Downtown LA as Bunker Hill

While growing up and even after college I never imagined that I’d work in downtown Los Angeles. In fact, I was born in the County of Los Angeles, spent my early years in La Verne and then most of my growing up took place in Moreno Valley in Riverside County. Aside from the occasional youth group convention or museum trips, I hardly ever go to downtown LA and now in the weaning years of my 20s, I have an office in one of the historical areas in downtown –Bunker Hill.

If you’re not familiar with Bunker Hill, it’s an actual hill in downtown where skyscrapers were built on it. From the horizon it’s easy to distinguish and is downtown. In 1867, a wealthy developer named Prudent Beaudry purchased the majority of the hill’s land and built lavish two-story Victorian houses (photo at left is circa 1898). Although it was initially a residential suburb, it retained character through World War I but with expansion into the surrounding areas it soon began to lose its luster. Freeway expansions around the time of World War II that were meant to bring shoppers downtown was actually taking more residents out. A once rich area became slum housing.

In 1955, LA city planners began to change the face of Bunker Hill with a redevelopment project aimed at creating modern plazas and buildings with taller skyscrapers. It cleared out the residential areas (see photo below of house being moved). It’s the longest redevelopment project in LA history and is scheduled to end in 2015. The majority of the skyscrapers built in the 1980s (photo above to right shows downtown circa mid 1970s with orange area as Bunker Hill while the one below it is the plan as of mid 1960s).

Some notable venues in the area include the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and the U.S. Bank Building – the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

The area is also a popular location for filmmakers. Early films Kiss Me Deadly (1956), Criss Cross (1949) and Angel’s Flight (1965) were filmed at Bunker Hill as well as LA Confidential (1998). In more recent movies and shows you might recognize the area include the Italian Job (2003), Rush Hour (1998) and Transformers (2007).

Although downtown LA is larger than just Bunker Hill, it is what most people think about with the skyline of downtown. This is why my blog is called ‘Beyond the skyline’, so we can explore more than just what’s expected.