Angelino Heights

The LA Skyline downhill from Angelino Heights

Along Carroll Avenue

Victorian and Blonde

Downtown LA is braced by hills to its east and north. And though I’ve spent parts of eight decades in the place I don’t think of it that way. It feels like an ocean of houses on postage stamp lots punctuated by skyscrapers downtown, mid-Wilshire and in West Los Angeles. Between Downtown and Pasadena are hilly enclaves like Angelino Heights that overlook LA’s skyline but seem apart from the boom and bustle. Like any big city, Los Angeles is a city of neighborhoods, most of which I haven’t seen and couldn’t name. Angelino Heights is described as a suburb, but that term doesn’t fit the crisp neighborhood of Victorian homes just up the hill from the city center. The photogenic enclave has played a role in too many movies to note. Roman Polanski's Chinatown surely tops the list. It was also featured in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.

Two Classics

Red Umbrella

Until this LA visit I hadn’t heard of Angelino Heights. But thanks to our intrepid wheelman, one Garrett Immel, we were introduced to another hidden Los Angeles treasure. That guy knows every alley and backstreet in the City of Angels and can crisscross the county from north to south and west to east the without touching a freeway. 38 years in a place will do that.