Is L.A. Still "The Place"?

Betcha didn't know Los Angeles had an official city slogan. Actually, I betcha even most L.A. city officials wouldn't know. But the L.A. City Nerd knew, digging up this bit of trivia: "L.A.'s The Place," adopted in 1981 as part of L.A.'s bicentennial, is still officially our city slogan.

Not that it's used at all these days. A Google search for "L.A.'s the Place" only picks up 540 hits -- and just two hits that actually have to do with our slogan.

One, from the New York Times, is an actual March 1981 travel piece about L.A. (check out the restaurant suggestions!)

The other is an October 1991 L.A. Business Journal piece in which the L.A. Convention and Visitors Bureau ponders changing the slogan:

The bureau has said that it wants to launch a major international promotional campaign that would be similar to the successful "I Love New York" or "Virginia is for Lovers" campaigns. The initial cost of the Los Angeles campaign could be in the neighborhood of $20 million, Collins said.

The bureau has reported that the campaign could include a new slogan to replace "L.A.'s the Place," which has been used for years to promote Los Angeles as a travel destination. The campaign could be the largest in the city's history and would be a long-term program that could last several years, said Collins.

Didn't happen. Closest slogan revision came in the mid-1990s, the LA City Nerd notes, when Mayor Richard Riordan promoted the slogan "Together, we're the best: LA!"

You may even remember seeing that slogan on lamp post banners around the city. But it never really caught on... and L.A. once again is slogan-less. (Don't confuse it with nicknames... as the Nerd notes, L.A. will always be the City of Angels.)

Writes the Nerd:

We still have that 1981 slogan as official until another one is officially adopted. In 2005, New York City adopted "The World's Second Home" as a new slogan; perhaps it's time this City officially took action to re-affirm that "LA's the place" or find something new to tout to the world.

Any suggestions? How 'bout "L.A.: The 'A' is for Awesome!" or "L.A.: Villaraigosee it!"

(Pic via the LA City Nerd.)