CH, DT & NY are fine, but LA has always bugged me. SC would be cool, or you could just name them slang terms like, so cal -for southern cali etc. comptom? is cool to, so is the bay area.

I'd like to see what anyone else thinks.

For me, Pasadena makes the most sense since it's the oldest historic place immediately east of LA and has a lot of its own history that goes from the late 19th century to its bustle in the years before and following WWII. It's one of the better known neighborhoods of LA and has served as the backdrop for popular shows like The Big Bang Theory and movies like Back to the Future - both of which take place there. It's also been host to the annual Rose Bowl since 1923, among other notable things.

My vote would be for Pasadena.

My only complaint is now we have two Downtowns, one in LA and one in DT.. Maybe bring Hollywood back?

Hollywood (North), Venice Beach (West), San Pedro (South), Pasadena (East), Downtown LA (Central)

I really like this setup!!

If there's a concern about two downtowns, there's more than enough niche neighborhoods in the DTLA area we could use as a substitute.

You have the infamous Skid Row, which is a portion of downtown known for its transients and drug deals, both past and present. According to wiki, "By the 1930s Skid Row was home to as many as 10,000 homeless people, alcoholics, and others on the margins of society. It supported saloons, residential hotels, and social services which drew people from the populations they served to congregate in the area." 

On the other end of the spectrum, there's the trendy Silver Lake, which has always been the stomping grounds for high-profile, notable residents and ritzy clubs and restaurants. "During the 1930s, Walt Disney built his first large studio in Silver Lake at the corner of Griffith Park Boulevard and Hyperion Avenue, now the site of Gelson's Market." Today, it's basically a hipster neighborhood entrenched in a lot of history.

And of course, there's South Central which is a massive centralized area directly south of downtown. Today we known it as ground zero for hip hop culture and gang wars, though in the 1930s it was just starting to emerge as the heart of the black community in LA and the beginning of the jazz movement in the western US. Mainly a mix of white/black lower-middle and working class people at the time.

So those are three alternatives to just downtown LA. You can't go wrong with any of these, I'd say.

Silver Lake sounds better. Skid Row sounds kinda dirty. Lol

Not sure from a Mafia basis, you would set up in Skid Row? Just for that reason I would suggest Silver Lake, Pico Union District, South Central etc

I think Hollywood was a good central for LA even if it's not technically in the center, just for the fact that the one running Hollywood is most likely the one running LA. I like Skid Row but like Karmen said it sounds dirty, a little to dirty to be the center piece of Mafia Crime in LA, and south central is too Boyz in the Hood for my liking. So if it really has to be in the center then Silver Lake I guess, but Hollywood still feels more like the heart and soul of LA, to many anyways.

Love the change, Squishy. So nice to be able to travel my own city on MR, very meta. BYE SAVANNAH AIN'T GONNA MISS YA

So Skid Row is indeed a bit grungy. Silver Lake is a good pick (and a cool neighborhood overall). 

In case people want more options, there's also Wilshire, the central commercial district south of Hollywood and home to record labels, the business side of the industry, etc. It's technically straying a bit west of DTLA but still south of Hollywood and East of Venice. Got a big mix of affluence and poverty in this area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilshire,_Los_Angeles

I think they're all cool since they represent LA well :')

Pico-Union as DaffyDuck said, is indeed central, but the name is pretty underwhelming, in my opinion.

I looked at the wiki listing neighborhoods for LA... personally, I think

Hyde Park would be a cool name :)

It's a pretty tiny neighborhood (just a few streets) that isn't very well known though. I had to look it up myself, cause I'd never heard of it. Plus its name is overshadowed by the famous Hyde Park in London, no?