L.A. From the Air, 1961

"Go from long beach to downtown in just a few minutes" How times have changed.

I was 7 back then, living in Granda Hills. My dad was a cabinet maker for new homes being built in the valley.

LA has become a favourite place for camping.

Moved from Michigan to California in November of '69 and have never felt so blessed. We left blizzard conditions and when we woke up the first morning, all we had was the cloud cover so common to the area during the early part of the day. I thought I had gone to Heaven and walked around in a T-shirt while the locals had jackets and sweaters on. An awesome place to grow up, however, its now so over-crowded you can't get to the grocery store in less than half an hour. And everything is dirty now, w/ trash flying around in dust devils and most places looking dilapidated and in general disrepair. Very sad to see urban blight in such a once beautiful place.

People wouldn't believe what a great place California was to live up until the 1990s .

LA looks so futuristic even back in 1961

I have been living in L.A county for nearly 50 years, I love California specially for the weather, beaches and the mountains. For me, the west still the best.

Sigh...If only Los Angeles were still like this in 2019.

As an Eastern European I've always dreamed to go... maybe live in Los Angeles. After 20 years of having this big wish I had the opportunity to spend a week for the first time in LA and I loved it, simply loved it. I would go back in a heartbeat if I could. Planing on spending a whole summer next next year.

I was 8 in 1961 the LA River was my bicycle highway to get around the city. Can you believe it a bunch of kids riding around all day having fun. NOT ANYMORE!!

This historical mini-documentary of 1961 Los Angeles is a gem, thanks a lot for this!

I was born in LA. I loved living in the suburbs back in the 1960's. I always wished my mom didnt transplant us to AZ. California is still in my heart and it will always be my home.

This narrator is phenomenal! He boils everything down to a kindergarten level. He's on another video from the '50s about flying from Chicago to New York, and it is like, "This is Bob. Bob is a pilot. A pilot flies a plane. Planes fly in the air." He's a riot once you realize it's the same guy. "Some people like to live in trailers." Ah, the good old days.

Well, one thing improved and that's the air. I grew up in Pasadena from 1959-70. You could feel the smog settle in your lungs and it would sting your eyes and make them tear up. Smog alerts would often cancel recess at school or send us home early. Other than that the quality of life was awesome and I took it for granted

It's interesting how the "suburbs" they mention in the videos, like Van Nuys and Compton, are today basically part of the core urban agglomeration. Today the suburbs are places like Victorville and Lancaster. It's also interesting how, even in 1961, he noted that the freeways jam every day and new mass transit solutions will be needed. 60 years later, they've made some progress, but there's still a long way to go.

Good days for LA is over. As current resident of CA, looking forward to moving out to Vegas!

The irony of the narration mentioning the already clogged freeways when this was the year they dismantled the Pacific Electric rail network which served the region well.

my mother was born in LA 1930 and grew up there. She talked about a guy she worked with that bought up houses that were being moved to put in the freeways. He got em really cheap and moved them to lots he bought. Rented them out and quit his job to be a full time landlord. I was born there in '61 and i remember the sky being so smoggy by '69 that it was like a permanent fog bank over the city. Good to see that the smog is much less nowdays.

I wish to add to the chorus of people saying: "thank you for posting this!". This is just AWESOME. Thank you.

This may be one of the best and under rated videos on you tube.