Putting Los Angeles in its place

Abstract This article discusses the historical evolution of Los Angeles' social landscape and highlights its demographic transformation from a small frontier town to a metropolis. The author argues that the roots of the current segregation, racial/ethnic conflicts and socioeconomic disparities have to be sought in the last 100 years of this city's exclusionary development patterns and neighborhood differentiation. While discussing the social geography of Los Angeles County and its various racial and ethnic neighborhoods, the paper highlights some of the emergent spatial patterns and the historical processes which led to their production.