Angelino Heights
High on a hill, just north of downtown Los Angeles sits one of the cities best kept secrets and it’s most beautiful neighborhood. Nestled between the neighborhoods of Westlake, Echo Park, and Elysian Park, Angelino Heights remains as a reminder of what Los Angeles once was. Second only to Bunker Hill as the city’s oldest district, the neighborhood was considered it’s first suburb, housing upper middle-class citizens that could afford grandiose homes and a view of the city below.
The Bradbury Building
Designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1977, the Bradbury Building is the oldest commercial building remaining in the central city of Los Angeles. Not only famous for it’s historic and architectural significance, the building has also been featured many times in popular media. The most notable however, would have to be it’s appearance in the 1982 science fiction epic, Blade Runner. The building’s moody interior complimented the futuristic film-noir feeling that Blade Runner is famous for and was the location for the apartment of one of the film’s principle characters, J.F. Sebastian, as well as the final rooftop chase scene. Just as memorable were the shots of the floating blimp-like billboards though the skylight of the building, promoting “off-world” living, hinting that the future of Los Angeles would be less than ideal.
Angel’s Flight
Originally built in 1901 at the west corner of Hill Street and Third, Angel’s Flight carried the wealthy residents high atop Bunker Hill from their mansions down below to the markets of downtown Los Angeles and back. The original traditional funicular consisted of two counterbalanced cars, Sinai and Olivet, that moved up and down a 315 foot long, steep track between Hill Street at the lower end and Olive Street at top in Bunker Hill.
El Tepeyac Cafe
Named after Irish-born immigrant Andrew A. Boyle who built the first brick house east of the Los Angeles River in 1858, Boyle Heights has a deep history as a culturally and ethically diverse neighborhood. At the time that Boyle bought his land from the Lopez family, the area was known as Paredon Blanco - or “White Bluffs” – and California was still part of Mexico. There he cultivated the Lopez Vineyards under the Paredon Blanco name, and also owned a shoe store in Downtown L.A.
