LA Grid References (Los Angeles, Culver City, Beverly Hills: neighborhoods, luxury, place to live)

[urbanjunglist]

Here in Chicago, the city was built on 8 blocks = 1 mile. Consistent throughout the city limits. Manhattan = 20/mile, etc. Does LA county have any type of grid system that can be considered 'uniform'?

[Fontucky]

The most uniform section as far as gridding goes is the San Fernando Valley. L.A. is geologically and geographically tortured, and the layout of the streets reflects that.

We didn't have the luxury of successive waves of earth-flattening glaciers to even everything out like you lot did.

[urbanjunglist]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

We didn't have the luxury of successive waves of earth-flattening glaciers to even everything out like you lot did.

lol good point. I am amazed when people get lost driving in Chicago.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by jlawn

Here in Chicago, the city was built on 8 blocks = 1 mile. Consistent throughout the city limits. Manhattan = 20/mile, etc. Does LA county have any type of grid system that can be considered 'uniform'?

You may be able to use Google Earth with it's distance measuring tool to reach some conclusions.

Notice downtown Los Angeles has a region that is angled differently than most of the streets in Los Angeles (which are pretty much N/S and E/W). The district in downtown that is off angle is due to the early streets to be oriented with the main church.

Los Angeles, California - Google Maps

[urbanjunglist]

Originally Posted by Charles

Notice downtown Los Angeles has a region that is angled differently than most of the streets in Los Angeles (which are pretty much N/S and E/W). The district in downtown that is off angle is due to the early streets to be oriented with the main church.

Los Angeles, California - Google Maps

Interesting.... I never really noticed how defined that (angled downtown) area is by Hoover on the W, MLK on the S, Indiana on the E, and I suppose a bunch of mountains on the north. Where is that 'main church'?

Sorry if this topic has been posted at some point in the past, but I am a map junkie who is moving to LA this year. Any other carto-freaks with advice on the system chime in please

[BRinSM]

i like maps too and there are a couple of interesting things about LA's block system. the grid system makes it easy to get around as long as you know the main boulevards and where they are in respect to the others. also, the block system is easy to follow and goes in increments of 100s. the instersection where the block system stems from is Los Angeles St/First St. near the civic center and little tokyo in downtown. much of this same block system is in use in other cities outside of LA proper as well. for instance Beverly Hills and Culver City have a block system based on LA's. however, some neighborhoods in LA city don't use the LA block system like venice and san pedro. also, there is a weird thing that happens at street address numbers as you cross la cienega in the mid city area. in some areas the the block will go from 6500 up to 8500 across one street, which i always found strange. also, the blocks run up into the 12000s on the westside of the city and the numbers can even larger than that if you're up in the valley or if you're down towards the port.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Another fun thing is when you leave the LA city line and enter another city. The blocks can jump from lets say 10,000 back to 1,000 and back again when you enter LA again. It is an interesting place to live especially when you realize that LA surronds some places, making them an Island, and in others bumps up against them. Maybe it is true when people say that this place is not like other cities. We love it though, well can't speak for all.

Another thing, If you are ever in Ventura that city started out between 2 hillsides. The city over time expanded inland to the east of the original city making the west Ventura as little as 2 or 3 miles wide and the East Ventura 12 or so miles wide. The modern day original center of the city being Main Street and Ventura Avenue.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

there is a weird thing that happens at street address numbers

About weird, West El Segundo Boulevard is about 500 yards long; East El Segundo Boulevard is about 13 miles long. They meet at Main Street.

[urbanjunglist]

This is enlightening BRinSM especially. I see that there is actually a system. Good to know the starting points are boulevards. Totally different than chicago where everything is number based... stemming from Madison and State which are 0 N/S and 0 E/W. Lost anywhere in chi metro area and all you need to know is 2 coordinates - "5400N/1600W" - done deal.

Makes sense that things 'reset' once you are in a different city (glendale, pasadena, burbank). Guess learning the boulevards is clutch.

[urbanjunglist]

oh - also earlier i entered these directions for sake of curiosity... and found that at least downtown, 8 blocks is a mile. (Cant get the link to work) 100 s. grand ave to 900 s. grand ave, LA CA = 1 mi