1. The short version of the full name "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Poriuncula," which is what the city was originally called.

2. The city that represents California to the rest of the country. In reality, Los Angeles is as dissimilar as it is possible to be from the rest of the state.

3. An amazing city that is resented by people in most other parts of the country for assorted reasons. Supposedly, we're all liberal, weed-smoking, anorexic gangsters who drive around in SUVs with a Starbucks fat-free latte permanently grasped between our manicured fingers and dream of making it big in Hollywood one day.

Okay, maybe not all at once.

LA does have a lot of suburbs, but over time they've all sort of melted together. It is divided roughly into two main regions. The City is south of the Hollywood Hills and The Valley is north of them (there's no definite line, but you usually know which one you're in. I generally go by whether you're north or south of Mulholland. Probably if you haven't been to LA you don't know what I'm talking about). Some sub-cities in The City are West Hollywood, Hollywood, Downtown, Santa Monica, and Beverley Hills. Some in The Valley are Studio City, Pasadena, Burbank, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, and Valley Village.

Truths: Usually you don't see people walking like in New York. We drive. There are tons of freeways. There is a lot of traffic and you have to learn how to navigate so that you don't get stuck on the 10 freeway for six hours. This city is immensely cosmopolitan. We have slums. We have gangs. We have good restaurants. We have many studios such as Disney, Paramount, Nickelodeon, etc. There's smog, but it's just sitting on the horizon, not bothering anyone. In fact, it makes the sunsets beautiful. We're not as superficial as people think. Our public transportation is horrible. Our public school system is broke. Our weather is perfect 99.99999% of the time. If we have more than two days of nonstop rain local news stations start a StormWatch2000 segment. People here are nice. If you pass someone on the street they will say hello and sometimes even ask you how you're doing. We have really nice museums such as the Getty Center, LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), and the La Brea Tar Pits (better than it sounds). We have beaches. It is not surprising to see someone getting arrested or to sit a table away from an actor/actress at a restaurant. We're pretty laid back people. You will never run out of stuff to do here. I can't think of any place I would rather live.

Misconceptions: Hollywood is NOT THAT GREAT. If you come here you would be better off at The Grove. Many of us are, in fact, aware of the state of humanity. All of the good theme parks are in Florida. Our Universal Studios and Disneyland get old fast. We're not that obsessed with plastic surgery. We don't have big earthquakes that often, though there are minor ones now and then. I've only been in one serious quake, so all you east coast people can stop freaking out.

Second-largest city in the United States, after New York City. Located in Southern California and home to about 9 million people in about 4 counties. One of the most (if not the most) diverse cities in the United States. The largest city in California and a major financial center for the Pacific Rim. Competes with New York City as the cultural capital of the United States; most movies and television shows are made in coordinated efforts between Los Angeles and New York, although most movie studios have their headquarters' in Los Angeles.

LA has about a billion suburbs that are essentially considered part of Los Angeles as a single city, although the city itself has only a population of some 3.7 million. Los Angeles is notorious for smog and gang-related crime; seperate inner-city working-class suburbs such as Compton or Long Beach have been made the subject of rap songs talking about the crime levels that have gained some notoriety and earned LA one of it's less-enviable titles as "the Gang Capital of the World".

Fortunately, the beautiful Pacific coastline and the numerous beaches and tropical climate offset some of the not-so-good parts of the city. LA also has an awesome music scene, a great clubbing sector, and countless appreciative cultural institutions such as the Getty Museum to visit that provide the city with a depth, culture and history that are enviable. It's an awesome city. Watch out for the traffic though.

Home of the Mexicans, Blacks, Whites and Asians
Home of the Rich and the Poor
Home of Oppotunity
Home of Success and Failure
Home of Sandy Beaches and Great Weather
Home of Everything from Hip-Hop to Punk
Home of Bruins and Trojans
Home of Hollywood
Home of the Beach Boys and Linkin Park

whats not to love about the City of Angels??
no one can even compare

1. Spanish for The Angels.
2. A city located in Southern California. Los Angeles dates back all the way to the early 1500s. Thats even earlier than when the Pilgrims arrived at Plymmouth Rock. The Spanish governed first, then The Mexican government and now the U.S. L.A. became an official California and U.S. city in 1850. Since then Los Angeles has grown to become a city rich economically, culturally, and ideally. The city has everything you'll ever want. Los Angeles's size in area rivals that of New York's and Chicago's. L.A. has several communities and neighborhoods such as: Downtown L.A., Hollywood, the most famous, and Universal City. L.A.'s population consists of four main races: White, Latino, Black, and Asian. Latinos have the biggest influence ,of all the minorities, in Los Angeles. This a big reason why Los Angeles has developed to be what it is. Ofcourse Los Angeles is not all good looks and glamour. When a city like this has all this to offer you bet crime is not far behind. Los Angeles has its share of ruthless, despicable, and fearful criminals, but what major city dosen't have them? The crime in Los Angeles and all the rumors are what give L.A. it's bad name. All there is to know about this is either stay away or come see for yourself. Anyone who bad-mouths Los Angeles either does not live in L.A. or does but can't seem to get around this avoidable problem. L.A. is for those who have the balls to discover what it has to offer them. At the end of each day the sun sets and until tommorow when a new day is to be made.

The only place in the world where a person can be seen flipping someone off with one hand, talking on a cell phone, reading the newspaper and drinking a latte, all while doing 90 in the right lane of the thruway.

The largest English speaking city in Northern Mexico

The place where all the hottest chicks from your town moved to.

Los Angeles is the second most populous city in the United States (after New York), but the largest in terms of what is considered the Greater Los Angeles Area (which is generally considered to include Los Angeles County, Riverside County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, and Ventura County, sometimes referred to as "The Southland"). Los Angeles County itself is also the most populous county in the United States. When people normally refer to "Los Angeles," they generally refer to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, which includes only Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

The Los Angeles Metropolitan Area is composed of many separate cities that are sometimes mistaken as neighborhoods within Los Angeles as well as many neighborhoods that are sometimes mistaken for separate cities. Beverly Hills, for example, is its own city within Los Angeles county (it has its own mayor, police department, and everything), while Hollywood is merely a district within the City of Los Angeles. People from Los Angeles are known as "Angelenos."

Los Angeles is known as the media capital of the world because of the large numbers of movie studios in the city, as well as the numerous television studios and the dynamic music scene that has spawned acts like The Doors, Beck, Eagles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and many more. The first successful movie filmed in Los Angeles is generally considered to be 1914's "The Birth of a Nation."

There are four main area codes in Los Angeles proper: 213 was the first area code in the city, and now refers only to a small area downtown. The 323 area code forms a circle around the 213 area. 310 refers to west Los Angeles, and has by far the biggest coverage of any of the Los Angeles area codes, stretching as far north as "The Valley" (more on that later) and as far south as the San Pedro bay. The 818 area code refers to "The Valley" alone (including the far northern parts of Los Angeles as well as the suburbs even farther north of that). Other less known area codes include 424 (a recent overlay of 310).

The Los Angeles area has many districts and cities that I'll now try to tackle, though I can't possibly squeeze what people have written entire books about into a small article online. Perhaps the most famous district of Los Angeles is Hollywood, home of the golden age of cinema. While some studios still exist in Hollywood, much of the movie industry has moved out to cheaper areas; nevertheless, Hollywood is still the classic "name" in the movie industry. Nowadays, Hollywood is mostly home to both high-income housing and low-income housing, depending on what part you are in. Generally, the real estate immediately around Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard (which run parallel to each other) is expensive, while anything a few blocks down is cheap and sketchy. Hollywood Boulevard itself is nowadays mostly overcrowded with tourists most of the year, who come to observe the infamous "Walk of Fame," which stretches for several miles. The congestion mostly centers around two of Hollywood's biggest attractions, which are very close to each other: Grauman's Chinese Theater (an icon of grand, classic movie palaces) and the mall at Hollywood and Highland (which is built to resemble the set of "Intolerance," another movie directed by D.W. Griffith, the man who directed "Birth of a Nation"). The area around those two points if interest, while touristy, is often somewhat sketchy at night as it is inhabited by transsexuals and strange people dressed in costumes (though I do recommend getting a photo with one of them at least once in your life). Other attractions in Hollywood include the infamous Hollywood Sign, which is technically in the Hollywood Hills (north of Hollywood). The sign can be observed from many points throughout the county, however.

Another famous area in Los Angeles is West Hollywood, which is its own city (it has its own mayor, police department, and everything). Despite the name, it's not techincally related to Hollywood itself, even though it is west of Hollywood. A popular misconception is that natives call this area "WeHo," though I've never heard the term. West Hollywood is most famously home to the "Sunset Strip," a series of blocks on Sunset Boulevard that contains many staples of Los Angeles culture including the Whisky A Go-Go (The Doors had several early shows there), The Viper Room (previously owned by Johnny Depp, actor River Phoenix died there), and many more.

The city of Beverly Hills is one of the more affluent areas in Los Angeles county. Attractions include the multiple Beverly Hills signs that dot the city, around which tourists congregate on weekends and during summers to snap photos. Also in Beverly Hills is the famous Rodeo Drive, a street that plays home to the most chic (and expensive) of designer clothing. There are many, many clothing stores throughout Beverly Hills, many of them more affordable than yet still as chic as the ones on Rodeo.

Santa Monica is another independent city on the coast of Los Angeles where you can find even more shopping down Main Street, which has several quirky, unique stores along with big names like American Apparel. The 3rd Street Promenade is also famous for its stores. Santa Monica is also the location of most of the county's cleaner beaches, as well as some of the nicest weather in the area, due to its seaside location.

Downtown Los Angeles is a district of the city that has several very cool attractions like Dodger Stadium, the Disney Concert Hall, and the Wiltern, though be warned--it is very, very easy to get lost downtown and end up in a very sketchy neighborhood. I highly suggest that nobody goes there unless they're with someone who knows what they're doing, as the neighborhood isn't so tourist-friendly. Other attractions include the tallest building west of Chicago, which is the US Bank Tower.

As far as Orange County goes, there is not much there. The community of Laguna Beach was made famous by the MTV television show, but isn't that interesting of a place in general. The only real interesting thing in Orange County is Disneyland, which is in the city of Anaheim.

North of the bulk of Los Angeles lies the San Fernando Valley, known as just "The Valley" by locals. It is home to the communities of Sherman Oaks, Encino, Van Nuys, and several other places that aren't too interesting to check out. Strangely, since it's a valley, The Valley is usually several degrees warmer or cooler than the rest of the city (you can literally drive for five minutes and experience a ten degree temperature drop).

Yes, Los Angeles is famous for its crime rate, which was the worst in the early 90s, but has since gone down significantly. Cities famous for gang culture in the Los Angeles area include Compton, Watts, and Inglewood, which are all generally south of anything interesting or relevant in the city, so most residents don't go down there.

In terms of public transportation, there is virtually none. The bus system is helpful for residents who are willing to take the time to learn its confusing routes, but most people just take cars everywhere, which is sort of easy thanks to the extensive network of highways that traverses the city. Unfortunately, these highways are often backed up, leading to severe traffic when traveling long distances. Yes, there is a subway system in Los Angeles, but it mostly just covers the downtown area (yet some lines do extend north into The Valley and south into Compton). It's generally considered more of a novelty by people who have cars.

Public education in Los Angeles is considered by some to be a joke, which is partly true. Public high schools in Los Angeles tend to offer very poor educations, though many elementary schools and some middle schools are top-notch. Los Angeles is also home to a private school "scene" perhaps rivaled only by New York City, with dozens of private schools offering superb educations to those whose parents have enough money to spend on them.

I have to mention the weather in Los Angeles, which is bright and sunny about 80% of the time. There is usually a period in late winter when it rains for several days, but other than that rain is very rare and, for that matter, so are clouds. The climate is very dry (we are in a desert, after all), which is pleasant in the summer because the city gets hot but not muggy.

Yes, the air quality in Los Angeles is pretty bad, although it's not too noticeable from breathing alone. However, from certain high points in the city, you can definitely see the smog layer over the Los Angeles basin. At dusk it looks really cool, and it makes for great sunsets!

Generally, Los Angeles is a great place to be if you know what to avoid. While it's hard to get around, it's a great place to visit because of all the fun things to do (concerts, clubs, shopping, etc) and sights to see. Sometimes it's a pain in the ass to live here, but for the most part it's a blast!

(I think that I have the know-how to write about this, considering I'm a NATIVE Angeleno. As in, I hail from the actual city itself, not some lame suburb...)

a COOL place where the skies are smoggy, the sports teams rock, the traffic sucks, the city's broke, and the language of the future is spanish.