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Seeing Stars: Where the Stars Live
(310) 271-8174 or (310) 271-8126
Tourists
arriving in Southern California often confuse Hollywood with Beverly Hills.
Many
visitors come to Hollywood expecting to find a gleaming city filled with
movie stars, posh restaurants, grand mansions and expensive shopping areas.
They are, of course, very disappointed; the actual suburb of Hollywood
is far from glamorous. The real "Hollywood" is a state
of mind, not a place; it's not so much a city as it is shorthand for the
general movie and entertainment industry.
But if that fabled, glittering Hollywood of the tourist's imagination
exists anywhere, it exists in Beverly Hills. It is in Beverly Hills,
not Hollywood, where many stars actually live, dine and shop.
Only a few minutes drive southwest
of downtown Hollywood, the City of Beverly Hills offers all of the glamour
and opulence that anyone could reasonably hope for, including:
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Rodeo Drive, probably
the wealthiest and most famous shopping district in the world. |
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Numerous well-known restaurants,
many frequented by movie stars, including the legendary Spago,
The Grill, the Polo Lounge
and Crustacean (and home to such
past legends as Chasen's, Trader
Vic's, Jimmy's and Planet
Hollywood). |
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Posh hotels, such as The
Beverly Hills Hotel ("The Pink Palace")and the
Beverly Wilshire
(where "Pretty Woman was filmed). |
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The homes (and former homes) of countless
movie stars and TV personalities; their grand mansions line such Beverly
Hills streets as Roxbury Drive,
Carolwood Drive, Bedford
Drive, Crescent Drive, and
Benedict Canyon Drive. |
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The Academy of
Motion Picture Arts & Sciences headquarters and library (the
people who give out the Oscar awards), as well as the Museum
of Television & Radio. |
But what is Beverly Hills really
like?
Beverly
Hills is, above all, a small town for the wealthy. Less than six square
miles in size, Beverly Hills is strictly a neighborhood of homes and
shops. The city has churches, but it has no smokestacks; it has restaurants,
but no industry; boutiques, but no billboards; parks, but no eyesores.
There's not even a hospital or a cemetery in the city to remind the residents
of their mortality. It has been said that, technically, no one is born
or dies in Beverly Hills.
Beverly Hills is a place for
the fortunate to live in comfort, and to shop and dine at their leisure.
It just so happens that many of these fortunate few are celebrities. On the
city's tree-lined streets, you'll see more stretch limos, shining Mercedes-Benzes,
and sleek Ferraris per square mile than at any other place on earth. Even
the fireplugs in Beverly Hills are painted a gleaming silver. The city's
first mayor (back in 1926) was a celebrity: actor Will
Rogers.
It
is also a place where the wealthy can feel secure. The Beverly Hills police
department prides itself on being able to respond to any call in less than
a minute.
They don't care much for pedestrians
here. Of course, you are encouraged to stroll on Rodeo Drive's commercial
strip. But if you start roaming around the residential areas of the city
on foot, chances are pretty good that you'll be stopped by a Beverly Hills
cop, who will check your ID, and generally make you feel as if you are
intruding. In the past, minorities (especially African-Americans) have
complained that they were routinely stopped by the police if they so much
as drove down some Beverly Hills streets. Some say that is still the case
today - let's hope that the situation has improved.
This
is a city where the pawn shops are called "collateral lenders,"
and make quick loans on Mercedes and Ferraris instead of toasters. This
is a city where some of the clothing stores require customers to make advance
reservations to shop, and where shoppers may routinely drop $100,000 or
more in a single visit to a boutique. A city where the post office offers
valet parking. This town's "Sister City" is none other than Cannes,
France.
In
between Wilshire and Sunset Boulevards, you will find what is sometimes
called "The Golden Triangle," bounded by Santa Monica
Boulevard (on the northwest), Wilshire Boulevard (on the south), and Canon
Drive (on the east). Within the "Golden Triangle" is a grid of
seven smaller commercial streets filled with shops and restaurants. At
the center of this triangle is none other than Rodeo
Drive, Beverly Hills' fabled shopping avenue.
Beverly Hills is, undeniably,
an extremely handsome neighborhood. Its commercial streets are immaculate
and filled with exclusive boutiques and sophisticated shoppers.
Its Civic Center is a gorgeous, mission-style landmark. Its residential
thoroughfares are lined with multi-million dollar mansions, towering trees,
and miles of manicured green lawns. This is how most people would probably
like to live - if they could afford it. Just visiting beautiful Beverly
Hills can lift your spirits.
While the homes south of Sunset
Boulevard are handsome, most of the city's truly spectacular mansions
are located north of Sunset. If you ever wondered where to find
the most expensive real estate in Southern California, look no further.
The homes north of Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills hold that title, beating
out nearby Bel-Air and sunny Malibu. You will
notice that (with the obvious exception of the "Golden
Triangle") most of the homes and businesses south of Santa Monica
Blvd are rather modest, by comparison.
Ironically, this same land
once sold for less than $3 an acre, back in 1868, when the 3,600-acre Rancho
La Rodeo de Agua was bought by a dentist. Of course, back then it was
essentially a swamp.
(Also see the separate pages
on Rodeo
Drive., Beverly Hills High,
the Academy Buildings,
Greystone Mansion, Good Shepherd
Church, the Witch's
House, the Monument to the
Stars, the Museum of
Television, Beverly
Gardens Park, Will Rogers
Park, the Beverly Hilton,
the Four Seasons, the
Peninsula Hotel, the Beverly
Hills Hotel, the Beverly
Wilshire, Edelweiss, Stars'
Salons, Mulberry Pizza, Nate
& Al's, Chasen's, Spago
Beverly Hills, and Planet Hollywood.)
Getting
there:
The city of Beverly Hills is located west of Los Angeles and southwest
of Hollywood. It is surrounded by Bel-Air and Westwood (to the west), the
Santa Monica Mountains and West Hollywood (to the north), Hollywood and
the Fairfax district (to the east), and West L.A. & Century City (to
the south). / From Hollywood & Vine, drive two blocks south
to Sunset Boulevard, then turn right (west) and take Sunset Boulevard west
(about four miles) to Beverly Hills. You'll know you're in Beverly Hills
when the scenery changes from concrete sidewalks to lush green lawns, from
high-rises to mansions. It's a sea change that can't be missed. Head west
down winding Sunset Boulevard, past the Beverly Hills Hotel, and turn south
onto the residential section of Rodeo Drive. This will give you a chance
to see some of the homes of the stars before reaching the central shopping
area of Rodeo Drive. / From west L.A., take the San Diego (405)
Freeway to either Wilshire Boulevard or Santa Monica Boulevard, and drive
northeast (about three miles) into Beverly Hills.
[For
more information on this subject, you can access Beverly Hills' official
websites at: http://www.bhvb.org or http://www.beverlyhillscc.org,
or another good website at http://www.beverlyhillstourism.com.]
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