Venice: L.A.'s Former Frontier

For much of the 19th and 20th centuries Los Angeles culture, like most of American culture, was obsessed with westward expansion. The way to understand the city was to view it from east to west — from downtown to the beach.

Santa Monica and Venice were once viewed as the last frontiers — centers for cultural experimentation where young architects and artists set up shop. But with gentrification and rising rents, change is afloat and, increasingly, creative individuals are looking to settle in more affordable, eastern parts of the city.