Dear NFT Reader, Don’t believe the East Coast partisan propaganda. There is a functional mass transit system in Los Angeles, and we’ll show you how to use it. But the other side of the country does get one LA stereotype right: we remain a city in love with the internal combustion engine. It’s not a reciprocal romance—your car won’t plan the date by itself, and it assuredly never pays for anything while continuing to suck your bank account dry. But NFT can wing for you. As usual, the Not For Tourists guide to LA is designed to fit snugly under the driver’s seat, and be easily retrieved while watching the road. When you’re parked in 405 traffic, you can thank us for the reading material. But NFT isn’t just for drivers. It’s for anyone who wants to make this somewhat maddeningly designed, palm tree-peppered concrete jungle a home. We invented sprawl, y’all, and it’s well-nigh impossible to find one’s way around without good leads. When the Bruins, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Academy Awards bottleneck traffic, we’ll show you alternate routes. When you find yourself trapped in the tangled Downtown freeway plug, we’ll show you how to unclog yourself. And when you don’t feel like driving (or, heavens forfend, your car is in the shop), we’ll show you the bank branches, grocery stores, and cheap hangouts that have been hiding out in your neighborhood this whole time. “It’s a nice place to live,” said Mark Twain, “but I wouldn’t want to visit.” That’s why, even if you’re just in here for the weekend, we want you to see Los Angeles through the eyes of savvy Angelenos y Angelenas. There’s a lot to see, and it’s not all bucolic beaches, bottle-blondes, and lettuce lunches. If LA is a materialist mecca and the world’s most prolific illusion factory, it’s also the globe’s most “global” metropolis and we sent some of the smartest, most curious, most hype-resistant people we know to sup, drink, dance, listen, learn, browse, play, exercise, relax, shop, visit, mingle, and report on the melting pot within the melting pot. Without fail or pause, Los Angeles changes. Thus, while this book is the essence of our mission, we’re pretty sure this computer thing isn’t a fad, and we also work hard and late to stay current at www.notfortourists.com. If your favorite art gallery folds, or you finally find a place in this town with a good deep-dish, please let us know. NFT never sleeps. As a complement to the book and the website, we’ve launched our very own swank iPhone apps. The books and the apps are not mutually exclusive—there are some things that this book will do best for always, but the iPhone app will serve as our evolving, ready-reference take on city life. It will geo-locate you anywhere in Los Angeles, and allow you, dear NFT user, to kvetch to us, directly, instantly, about anything. Like we always do about this time, we’d like to thank our contributors for their work. Another flash of the movie-star smile goes to the office staff, for making it happen. And a final thanks to you, dear reader, for exploring Los Angeles with us. Happy navigating, Jane, Scott, Meg, et al. Central LA Map 1 • Beverly Hills Map 2 • West Hollywood Map 3 • Hollywood Map 4 • Los Feliz Map 5 • Silver Lake Echo Park Atwater Map 6 • Miracle Mile / Mid-City Map 7 • Hancock Park Map 8 • Korea Town Map 9 • Downtown Map 10 • Baldwin Hills Map 11 • South Central West Map 12 • South Central East Map 13 • Inglewood Map 14 • Inglewood East / Morningside Park West Side & the Beach Map 15 • Pacific Palisades Map 16 • Brentwood Map 17 • Bel Air / Holmby Hills Map 18 • Santa Monica Map 19 • West LA / Santa Monica East Map 20 • Westwood / Century City Map 21 • Venice Map 22 • Mar Vista Map 23 • Rancho Park / Palms Map 24 • Culver City Map 25 • Marina del Rey / Westchester West Map 26 • Westchester / Fox Hills Ladera Heights LAX South Bay Map 27 • El Segundo / Manhattan Beach Map 28 • Hawthorne Map 29 • Hermosa Beach / Redondo Beach North Map 30 • Torrance North Map 31 • Redondo Beach Map 32 • Torrance South East Side & Pasadena Map 33 • Eagle Rock / Highland Park Map 34 • Pasadena Map 35 • Pasadena East / San Marino Map 36 • Mt. Washington Map 37 • Lincoln Heights Map 38 • El Sereno Map 39 • Alhambra Map 40 • Boyle Heights Map 41 • City Terrace / East LA The Valley Map 42 • Chatsworth Map 43 • Granada Hills / Northridge Map 44 • Mission Hills / North Hills Map 45 • Canoga Park / Woodland Hills Map 46 • Reseda Map 47 • Van Nuys Map 48 • North Hollywood Map 49 • Burbank Map 50 • Burbank East / Glendale West Map 51 • Glendale South Map 52 • Tarzana / Woodland Hills Map 53 • Encino Map 54 • Sherman Oaks West Map 55 • Sherman Oaks East Map 56 • Studio City / Valley Village Map 57 • Universal City / Toluca Lake Parks & Places San Pedro Malibu Long Beach Elysian Park Griffith Park Disneyland Exposition Park Farmers Market The Huntington LA Convention Center Magic Mountain The Studios Universal Studios Hollywood Topanga State Park UCLA USC Beaches & Marinas Hermosa Beach Manhattan Beach Redondo Beach Santa Monica Beach & Pier Venice Beach Zuma Beach Marina del Rey Long Beach Marina Cabrillo Marina Redondo Beach Marina Playa del Rey / Dockweiler Beach