Downtown Culver City offers history and the glamor of Hollywood and moviemaking, including movie studios, celebrities, and a vibrant shopping, dining, and nightlife scene. Here, you can find museums, a thriving arts and culture community, and plenty of parks and outdoor recreation. Ever since the 1920s, this town has been a hub of Hollywood filmmaking, and it's among the points of pride of Los Angeles County.
Visitors to downtown Culver City can find markets and casual eateries adjacent to koi ponds and waterfalls. You can explore movie, TV, and entertainment studios from Metro-Goldwyn Mayer to Sony and the NFL Network. You can head for comfort food with cocktail pairings or get intellectual with a cup of joe in a traditional sidewalk café. You can even combine a haircut with a cocktail in a bar/barbershop combo. There's plenty to do here to make for an exciting and memorable vacation.
Downtown Culver City In Los Angeles - one of the highlights of 10 Most Popular Neighbourhoods in Los Angeles (Read all about Los Angeles here)
Highlights and features of downtown Culver City
Culver City has, since the 1920s, been a center of movie and TV production and today is best known as the location of MGM movie studios, National Public Radio West, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and the NFL Network. All of these businesses are entertainment icons, and many offer tours that illuminate how the behind-the-scenes operations of the movie, radio, and TV industries work.
It's not all about media in downtown Culver City, however. If you're into arts and culture, you'll find around 40 different art galleries located in the city, all within a half-mile walk of one another and each with its own personality, from pop art and photography to abstract and sculpture and beyond. A wide range of cocktail bars and lounges can fill your need for nightlife, including Blind Barber, a bar and barbershop in one, and the Corner Door for comfort food/cocktail pairings.
History of Culver City
The area upon which downtown Culver City stands was originally occupied by Native Americans as far back as 8,000 B.C.E. and was settled by Europeans in the 18th century. By the time of the Civil War, a fort called Camp Latham occupied the site and was an important training and staging ground for Union troops. The area became Culver City when it was officially incorporated in 1917 by Harry Culver as a suburb of downtown LA.
The first film studio in the city opened in 1918. In the 1920s, it became the headquarters of MGM, and in the '60s, it became a hub of Hollywood. During Prohibition, the famed Cotton Club speakeasy was found here on Washington Boulevard. In the '50s, the city held one of the first shopping malls in Southern California. By the 2000s, downtown Culver City was a shopping, arts, culture, and nightlife destination.
What to know about downtown Culver City
In downtown Culver City you’ll find shopping centers, Sony Entertainment, and the art galleries and restaurants that comprise the Culver City Art District. The New York Times once called Culver City a "nascent Chelsea." It has a reputation for its pedestrian-friendly streets, its upscale restaurants and gastropubs, and its thriving cultural and arts scene that draws visitors from all over.
The scene in Downtown Culver City is the mark of a massive revitalization effort and renovations that began in the 1990s. Much of the city is family-friendly, and kids can marvel at tours of the various galleries and movie studios. As a rule, businesses welcome service animals and are disability accessible, but it's best to leave your pets at home if you plan to visit businesses. Dogs on leashes, of course, can be seen on the streets, and some parks are dog friendly.
Downtown Culver City In Los Angeles
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