Where Hollywood Begins: A History of the Streets That Shape a Legend
Hollywood is more than just a location. In fact, for over 100 years it has been a state of mind. As much a dreamscape as a place, Hollywood has been both geography and mythology, carved as much by the power of imagination as by a surveyor's line. But behind the shimmering illusions of stardom is a real neighborhood, a place with real boundaries shaped by history, development and the steady urban creep of Los Angeles. It has never been a separately incorporated city, but generations of planners, historians, preservationists and civic leaders have agreed, almost unanimously, on what they define as the true heart of the Hollywood district.