Westwood / Century City
Century City is a 176-acre neighborhood in Los Angeles, bordered on the northeast and east by Beverly Hills, on the southeast and south by Cheviot Hills, on the southwest and west by West Los Angeles and on the northwest by Westwood. Originally developed on the former backlot of film studio 20th Century Fox, with its first building opened in 1963, Century City today is considered to be a rather large financial hub in Los Angeles. Important to its economy are a shopping center, business towers and, of course, Fox Studios. Century City, much like the rest of Los Angeles, originally began as a ranch, owned by early 90s cowboy actor Tom Mix. Later on, it became a backlot of 20th Century Fox, which still has its headquarters just to the southwest. In fact, in 1956, then Fox president, Spyros Skouras, and his nephew-in-law, Edmond Herrscher, decided to repurpose the ranch for real estate development, creating the "western" backlot in 1957. This backlot didn't exist too long, however. In the early 60s, due to financial strains and struggles, 20th Century Fox sold about 180 acres to developer William Zeckendorf of Alcoa, who then conceived Century City as "a city within a city." And this "city within a city" is the Century City Los Angelenos know and love today.
