Obviously, a little further down history road, it began producing oil (so celestial), airlines and motion pictures, but what was it about the dry patch of dirt that so inspired pobladores to name it after winged messengers of God?
The largest cities in the United States reflect all the good and evil that goes on in this country. When you have over three million people, all from different backgrounds and speaking different languages, crammed into one area, things are bound to get symbolic.
L.A is one of the world capitals of service economy - lots of low income jobs and a few high paying jobs. Although minimum wage in California reached $8.00 in 2008 -- a full sixty cents higher than the $7.30 workers get in Ohio and $1.85 higher than minimum wage in Minnesota -- the kind of lifestyle based on eight bucks an hour is still not so heavenly. If "real" angels had to live on those kind of wages they would have pawned their halos to make last month's rent.
At the same time, though, L.A's vast and diverse population makes it a seething hotbed for new ideas - about art, about writing, about society. The city boasts some of the most powerful and expressive graffiti artist (check them out at http://www.50mmlosangeles.com/ and http://graffitila.com/) Perhaps it is this sort of potential for new extremes and philosophies that makes Los Angeles celestial. Even if it is gritty and feral, isn't there something in the bible about the whore feeding her children being holier than the unjust tax collector?
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