[Image: Los Angeles Skyline, rayscar via flickr /Artwork: designslinger]

It happened today, September 4, but way back in 1781. A cluster of Spanish citizens ventured
across the land to create a settlement that eventually became the city of Los Angeles. We ventured out to L.A. from back east 12 years ago this month, and so we share an anniversary with the city we call home.

Way back in 1542, the first Europeans set foot on the dusty soil of the future metropolis. They didn't
stay long and continued on their way. The next group of Euro/Spanish visitors returned, ironically 227 years later, and spent a little more time in the area visiting with the native peoples. One of the members of the non-Native group was a Franciscan missionary named Juan Crespi, who was on a mission to set a Catholic foothold in this region of New Spain. He didn't stay too long either, but noted that this area had potential.

[Bird's Eye View of Los Angeles, 1877; Library of Congress /Artwork: designslinger]

Soon thereafter, the leaders of the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel asked for volunteers to go out and
set up a pueblo next to the river where Father Crespi had seen such promise. So, 44 people set off on foot and trekked 9 miles until they came to the stream of water flowing in the parched earth. It was here they claimed the ground for their God and named it, El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reine de Los Angeles de la Porciuncula. (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porziuncola). Now just plain old Los Angeles.

The city started out with an urban plan that was transported directly from Spain. A central square
surrounded by adobe built structures that housed the regular folk, the military and the livestock. You can still visit the old Spanish Plaza today, but it's not the original one. Soon after settling in, the little stream became a torrent in the rainy season which kept washing their settlement out to the Pacific, so they quickly moved up to higher ground and the city has had a plaza there ever since.

[Old City Plaza, 1869 via wikipedia /Artwork: designslinger]

It is from all such beginnings that great cities grow. From London, Paris, Rome, to New York,
Chicago and San Francisco; a little hub of a settlement lurches out across the countryside. At some point in the history of these cities, a plan is developed to better deal with urban spread, some with better results than others. Los Angeles planners actually laid out a city that encouraged urban sprawl. This was the land of fresh air and sunshine, it shouldn't be closed up tight like the cities back east, or it's sister city to the north; L.A. was going to be one huge open air playground. There was a 13-storey building height restriction until the 1950's, not because of earthquakes, but in an effort to keep the streets free of shadows from tall Manhattan-like buildings.

I made my trek out here from Chicago. The only other city I knew well was New York. The past 12
years have taught me that many of the L.A. stereotypes are true, and just as many are false. Some things about it are beautiful, others ugly beyond hope, and I'm only talking about it's architectural street scape. The automobile has destroyed the quality of life, and it's a shame the planning community didn't have a replacement for the street car lines before they ripped them out. It still has a river, but it's encased in concrete, and is essentially a sewer to the ocean.

[View of L.A., Matthew Field via wikipedia /Artwork: designslinger]

The city is experiencing all the pain associated with growing up and maturing. It may be celebrating
its 227th birthday, but as a major metropolis it is still very young. It didn't surpass San Francisco in population until the late 1920's, and didn't become the 2nd largest city in the U.S., passing Chicago, until just after the 1980 census. When we moved here there was really no "back-to-the-city" rehabbing going on, today it is flourishing. We also have the beginnings of a subway system with plans to build a line from downtown to the ocean.

I still miss the great street experience of Manhattan, the crowds of people - the architecture.
Chicago has no architectural equal in this country, and San Francisco is charming to a fault. But, we live in L.A., this is our home, and so we wish her a very happy birthday and can't wait to ride the "Subway to the Sea."