East Side / West Side

East Side / Sears Tower, Boyle Heights


West Side / Wilshire Boulevard, The Miracle Mile
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East Side / 1850 East 1st Street


East Side / 1860 East 1st Street


West Side / 6018 Wilshire Boulevard


West Side / Opposite 6018 Wilshire Boulevard / LACMA Entrance
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Within the space of twenty-four hours, I experienced the Los Angeles East Side/West Side cultural divide.

July 29, 2010 / 6:00 - 8:00 pm - Primera Taza Coffee House, 1850 E.
1st Street / Boyle Heights

July 30, 2010 / 4:00 - 6:00 pm - Edward Cella Gallery, 6018 Wilshire
Blvd. / The Miracle Mile
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East Side / West Side / North / South Divisions are common in most cities.

"Sidewalks of New York"

"East Side, West Side, all around the town
The kids sang 'ring around the rosie,
London Bridge is falling down' ...
We tripped the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New York"

http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/sidewalk.htm

I was raised in Cleveland and lived on the East Side for seventeen years. I never went to the West Side and knew nothing about it. In New York, we lived on 90th between Park and Lex. Our kids went to the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue nursery school on West 68th, but that was our only contact with the West Side. We would drive through the West Side and never stop.

In Paris, the cultural divide is the Left Bank and the Right Bank: Boulevard St. Michel versus the Champs Elysée.


Paris, Boulevard St. Michel


Paris, Champs Elysée.

In London, it's the East End versus West End


"Peter Ackroyd's London: East versus West End"

In Rome, it's the Spanish Steps versus Trastevere.


Rome, Spanish Steps


Rome, Trastevere
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East Side / West Side in LA

So, is LA different from any other great city?

You can provide your own answer.