‘It’s Gross, but I Like It’ : Urban Blight Turns Off Some Tourists, but Others Say L.A.’s Sleaze and Grime Are Just Part of Life in the Big City

Donald Kreipl felt cheated.

For his 40th birthday, he flew here from Germany to celebrate with “the heavy metal rockers who hang out in Hollywood.”

But after roaming Hollywood Boulevard for two days, he said, he’d seen only tacky shops, littered streets, crime and poverty.

“What happened to all the rock stars?” he asked, tugging at his leather-studded vest and faded jeans. “I heard that they were all over the place.”

Jama Purser of Chapel Hill, N.C., said that she never expected parts of Los Angeles to look like TV images of Beirut--but that Lebanon came to mind as she explored the city. “L.A. is definitely different than I imagined.” But some of the people were “kind of amusing.”

And bizarre. “I saw Jesus two times,” Purser said. Downtown, an impersonator preached next to a manger, and in Redondo Beach, a man dressed in a long robe lugged a 12-by-6-foot cross on the street. “They don’t have Jesus in North Carolina,” she explained.

“Now we’re wondering where Elvis is,” joked Carol Greene, Purser’s traveling companion, who is also from Chapel Hill. “Who knows what we’ll see? This city keeps surprising me.”

Despite the April riots and the June earthquake, tourists keep coming to Los Angeles--albeit in smaller numbers. What’s more, they still turn up in parts of the city--downtown, Hollywood--that might seem puzzling destinations to those who live here. Some tourists say they try to ignore the dilapidated scenery and poverty in hopes of fulfilling their fantasies of glamour and celebrity or their desire to see City Hall.

“Most tourists have an idealized idea of Hollywood and downtown L.A., when in reality there’s not much to see,” said David Koven, manager of Al Moss Travel in West Los Angeles. “Once they see all the problems, a lot of them say, ‘Never again.’ ”

It’s not as if they haven’t been warned. Sue Powell, a travel counselor for Northfield Travel in Minnesota, said clients who want to visit the West Coast frequently fail to realize that Los Angeles is an expensive, crime-ridden city. “It’s difficult to convince them that L.A. is different from small towns like Northfield or the ones in Europe,” she said.

Said Colette Walbert, a travel agent for Travel and Tours in Allentown, Pa., “We don’t get many requests for people wanting to visit L.A. A lot of them are too nervous or afraid.”

But a drive down Hollywood Boulevard or around City Hall shows a steady stream of folks clutching cameras and sporting white visors and tennis shoes.

Alan Gravitt and Linda Alexander of Ft. Worth, Tex., came to Hollywood with plans of gazing at the celebrities and “living it up” in hip restaurants, shops and hotels.

But reality changed their plans.

A “No Prostitution” sign above their bed in a hotel room on Vine Street, crawling cockroaches and soiled sheets compelled them to hunt for another place to sleep.

“Anywhere but Hollywood,” Gravitt said, sighing with relief because he and Alexander finally found a hotel room in Westwood.

“That place (in Hollywood) was a dump, and someone also needs to keep the derelicts, transients and winos from pestering the tourists.”

“The hotel building looked nice from the outside,” Alexander said. “I expected a hotel in Hollywood to be nice and glamorous. But even the bad hotels in Texas are fairly nice compared to here.”

Despite their hotel experience, the couple said they still enjoy scouting for movie stars and taking in the different cultures on Hollywood Boulevard. “Everyone should see it,” he said. “But they should be warned about what to expect.”

Some visitors have heard the warnings and know what to expect. The smell of urine, dirty streets and “weird” people entice Risa Corech once a year to take a break from her college life in Milwaukee to cruise Hollywood Boulevard.

“If Hollywood were clean, it wouldn’t be as happening,” Corech said. “It has its own life, and there’s always a lot of action. So what if it’s a little trashy?”

“Yeah, that’s what makes it cool,” said Carol Casper, Corech’s friend, who is also from Milwaukee. “It’s gross, but I like it.”

Naturally, people whose job it is to promote the city believe that tourists should ignore negative publicity.

“L.A. suffers when the media make the city sound so dangerous,” said Michael Collins of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Undeniably there is crime, but that exists in any big city and, frankly, L.A. is one of the cleaner cities.

“Part of the dream of any traveler is to see Hollywood,” Collins added. “And, in a single day walking downtown, (tourists) can experience different cultures, visit extraordinary art museums and hear one of the best symphonies in the world.”

But others caution tourists setting out to sightsee. Huan Truong, manager of a gift store in the New Otani Hotel and Garden on Los Angeles Street, said he spends a lot of time assuaging fears about the downtown area. “Some people staying here don’t want to step foot outside. I tell them to be careful and that it’s not very safe, especially at night.”

Police officers and security guards patrolling downtown and Hollywood warn tourists to leave their valuables at home, travel in groups and be aware of the surroundings. “If it looks like a bad area, it probably is, so take caution,” said one police officer working on Broadway.

“And if you look like you’re a (tourist), you’re in trouble,” said Hide Kojima of Tokyo.

A few years ago, when he was a novice visitor to Los Angeles, Kojima and a friend stood on the corner of Los Angeles and 1st streets, oblivious to the pickpocket who ran off with his friend’s wallet.

Fifty trips later, Kojima said, he watches his back and tries to avoid staying at downtown hotels while on business trips. “Sometimes I have no choice where I go, but I hate it when I have to stay downtown.”

Benito Rios of Mexico said he wouldn’t allow the city’s tarnished reputation to spoil his family’s two-day stay downtown.

“We like walking around (Broadway) because there is so much to see,” Rios said. “But I don’t know why the poverty is so bad,” he added as his impromptu tour took him to the vicinity of 2nd and Los Angeles streets. “This area isn’t pretty.”

When Marisa Casten visited Los Angeles 10 years ago, the Australian said downtown looked cleaner and Hollywood still had some glamour from its heyday. Although she had read about the recession and riots, she didn’t realize how much the city was suffering.

“I’m not sure what to make of it,” said Casten, who stopped here recently before heading to the Grand Canyon. The shabby area around City Hall disturbed her the most.

“This disgusts me. I don’t understand why this kind of stuff happens by a government building,” she said, pointing to people sleeping and rummaging through garbage cans. “I guess I just expected more.”