If you were forced to pick the moment the Los Angeles romance with itself reached a zenith — and before things all went so wrong — the sunny morning of April 25, 2017, might be a good choice.
Eight acrobatic dancers in colorful outfits descended from the top of City Hall on ropes and performed a dance number using the side of the Art Deco landmark as its stage. The performance was set to a song from the movie that made the city seem so sexy and desirable: “La La Land.”
The Bandaloop aerial dancers perform to the side of City Hall in downtown Los Angeles in 2017.
(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
Mayor Eric Gracetti swooned, and a collection of “La La Land” fans cheered. One woman summed up the moment, telling a reporter: “I just love this city!”
“La La Land” came out 10 years ago, with a premiere Aug. 31 at the Venice Film Festival. The romantic musical about making it in a hyper-beautified Hollywood was a big hit.
But perhaps the biggest winner was Los Angeles itself.
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Creating the perfect L.A.
After enduring nearly two decades of movies that used the city as a symbol of destruction, madness, criminality and sleaze, finally L.A. got a depiction that even the grimmest doomscrollers could love.
A movie where the hell of rush-hour traffic becomes a show-stopping dance number, where the neon lights never burn out, the antique street lamps are never tagged, and every hour looks like magic hour.
David Wasco, the production designer known for much grittier L.A. fare, including “Collateral” and “Pulp Fiction,” told The Times he wanted to create a “heightened, dreamy movie world thing.”
“It’s not ‘Training Day,’” he joked.
“La La Land” arrived at a heady moment for the city, with urban experts waxing about its “renaissance.” It was an impressive time:
Optimism in the air
There was also much optimism about the idea of Los Angeles. There was the “Third L.A.” urban movement, which envisioned a denser city built around expanded mass transit and the geographic center of gravity shifting from the Westside to the Eastside. Together, it could provide affordable housing and get people out of their cars. And L.A. voters seemed as if they were along for the ride. They defied the pundits and approved a massive tax measure that would rapidly expand mass transit lines.
A few months before “La La Land” premiered, “City of Gold” hit theaters. It was a loving documentary that followed food critic Jonathan Gold around L.A. as he discovered great places to eat and made you feel this city was the center of the culinary world. It was Gold, after all, who spoke of being part of “L.A.’s great brotherhood of taco eaters, huddled around trucks late at night, balancing three ounces of highly spiced meat and drawing furtively from an icy bottle of imported Mexican Coke.”
Who could hate that city?
Yet even back then, there were signs the good times could not roll on forever. For all the talk of more and denser development, it could not come close to keeping up with demand. Coolness begot gentrification. Then came the pandemic, which took a brutal toll on places like downtown L.A. and Hollywood. Many of Gold’s favorite eateries closed. Then fire consumed thousands of homes.
In the doomscrolling Los Angeles of 2026, it’s hard to imagine a new movie celebrating the city’s virtues would have much impact.
Is it OK for L.A. to dream?
Where are the people talking with hope about what Los Angeles could be? On paper, the next two years could be promising for the city. Wilshire Boulevard finally got its subway, the long-delayed LAX People Mover should open, the downtown skyline keeps expanding and, with hope, soon will be graffiti-free. And the Olympics are almost here.
Maybe aspiration is something we should seek from the candidates for mayor. The recent mayoral debate was heavy on conflict, but what about their grander vision of what L.A. could be?
Such dreaming might be a hard sell. But I’d love to hear it.
As Emma Stone sang in “La La Land:” “Here’s to the ones who dream, foolish as they may seem.”
Top stories 
Beachgoers frolic in the ocean at Zuma Beach in Malibu on Aug. 16.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
California’s beaches are being eaten awayCalifornia’s modern coastline is under assault like never before, and El Niño is poised to make things worse.From Carlsbad to Malibu to Santa Cruz, erosion is already remaking the maps of popular beaches in dramatic ways.Plaskett and Timber fires near Big Sur scorch 33,000 acresCrews on Sunday continued to battle two wildfires in Monterey County near Big Sur that had collectively forced more than 600 people to evacuate.The Plaskett fire was 8,241 acres as of Sunday morning — up from about 6,000 acres Saturday morning — and only 1% contained.The Timber fire, which ignited Aug. 8, had blackened 24,839 acres and was 21% contained as of Sunday morning.Lawmakers want to stop AI from watching your spending and setting your pricesCompanies are increasingly using AI tools to sift through shoppers’ personal data and tailor prices in real time, raising alarms over hidden algorithms that can exploit desperation, income and location.California lawmakers are weighing a ban on “surveillance pricing,” as states and federal regulators move to curb data-driven price discrimination they say undermines basic expectations of fairness.More newsCommentary and opinionEditor’s pickThings to do 
Keizo Shimamoto’s Ganja-style tsukemen ramen, with thicker noodles meant for dipping, from Shimamoto Noodle in Irvine.
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
🍜 A ramen master (who also happened to invent the Ramen Burger) has reappeared in Irvine.🍂 Here are 17 fall movies worth getting excited about in the coming months.📚 Build your ultimate autumn reading list with these 29 new books.Today’s recipe 
This California burrito recipe calls for steak, fries, cheese and sour cream in a flour tortilla — that’s it. The Times’ cooking editor, Cody Reiss, says the success of this recipe depends on access to fantastic, burrito-sized (12- to 14-inch) flour tortillas, which should ideally be made with lard rather than vegetable shortening or margarine.
Question for you
What is your favorite California song? Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.
Karen D. says, “With that haunting opening strum of the guitar, my favorite California song has to be ‘Hotel California’ by The Eagles!”
Joan T. says, “‘California Dreamin’’ is my favorite California song.”
Photo of the day 
A bear and her three cubs fell into a large water tank in Marshall Canyon Regional Park near the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park’s 5-Mile Loop Trail, where they were rescued late Saturday night.
(Jamie Kirk)
Games 
Here’s today’s mini crossword, plus our other free, daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jack Dolan, investigative reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, Fast Break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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