Meet the Historic Oddities of the Los Angeles Zoning Code's Use List

A new explainer on the Re:Code LA site takes an amusing look at a Zoning Code supplement known as the Use List: "Have you ever wondered where you’re allowed to raise chinchillas in Los Angeles? How about where you can manufacture Babbitt metal? Open a numismatic (coin collecting ... we had to look it up too) store? The answer to those everyday questions and more can be found in the Use List—the companion document to the Zoning Code that identifies which land use activities are permitted in each of the various zones in the City."

Because the Use List was adopted in 1946, it now includes an archive of the city's past economies, including references to phonographic record production, asbestos manufacturing (yikes), and typewriter repair. Some of the more curious uses that once had a place in the City of Angels: "Earthworm Raising," "Alligator Farms," and "Baby Gyms."