Hipsters, in-line skaters, surfers, artists, performers, and slackers mill about the boardwalk and intermittently gentrified and patchy streets of Venice Beach. This what many consider to be L.A.'s East Village or Haight-Ashbury by the sea-indeed, it was a haven of counter-culture and members of the Beat Generation during the '50s and '60s, as well as avant-garde artists and graffiti experts, like the late gay artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, in the '80s. Secondhand clothing and music stores, piercing and tattoo parlors, health-food stores, and outdoor markets still line some of the streets near the beach, as do a few art galleries and theaters. The famed 1.5-mile Venice Boardwalk, which curves along the stunning beachfront, still offers some of the most colorful people-watching in California, from street performers to ripped gym bunnies to fortunetellers.
Gay bars west hollywood ca patroc professional#Īt the Washington Boulevard end of the beach, a 1,300-foot fishing pier juts into the sea.
