Los Angeles, if not older. San Gabriel, for example, has its beginnings in the founding of the San Gabriel Mission, which was founded in 1771, ten years before the City of Los Angeles was founded. A group of people associated with the San Gabriel Mission settlement set out to establish what is now known as the City of Los Angeles. The suburb of the City of Alhambra was founded just about two decades after L.A. and has "grown up" at the same time as L.A. Alhambra has always has its own governing body, police, fire dept, school district, etc. independent of Los Angeles.

Sorry, can't answer your remaining two questions.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by sydlee

You can easily tell if a suburb or part of the City of Los Angeles by looking at a place's mailing address (e.g. Westwood's address is "Los Angeles," but South Pasadena's address is "South Pasadena).

Not true in regards to the San Fernando Valley, or San Pedro, Wilmington, etc, all of which have their own mailing addresses (ex: Van Nuys, CA 91406, or San Pedro, CA 90731), which are all IN the city of Los Angeles.

[HyperionGap]

Whether something is a suburb, suburban, or a city mainly has to do with commuting patterns and depending on another area for jobs, schools, entertainment, etc. Places like Pasadena and Long Beach (among others) are cities in their own right. When they were founded & built, they were not just an extension of LA proper but have their own downtown shopping areas, business, & entertainment. They were founded to be individual cities and over time LA has grown outwards and practically engulfed them.

This is more plain in a "twin cities" type situation like Minneapolis-St. Paul or DFW.

[BRinSM]

i have lived in city of LA south of Mulholland, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey and now city of LA in the valley. my current neighborhood in the valley feels pretty suburban although we aren't far from ventura blvd, which is quite urban. having said that, the area of MDR and SM that I lived in were very urban, so i wouldn't consider them suburbs just because they aren't in the city of LA. you don't have to be surrounded by high rises to be in an urban area (look at most cities in europe). the bottom line is that LA is very different and doesn't fit into normal definitions of urban/suburban. imho, forcing this round peg into a square hole is an exercise in futility.

[CALGUY]

Where I live in the northeast section of Los Angeles, it is considered suburb.
Even though it is nestled between the suburbs of South Pasadena, Highland Park, and Monterey Hills, Hermon is considered a suburb.
Matter of fact, in the history of metro la, Highland park was the first, and original suburb of Los Angeles.

Bob.

[sydlee]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

Not true in regards to the San Fernando Valley, or San Pedro, Wilmington, etc, all of which have their own mailing addresses (ex: Van Nuys, CA 91406, or San Pedro, CA 90731), which are all IN the city of Los Angeles.

Good point. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Caladium]

This question is a lot like asking "what is an adult?"

Some people prefer technical definitions: you are an adult after you pass the age of 18.

Others prefer stereotypes: You are an adult when you act like an adult. They have a certain value--after all stereotypes become sterotypes because the labels fit the majority of whatever is being labelled. The problem is everyone puts different qualities into their stereotypes, (and usually it's based on how they see themselves, LOL). So going back to our example, if you are labelled an adult based on what you do, what actions make you an adult? Is it after you've had a child? Or, are you an adult after you've moved from your parents' house? Or maybe, you are an adult after you've gotten a full time job? What do you do about all those people who are the exceptions? What do you do with questions like "well what about people under 18 who act like adults? Or people over 18 who act like little children?"

So I personally like cut and dried definitions. You're an adult after age 18, you're a suburb if you're outside the city limits of the core city, etc. Boring, I know. And, whaddaya gonna do you can't win with cut and dried definitions, either. Words like "suburb" have different meanings from words like "suburban" so you end up with goofy situations where you have things like suburbs that aren't suburban (just like you can have adults that act childishly). English is a funny language that way.

[genjy]

Originally Posted by sydlee

I would not say LA suburbs necessarily "grow up to become cities". Many suburbs have always been cities in their own right, and some are about as old as Los Angeles, if not older. San Gabriel, for example, has its beginnings in the founding of the San Gabriel Mission, which was founded in 1771, ten years before the City of Los Angeles was founded. A group of people associated with the San Gabriel Mission settlement set out to establish what is now known as the City of Los Angeles.

The City of San Gabriel's official motto is "A City with a Mission."

It's like the best tagline ever.