🏙️ The L.A. Sourcebook A Definite Gazetteer of Los Angeles County
The L.A. Sourcebook is a research-driven, digital directory of hundreds of neighborhoods, incorporated cities, and unincorporated "islands" that define the complex landscape of Los Angeles County. This project serves as a living record of the region’s architectural history and community evolution.
📌 Project Overview Los Angeles is often described as "72 suburbs in search of a city." This project seeks to categorize that search. By documenting everything from the high-desert enclaves of the Antelope Valley to the historic HPOZs of South L.A., the Gazetteer provides a standardized, accessible resource for historians, designers, and urban explorers.
Key Features
A-Z Navigation: A sticky navigation rail for rapid access to 475 entries.
Geographic Integrity: Accurate regional categorization, including cultural corridors like Little Ethiopia and Thai Town.
Accordion Interface: A clean, scannable UI that allows users to focus on specific entries without "scrolling fatigue."
Dark Mode: A "Map Noir" aesthetic for low-light research.
PDF Export: A built-in print engine that formats the entire database into a clean, book-style PDF for physical archiving.
🛠️ Technical Structure This is a lightweight, front-end project designed for speed and portability.
index.html: The main interface, containing the UI logic, CSS grid layouts, and the interactive accordion system.
neighborhoods.js: The project's "engine"—a structured JSON-style array containing the name, region, description, and landmarks for every community.
🚀 Deployment This project is hosted via GitHub Pages.
Clone or download the repository.
Open index.html in any modern web browser.
To update the data, simply modify the entries in neighborhoods.js.
📜 Research Notes & Credits This gazetteer was compiled with a focus on:
Architectural Preservation: Identifying Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZs).
Maritime History: Documenting the evolution of the Harbor and South Bay port communities.
Geographic Accuracy: Re-homing communities that are often miscategorized in generic data exports.
Author: Jeremy Nathan Schulman
Educator & Design Historian