Chapter 1: The Setting
Los Angeles, California, is one of the most unique cities in America: Most major cities throughout the world were settled because of their proximity to the sea or to some waterway. A close examination of an Atlas will show that such cities in the United States as New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, St Louis, Baltimore, etc. either had a navigable port, were positioned on a navigable waterway or, in some way, were a natural place for the early sailing ships to use as a port. Thus, the areas around these ports were a desirable place for people to settle because ships coming to port have always created a need for business. Wherever ships came to port they brought merchandise with them and available merchandise meant stores to distribute and sell that merchandise. This created jobs for people.
Unlike most other major cities, Los Angeles does not have a great natural harbor. Its harbor is man-made. It is not at the junction of major railroad systems, and the natural obstacles (mountains and desert) are not too prohibitive.
But, the weather in Los Angeles is, arguably, the best in the entire nation. Father Junipero Sierra established a Mission in what is now called Los Angeles and many people settled here because of the weather. The Smog for which Los Angeles has become infamous, was present long before automobiles clogged its freeways. The native Indians referred to the Los Angeles Basin as the “Smokey Basin” as far back as two hundred years ago,
The weather in the Los Angeles basin is so good, it made sense that the population would expand and City of Los Angeles would grow to be one of the largest in the world. With sunshine more than 80 percent of the days, It also made sense that the motion picture industry selected this area as their primary base to take advantage of the weather.
Warm days and cool nights.
