Credit: Alex Scott at Boom California.
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Los Angeles at night used to glow like a movie set, even when the cameras weren’t rolling. The city’s streets weren’t just lit, they were bathed in a warm, golden-orange haze that became part of the city’s very identity. That soft glow gave every palm-lined boulevard, neon sign, and sidewalk a timeless quality, shaping how locals and tourist alike experienced the city after dark.
From orange nights to LED streets
All of that started to vanish in 2014, when the city replaced tens of thousands of traditional sodium streetlights with bright, white LEDs. The switch wasn’t just cosmetic, as 180,000 streetlights were upgraded to improve energy efficiency, reduce maintenance costs, and lower environmental impact, according to a report by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).
The classic sodium lights, with their rich golden glow, were iconic but dimmer and less consistent, while LEDs brought a brighter, whiter and more cost-efficient lighting. By the early 2020s, nearly every street in town had transitioned, erasing that classic orange hue from the skyline and giving the city a cleaner, but a bit colder, look.
Why some lights turned purple?
As residents adapted to the new LEDs, some noticed unexpected purple or pinkish streetlights popping up across the city. This happens when the phosphor coating in certain LED bulbs degrades or when they mix with specific atmospheric conditions, creating strange hues, giving some streets a cyberpunk glow, a USA Today article explains.
The change isn’t all negative, as LEDs are greener, safer, and longer-lasting. Yet for a city built on image, losing that warm, cinematic glow feels like swapping vintage film for digital. Still, many films captured that beloved orange glow over the years…
The last in doing so in all its glory was Drive, shot across Los Angeles in 2011. The movie immortalized the city’s final chapter of golden-lit nights, a time capsule of L.A. before LEDs forever changed the way the city shines after dark.