Downtown archived description:
  DOWNTOWN
  More than just bums, drug dealers and a bus station that'll give you 
cold sweats, downtown Los Angeles is an archipelago of historic and 
colorful  neighborhoods. The heart of old LA is Olvera Street. Both 
touristy  and quaint it  boasts LA's oldest residence, the Avila Adobe,  
built in 1818 by a Spanish rancher. Today the house is the centerpiece 
of the Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument, with historic buildings 
from the 19th and early 20th century. Across Alameda Street is Union 
Station, built in 1939, and designed in classic Spanish Revival style 
by 
John and Donald Parkinson, the same father-and-son team, who created 
City Hall, which is plays the part of the Daily Planet headquarters in 
the "Adventures of Superman" TV show from the 1950s. Just one block 
north of the station is Philippe's, 1001 North Alameda, the 
luncheonette 
where the French dip  sandwich was invented in 1918.
The building of Union Station led to the destruction of LA's original 
Chinatown, which was relocated just north of the Pueblo historic 
district.  In Chinatown you can eat Chinese strawberry whipped cream 
cakes at Phoenix Bakery, 969 N. Broadway, or get energized at the Wing 
Hop Fung Ginseng and China Products Center, 727 N. Broadway.
Also downtown you can see the Morrison Hotel, 1246 South Hope St., made 
famous by Jim Morrison and the Doors when they used the building for 
the 
cover shot of the 1970 album of the same name as the building. 
Beginning 
summer 2007, the Angels Flight Railway, a funicular that climbs Bunker 
Hill, will re-open after being closed for six years due to a fatal 
accident.
Further south is the the downtown arts district centered around 
Groundwork Coffee Company, 811 Traction Avenue, and Bloom's General 
Store,
716 Traction Ave.,  an old-style general store with nearly everything 
including milk, tools, cigars and video rental. One of the country's 
largest arts communities lives just north of downtown in the Brewery, 
2020 N. Main St., a 23-acre complex with a restaurant, Barbara's 
Bistro, 
in the center.
  
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