The Los Angeles Black Book: West Side Edition

love you, mean it

Point Dume, Malibu, California.

I’m finally ready to serve the travel tea. I have quite a large archive to share, but I figured I would start in LA, my home for 7 years until I moved to NYC in May 2023. Not a minor undertaking given the vastness of the area and the diversity of wonderful things to do, see, and experience in this exciting city (suburb? sprawling collection of micro-communities? call it what you want). Hence my decision to split the LA Black Book in two parts—West and East Side.

Los Angeles is much more than meets the eye. Your typical boomer may see this city as a wasteland full of fake people, valley girls, TikTok and Hollywood. Quite the contrary (though we have that, too). LA has a layered cultural landscape beyond just the entertainment world. There is so much history here spanning health, architecture, the environment, politics and beyond. This I came to discover when I packed my bags and moved here from the East Coast in 2016. I am a transplant, yes, and in good company! So many iconic figures, authors, creators and visionaries have come before me and made their mark on this city.

If it’s your first time visiting, welcome. LA has something to offer everyone. The weather is amazing with the exception of December-Marchish that could bring some chilly mornings in the 50s and the occasional rain shower. But for the most part, it is 70s and sunny every day. What I find so cool is that LA has the city, beach, mountains, and desert all rolled into one. I’ll explain the layout a bit, some stereotypes, then get to the juice stuff: the reccs.