South of Pershing Sq is one of the country's largest jewelry districts. Centered on Broadway and Hill St (between 6th and 7th Sts), the main currency here is gold and diamonds. Sadly many of the working-class Latinos who frequented these businesses have moved on in recent years and the combination of rapid gentrification and soaring rents in the area has forced a growing number of long-standing traders to shut shop.

Between Hill St and Broadway, on 7th St, is one of Downtown’s oddities, St Vincent Ct, a raffish alleyway pimped with kitsch facades meant to evoke faraway locations, from Paris to Beijing. The strip is dotted with Middle Eastern cafes where clusters of men sip minty tea, and hipsters chow gyros.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. State Theatre

0.06 MILES

This beaux-arts creation is Broadway’s biggest entertainment complex, seating close to 2500 people. The theater debuted in 1921 with a vaudeville show and…

2. Palace Theatre

0.06 MILES

Dating back to 1911, the Palace is one of the city's oldest theaters. The facade is a curious fusion of early Renaissance Florentine architecture and pure…

3. Los Angeles Theatre

0.07 MILES

Designed by celebrated theater designer S Charles Lee, this 1931 jewel was the last major movie palace to be built in Downtown. A breathtaking swansong,…

4. Tower Theatre

0.17 MILES

The world’s first talkie, The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, premiered here in 1927. The first theater designed by celebrated architect S Charles Lee,…

5. Pershing Square

0.18 MILES

LA’s first public park in 1866, Pershing Sq is now a postmodern concrete patch enlivened by public art, summer concerts and a holiday-season ice rink…

6. Eastern Columbia Building

0.2 MILES

Architect Claud Beelman's extraordinary 1929 Eastern Columbia Building is a masterpiece of art moderne architecture. Clad in turquoise-and-gold terracotta…

7. Orpheum Theatre

0.25 MILES

This 1926 theater was built for vaudeville and has hosted such entertainers as Judy Garland, George Burns and Nat King Cole. A truly sumptuous place, its…

8. Robert Reynolds Gallery

0.35 MILES

A breathtaking loft space owned and operated by the artist himself. Reynolds specializes in mixed-media canvasses and sculpture, and uses anything and…