Downtown Los Angeles

Downtown Los Angeles
Neighborhood of Los Angeles
From top down, left to right: Downtown's Jewelry District in May 2001, Downtown's Arts District in May 2001, Downtown's Financial District in July 2001, Downtown L.A. in April 2002, Downtown Los Angeles in May 2002, and Downtown L.A. in November 2008.
Nickname(s): "Downtown L.A.", "DTLA", "Downtown"
Freeway map of the Los Angeles area showing Downtown LA
Downtown map as delineated by the Los Angeles Times
Coordinates: 34°03′25″N 118°14′17″W / 34.057°N 118.238°W / 34.057; -118.238
Country	United States of America
State	California
County	Los Angeles
City	Los Angeles
Downtown districts	List Arts District Broadway Theater and Commercial District Bunker Hill Civic Center Fashion District Financial District Flower District Gallery Row Historic Core Jewelry District Little Tokyo Old Bank District Skid Row South Park Toy District

Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, as well as a diverse residential neighborhood of some 58,000 people. A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs.

A heritage of the city's founding in 1781, Downtown Los Angeles today is composed of different areas ranging from a fashion district to a skid row, and it is the hub of the city's Metro rapid transit system. Banks, department stores and movie palaces at one time drew residents and visitors into the area, but the district declined economically and suffered a downturn for decades until its recent renaissance starting in the early 2000s: old buildings are being modified for new uses, and skyscrapers have been built. Downtown Los Angeles is known for its government buildings, parks, theaters and other public places.

The earliest known settlements in the area of what is now Downtown Los Angeles was by the Tongva, a Native American people. Later European settlement arrived after Father Juan Crespí, a Spanish missionary charged with exploring sites for Catholic missions in California, noted in 1769 that the region had "all the requisites for a large settlement." On September 4, 1781, the city was founded by a group of settlers who trekked north from present-day Mexico.

Land speculation increased in the 1880s, which saw the population of the city explode from 11,000 in 1880 to nearly 100,000 by 1896.

Infrastructure enhancements and the laying of a street grid eventually brought development south of the original settlement into what is today the Civic Center and Historic Core neighborhoods.