L.A. Tours
* Regarding the article on “Insight Tours” for foreign journalists (July 7):
I’m a gray-haired, Anglo-Saxon type, native Angeleno. I used to go to plays at the Inner City Cultural Center and Dia de Los Muertos celebrations at Self-Help Graphics. I used to take visitors to see Simon Rodia’s Towers in Watts. Today? No way. Even nearby Koreatown puts out no welcome mat, and I am embarrassed for visitors to see what has happened to MacArthur Park and Hollywood Boulevard.
Aside from political rhetoric aimed at fund-raising and tourist bucks, the often-proclaimed “wonderful cultural diversity” of Los Angeles, in reality, amounts to mean little pockets of mutual suspicion and fear. I’m sure that from the dollar standpoint, neighborhood tours for visiting World Cup journalists was a good idea.
However, why doesn’t someone come up with some neighborhood tours to help us Los Angeles residents rebuild our civic pride? Our own restored pride would be the kind of good advertising money can’t buy.
KENNETH BARTMESS
Los Angeles
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