As a native Angeleno, Liam is a writer, editor, and cultural producer—collaborating with publications like 

; and, prior to the pandemic, co-founded and organised the interdisciplinary event Bubbles, with performances from Yves Tumor, the late SOPHIE, Juliana Huxtable, Total Freedom, Physical Therapy; and have produced shows at NTS Radio in Chinatown, respectively. 

Liam Casey

There are queer neighborhoods and pockets everywhere. As a whole, 

 is super queer-friendly. As a queer man who publicly holds hands and kisses my partner on the street, you shouldn’t be afraid to express PDA! However, while you might think all folks under the rainbow banner could find a place for themselves in a city as large as Los Angeles, gay—specifically the white gay presence—is the most outward-facing and accommodated due to West Hollywood’s notoriety. For instance, there are remarkably no lesbian bars; The Palms closed in 2013, and Van Nuys’ The Oxwood Inn closed in 2017.

The City of West Hollywood is considered the historical home of L.A.’s gay community. All-male saunas, movie theatres, tacky bars with crowded dancefloors, and gyms which moonlight as cruising spots line Santa Monica Boulevard, the area’s main artery. In the gay Angeleno imagination, a queen from “WeHo” is a white, vain, crew-cut-and-purple-tank-top-wearing individual frequenting places like Fubar, Mickys, or The Abbey (which recently had a lawsuit alleging patrons were drugged). LGBTQ+ POC may not always see their communities represented equitably.

In East Hollywood, watering holes like The Eagle (which caters to leather and bear communities) and Club Tempo (a Latinx cowboy dance club with drag performances and banda music) welcome a more diverse clientele. Silver Lake’s Akbar is a favourite, with Moroccan-style interiors, a lively dance floor with a great soundsystem, and during summer, the site of Bears in Space, an outdoor party. The Black Cat Tavern, just down the street, is a shrine to the Gay Liberation movement, known for its protests in 1967 which preceded Stonewall by two years. In Downtown, La Cita, former home of legendary queer party Mustache Monday’s from the late Nacho Nava, boasts an energetic dance floor and labrynthine patio. There’s also Precinct, a large club whose patronage ranges from leather to twink, relaxed to raver; the crowds spill into the street on weekends. The inimitable New Jalisco Bar, an electric dive with cheap drinks, pumps reggaeton and cumbia on the dancefloor, and is notable for its drag performances of Latinx legends like Juan Gabriel.

The LGBTQ centres—notably in Hollywood, West Hollywood, South L.A., Boyle Heights, and Trans Wellness Centre in Macarthur Park—provide multiple services for treatment, aiding houseless LGBTQ individuals, STI testing, mental health, legal services, and more to the community, and are valuable resources for locals and visitors alike.

United States

Los Angeles 

Being Queer in Los Angeles 

Gawk at the fantastic views of the Hollywood Hills, visit the Griffith Observatory, have a leisurely picnic at Barnsdall Park, and most importantly, enjoy the unmatched regional Thai restaurants, dive bars, and Armenian bakeries which comprise this multi-hyphenate district. Nextdoor Los Feliz is a charming bohemian enclave.

Located to the city’s northeast sector, right off the Arroyo Seco Parkway (the oldest freeway in the Western United States), Highland Park is defined by York Boulevard and Figueroa Street, two thoroughfares which enjoy a variety of shops, vintage furniture, traditional Mexican cafés, and old-school theatres, known for being busy on the weekends come nightfall, when crowds of young creatives huddle in bars and music venues, but full of baby strollers during the day. On the top of adjacent Mount Washington is the Self-Realization Fellowship, a shrine for individuals to tend to their spiritual side. An example of creative Eastside charm, like Boyle Heights to the south, Highland Park has been steadily gentrifying, bringing with it the complications of displacement and rising rent.

Second only to nextdoor Westlake/Macarthur Park, central Koreatown is L.A.’s densest neighbourhood. The 2.7 square-mile district may be the best example of how a distillation of cultures leads to world-class gastronomy: Korean BBQ and regional dishes, Oaxacan 

, and Bangladeshi curries. Nightlife is king, with no shortage of afterhours pubs and karaoke. Tree-lined residential streets offset the main artery, Wilshire Boulevard, with grand Art Deco buildings and bustling intersections.

More like a conglomeration of five or six distinct districts, Los Angeles’ Downtown has a bit of everything for everyone. Avoid the pedestrian-unfriendly Bunker Hill section—save for Disney Hall, The Broad, and MOCA—and garish L.A. Live, and opt for Little Tokyo, the nation’s largest Japantown, or the Fashion District, where you can bargain on Santee Alley. Peruse the early-morning flower merchants in the Flower Market and jewellers in the Diamond District. Talk with food vendors at Grand Central Market, admire the intricacies of the Ace and Orpheum Theatres, and meander the multiple Art Deco bridges over the Los Angeles River, more concrete valley than waterway. Warehouses to the south often host off-the-grid parties and art exhibitions. Bear in mind the increasing disparities of this area: foreign and domestic wealth materialises in the form of sleek skyscrapers, while blocks to the east in Skid Row, home to the largest stable homeless population in the United States, where tent shanties, heaps of trash, and conspicuous drug use is common—an example of the local government’s failure to house and render aid on a citywide scale.

The historical home to Los Angeles’ Black community, Leimert Park is located south-west of Downtown. Ethiopian and Jamaican restaurants are common, and you’re likely to see live concerts, poetry readings, or drum circles in the Plaza. The neighbourhood, part of the larger Crenshaw District, is also known for its Book Fair and annual Juneteenth celebration. Leimert Park-native Mark Bradford co-founded Art + Practice, a gallery and community organisation, to promote the arts for an area that has historically lacked the social resources compared to other parts of the city. Neighbouring West Adams is a youthful district known for its elegant historical homes, some of the oldest in the city, and a vibrant Black and Latinx community.

This area is a perfect example of how tourism, arts, hypebeast culture, sleepy residential communities, and wide, restless boulevards, all coexist in a well-oiled machine, without one element overcrowding the other. Here is where titans like LACMA, Sprüth Magers, and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures reside. It’s also where tourist traps like The Grove and the Original Famer’s Market can be found—luckily, this environment is relatively condensed and kept at bay. Park La Brea is the largest urban housing development west of the Mississippi River. Further north is the Fairfax District, the city’s historically Jewish neighbourhood, where now, instead of delis and bakeries, it’s more probable you’ll see lines for sneaker drops and streetwear stores at Supreme or Golf Wang. On Sundays, the flea market Melrose Trading Post holds court at Fairfax High School.

A Guide to The Best Neighbourhoods in Los Angeles

Prior to the pandemic, ordering a Lyft or Uber was about as quick and easy as it could get: a driver would be around in about three minutes and a ride from Hollywood to Downtown would often hover around $15. The situation is radically different now, but with the city as automobile-centric as it is, if you’re visiting and not renting a vehicle, it still makes the most sense.

The city of L.A. has the largest clean-air bus fleet in the U.S., and the Metro Rail, which operates six lines and has ninety-three stations, is also a good option when travelling mainly in the denser core of the city. Purchasing a TAP card is the best way to ride Metro Rail and the bus; it costs $2 plus the fare. A Day Pass will cost you $7, but oftentimes there are discounts; in March 2022, for example, a Day Pass will cost you $3.50. In neighbourhoods farther from the central core, like Mid City, Brentwood, Culver City, Eagle Rock and Glendale, calling a Rideshare (Lyft or Uber) is much more efficient. Taxi services have suffered greatly because of the convenience of app-based rides; while they still exist, there are significantly less. Unlike other cities, it isn’t realistic to hail right off the street, you normally have to call a cab company beforehand, which you can find online.

If you’re at LAX or aiming to get to LAX, once again, Lyft or Uber is the most likely option. If you’re in Union Station or Van Nuys Airport, you can take the FlyAway nonstop bus to LAX. Other public transit options which include LAX on their route are LA Metro, Culver City Bus Lines, Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, and Torrance Transit.

What's the Deal on Transport in Los Angeles? 

—regardless of gender—can be a perfect way to experience and absorb the city at your own pace; after all, its size and idiosyncrasies can be crushing when trying to rush through it. Many people will agree, though, that you ideally know someone—be it friend or family member—who lives there and can help you around.

Like many big cities, Los Angeles isn’t entirely known for its 

 people per se, but it’s arguably friendlier than other cities comparable to its size. The city has a vast network of streetlights from different eras, the ratio between residential and commercial space will dictate how well lit the streets are. For women, queer people, and other potentially vulnerable folks, feeling safe walking alone is often subjective or dictated by which neighborhood you’re in. Walking alone at night at Alameda St. and Olympic Blvd would feel vastly more vulnerable than, say, walking alone on Sunset Blvd in Echo Park.

Intersectional Solo Travel in Los Angeles 

Rather than a housing crisis (there are plenty of homes in 

), there is more so a zoning crisis; that is, multiple bureaucratic hoops and ladders folks have to navigate to build housing, or adapt certain housing (like in the form of granny flats: detached living spaces on single-family lots) that take into account low-income and houseless individuals. On any given night, it’s estimated that 67,000 people experience homelessness, and because of this, Airbnbs often make it more difficult to create situations where alternative forms of housing can exist, as well as raising rents for neighbouring people. Nonetheless, Los Angeles is rife with Airbnb listings for a variety of tastes and budgets.

Like any major city, there is an endless assortment of hotels and AirBnBs for a variety of tastes and budgets. However, some options to consider—keeping in mind architecture and cultural programming on the higher-end of things—are the Ace Hotel in Downtown, known for its theatre, swanky rooms, and rooftop. In Koreatown there’s the Line Hotel, a boutique which also houses a plentitude of restaurants, bars, and dance clubs. Further west is the Sunset Tower Hotel, a Sunset Strip Art Deco gem known for its suites, pool, and Tower Bar. Silver Lake Pool & Inn feels more like a Palm Springs getaway, and East Hollywood’s Gold Diggers Hotel houses not only a music venue and bar, but recording studio, too.

For the more savings-conscious options, there are hundreds of motels. If you’re travelling without a car, stay in denser neighbourhoods – check our “hoods” for more on this.

Where to Find Good Accommodation in Los Angeles 

Back in 2016, California legalised weed for recreational use. You’ll see dispensaries on nearly any major street in 

—identifiable by the green cross. Don’t get overwhelmed: display cases in dispensaries can be jarring, with oils, candies, vaporizers, traditional flower, keef, hash, and even bath-bombs mixed with CBD. The smell of weed is everywhere. In other words, you have free reign. You shouldn’t smoke or ingest cannabis if driving a car, however, and if a police officer suspects you’re under the influence, the violation is treated like an alcohol DUI: potential jail time, fines, suspension of a driver’s licence, and more. While most dispensaries are legitimate due to legalisation, some can look or feel under-the-radar, and it’s possible that places may sell weed alternatives, like synthetics, or other drugs like psilocybin mushrooms, if you ask them.

Like other cities, you can get cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines, and ketamine via friends, bars, or clubs. There’s no 

 way to procure these, but most people know someone who knows someone. This will often inform the potency or quality of the drugs, which ranges anywhere from baby powder to objectively good cocaine. These substances will almost always be available at underground raves which occupy the warehouses of the Fashion District or industrial areas of south Boyle Heights. Keep in mind that most of these spaces consist of tight-knit groups who know and support each other, so unless you know someone personally who can help in getting those substances, you may be seen as suspect or undercover law enforcement, which has been known to happen if asking around unsolicitedly.

It cannot be stressed enough that the United States is experiencing a devastating opioid epidemic from a variety of factors, including the ease with which pharmaceutical companies have produced Fentanyl—a powerful synthetic opioid—and the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted global supply chains and caused dealers and producers to cut alternative substances into their products. While Fentanyl started to appear exclusively in heroin, it’s known to be mixed into cocaine, causing accidental overdoses to spike in Los Angeles and nationwide. Naloxone (aka Narcan), an emergency medicine to reverse acute overdoses, is recommended if you’re planning on using. LGBTQ+ centres across the city hand out free test strips to identify if drugs contain traces of Fentanyl.

While law enforcement can’t legally search a vehicle without probable cause (ie. if they smell marijuana or see paraphernalia), LAPD and LASD can intimidate or operate outside the law; people of colour are particularly at risk. If you’re caught with substances other than marijuana, you can face steep fines in the thousands of dollars, potentially be sentenced to County Jail, and experience a litany of other devastating aftereffects. If you do end up renting a car or find yourself behind the wheel, it’s common on weekend nights to see police checkpoints on main thoroughfares, so be attentive.

The Lowdown on Drugs in Los Angeles 

Having spoken with my dear friend of many years who identifies as BIPOC, they acknowledge the city is heavily segregated; freeway infrastructure in 

, too, has historically acted as a physical buffer between neighbourhoods of colour. They remark that because there’s a lack of public transport compared to other cities – with cars serving as the primary mode of transport – you’ll find that it’s easy to maintain your own “pod” of existence when travelling through the city or its outskirts, which means that you may not experience as much human interaction at all. This lessens the chances of any sort of discriminatory interactions (police excluded, of course), which could give you the sense that racism doesn’t exist as much. But naturally, like any city, racism in LA absolutely exists, albeit in more subtle ways.

You’re likely to experience more blatant racism in neighbourhoods with higher white populations like Malibu, Calabasas, Orange County. They note that there’s a specific “Karen” type that can rove the beaches in search of finding something, or someone, to complain about. Travellers can ensure their safety by spending time in populations with higher diversity.

What Are The Racial Politics Like in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles is a cultural melting pot by nature so we have food from all over the world. Our Korean food is by far the best you’ll find anywhere in the country. We have an amazing Thai town, fantastic Israeli food and our city loves mixing all types of cuisine. This city’s food is just like its style; comfortable, laid back and open minded. There’s something for everyone ranging from the health nuts to adventurous eaters looking for a hole in the wall at 10PM.

When it comes to LA's stable dish... If you ask most people, they’ll tell you it’s avocado toast. Personally, I think it’s our sushi. I may be biased because it’s my favorite food but we just have so many amazing Japanese restaurants here. It’s not necessarily a specific dish but I’d say that anywhere you’re staying in Los Angeles will have access to an amazing local hole in the wall sushi spot.

My tip for anyone visiting would be to find someone who knows the city well. There’s such an inaccurate perception that Los Angeles is Hollywood and a three block radius surrounding La Cienega. Venture out to the east side, there’s a whole world that people don’t know as much about. It’s such a big city and it’s hard to take it all in at once. I’d nix all the touristy activities and try to peel more of the layers back to discover the beautiful cultural melting pot that this city is.

You're about to enter one of the most diverse food cities ever. It’s a massive melting pot of cultures and ethnicities from every continent. You can really find great renditions of any food type. We do need more African food though, we've got some good Ethiopian but room for growth there for sure...

Staple dish? One word, TACOS. It's all about the quality of the meat and the SALSA at the end of the day.

Despite its reputation as a city of salads—which it certainly is, thanks to the plentiful bounty from the Central Valley, local farms, and fresh produce—Los Angeles, too, is a city with roots in hamburgers, diners, and donuts; nearby Downey is home of the oldest McDonald’s restaurant; travel in any neighbourhood and you’re guaranteed to encounter four donut shops at one corner competing for whose is fresher; diners like Norm’s, Pann’s Coffee Shop, House of Pies, The Pantry, and Nick’s Café are iconic. At these joints, your wallet can relax, you will find it hard to spend over $15 for a decent amount of food. Of course, four excellent street tacos might set you back just $5.

The sheer size, density, and people of various backgrounds make Los Angeles arguably the most exciting food city in the United States. Night Markets in the San Gabriel Valley highlight the immense Chinese, Cantonese, and Taiwanese diaspora. Sushi gained international notoriety here, with the first modern sushi-ya in Little Tokyo in 1966 (prepare to spend a hefty amount). Northern and southern Thai immigrants have shared their piquant culinary heritage in the dining rooms of Thai Town. Koreatown’s legions of restaurants specialising in 

 rival or maybe eclipse those in Seoul. Guelaguetza’s 

 is a complex symphony on a plate, and La Cevichería on Pico respects the fish dish, serving up Mexican, Guatemalan, and Peruvian interpretations. Read any restaurant review by the late, great Jonathan Gold.

New Yorkers may complain about the flavour of Los Angeles’ tap water, but other than that, it’s perfectly potable. Because the state of California is in historic drought, and Los Angeles is in a chaparral (Mediterranean) climate, it’s less common for restaurants to serve water unsolicitedly; oftentimes you may have to request it. If you’re into the funky flavours of natural wine, Los Angeles has witnessed a boom in the booze. Stores like DomaineLA, Voodoo, Psychic, and Silverlake Wine are prime to visit.

to discover the best places to eat and drink.

Where to Eat and Drink in Los Angeles

 is a city of polarisation: there’s the vast single-family sprawl of South L.A., offset by the density of apartments in Westlake or Koreatown; the flat basin versus the staggering San Gabriel mountains; the wealth of Brentwood and the abject poverty sheltering under overpasses, in shanties on the hillside or Skid Row. One may have lived their whole life in the city without stepping into a neighbouring district, let alone hear of it. Writer and critic Dorothy Parker famously remarked L.A. was “seventy-two suburbs in search of a city.” There is some truth to that, though it may be more apt to counter it as a city with ten disparate downtowns battling for urban supremacy.

If you’re waking up where I am, it’s 72˚F in the late morning, on the fifth floor of the apartment building erected in 1916 peering over Macarthur Park. The sounds of kids playing on the jungle gym mix with the rush of cars and buses; bells ring from the little 

 cart selling ice cream goodies; oftentimes, the menacing buzz of police helicopters circle the surrounding area. This is just one glimpse of one area in the expansive quilt of LA: a city of polarisation.

There’s a bit of everything so long as you look for it. If you want a day spent reading on a quiet, sun-soaked porch of a Craftsman in South Pasadena with a matcha latte, then it exists; and if an electric day bargaining over clothes and other sundries in the condensed alleys of the Fashion District is on the agenda, then so be it—just be sure to pack an umbrella if you’re there anytime between January-March, the so-called “rainy season”.

You’ve probably heard about LA weather, famed for being sunny (mostly) all year round. Kicking off the summer solstice, June is mild, often noted for its “gloom”, a marine layer which blankets the sky many hours in the day. August and September you should generally avoid, with sweltering desert breezes more akin to hairdryers. After the surprisingly chilly winter rains, spring gives rise to lush green hillsides and days where snow-capped mountains tower visibly to the east.

If you’re a newcomer hoping to solely bask in the sunshine: refrain from imbuing your preconceived notions onto the actual city. You’ll always be disappointed. For every hackneyed trope in L.A., there’s also a bundle of jewels hiding on some Southland street.

Los Angeles: A Local's Guide

As far as big cities go, L.A. is relatively safe, but like anywhere, common sense is key in not making yourself vulnerable. While there has been a decades-long trend in American cities of decreasing violent crime, L.A. included, LAPD reported a 31 percent increase in homicides in 2020, and a 50 percent increase in people wounded by gun violence; 2021 witnessed a continuation of this shift. Thefts and burglaries can occur almost anywhere: Hollywood, which has thousands of oblivious tourists on any given day, is fertile for pickpocketing; some of the most high-profile burglaries have occurred in upscale neighbourhoods like Hancock Park or Pacific Palisades. Most experts agree these upticks are related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic fallout which has rendered more people desperate.

It’s not uncommon to see local gang graffiti tags—like MS-13—sprayed on walls or buildings. The 18th Street Gang, one of the largest in L.A. County, is reportedly responsible for at least one robbery or assault a day. While Los Angeles has been colloquially known as the “Gang Capital of the World”, the reality is that overt gang violence does not shape the lives of many Angelenos, and depending on where you are, is a distant concept.

Be cautious when drinking in public: you can get a fine of potentially $1,000. Jaywalking is rarely enforced, but you should be careful considering the volume of cars speeding down streets. On average, some 250 people a year die in traffic accidents. In a Los Angeles Department of Transportation brief from 2019, female respondents that identify as Latinx, Black, or Asian, are more likely than those that identify as white to feel unsafe on public transportation.

Los Angeles: The Safety Guide 

If you’re diving into any locale’s history within the Americas, that means recognizing the area’s indigenous populations who prospered before brutal European colonisation, which decimated millions of lives. For generations, tribes like the Chumash, Tongva, Taaqtam, and Payómkawichum thrived in villages located throughout present-day Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, and San Bernardino Counties.

Spanish missionaries enslaved whole communities of Tongva natives to construct missions. These structures systematically annihilated men, women, and children, who were baptised and proselytized to Christianity. In 1781, the Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles was founded.

Like much of the nineteenth-century Southwest, oil, agriculture and prosperity were hallmarks in developing the fertile lands which now make up the city and its environs. The twentieth century saw the rise of Hollywood, with studios and films proliferating at a rapid rate. In the midst of WWII, the metropolis morphed into a major hub for wartime manufacturing. Like many cities in the post-war years, major socio-political, racial, and cultural changes were underway.

We’ve all heard of The American Dream and post-war Los Angeles was the place to pursue it. L.A. offered physical space, job opportunities, and a pleasant climate, which attracted GIs and economically-advancing African Americans escaping the Jim Crow South, as well as many more chasing the “dream”. The newly constructed interstate highway system demonstrated the city’s zeal for a progressive future.

As you’re in town, though, you’ll see the highway systems aided in the endless sprawl. Like other cities in America at the time, racist housing covenants and redlining—often reinforced by the physical barriers of freeways—inhibited many Black Angelenos from experiencing upward mobility and the same facilities as middle-class whites, who began to move – faster and faster – towards the suburbs in the years of “white flight”.

Before the Rodney King Riots in 1992, the Watts Riots of 1965 saw the worsening urban crises plaguing America from governmental neglect. The sixties, seventies, and eighties saw a monumental influx of Koreans, Iranians escaping the Revolution, and Salvadorans fleeing their Civil War, respectively, further weaving the ethnic quilt of the city. As you’ll hear anywhere you go, LA estimates at least 185 languages are spoken in homes, the most common other than English being Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Armenian, Farsi, and Japanese.

The soul and aesthetics of each decade in the twentieth century determined the assortment of building styles and forms for neighbourhoods, business districts, and commerce. Anywhere you go you’ll see different styles of architecture; Spanish Colonial-style apartments and townhomes in Mid-Wilshire and modernist houses in Silver Lake, whereas Space-age Googie reigns supreme in diners. Los Angeles is a city built with cars in mind, something that’s most visible in the architecture of donut shops, fast-food establishments, and shopping malls.

Fictionally seen as the final frontier in the country and a place rife with disaster and post-apocalyptic madness in the form of wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, and drought, these literary harbingers may become more real than previously thought. Nonetheless, L.A. never ceases to bewilder and continues to be the beating heart of the film and music industry, a destination for food, and an all-around culturally rich, deeply complex city.