This Ugly Beautiful City is a reader and client-supported site dedicated to exploring Los Angeles and beyond. I couldn’t do this labor of love without your support. All the money I earn from this site goes back into the Los Angeles small business community. It keeps me exploring and developing my neighborhood guides that feature the great businesses and institutions that make L.A. a unique place to live.
Table of Contents
Note from me
All reviews are 100% sponsored by me. My mission is to point you toward small businesses, local products, and people in Los Angeles.
How you can support This Ugly Beautiful City for FREE
Making more people aware of This Ugly Beautiful City
Sharing, boosting, commenting, and liking a post means more than you think in reaching a wider audience. If you know someone who is traveling to Los Angeles or is new to Los Angeles, share my posts with them. If I helped you to find a great restaurant, small business to support, or I have helped in your travel to Los Angeles, share my accounts.
- Instagram: @thisuglybeautifulcity
- Threads: thisuglybeautifulcity
- Facebook: /thisuglybeautifulcity
- Newsletter https://thisuglybeautifulcity.kit.com/
Sign up for my FREE newsletter
It includes a monthly note about what I am up to in Los Angeles, the best things I ate over the last month, what is new on This Ugly Beautiful City, and other Los Angeles randomness. You get a free map of things to do in Los Angeles on a Budget, just for signing up.
There is a free option of my newsletter and a paid one.
Monthly subscriptions (Not free, but related and another way to support)
I give tons of Los Angeles advice in my free newsletter, but paid subscribers receive additional perks. Those supporters receive additional curated event lists, Los Angeles itineraries, and free tickets to all the in-person tours I give. There are two subscriptions to choose from.
Low-Cost ways to support This Ugly Beautiful City
Donate a coffee
When I used to give travel advice to people at work, people would offer to pay for my coffee. It was a nice thank you, as I love coffee, and preparing maps, lists of recommendations, and tips I have learned takes time. I am very detailed.
If I have helped you plan your Los Angeles trip, helped you discover a great date spot, or given you ideas for finding your favorite Los Angeles neighborhood, consider buying me a coffee. I will always buy my coffee at a locally owned and operated coffee shop.
Pictured Alana’s Coffee Roasters, Mar Vista, @thisuglybeautifulcity
Buy things that give me a perk
Peace Coffee
This is my favorite coffee brand. It is from my home state of Minnesota. Peace Coffee supports small, organic, and ethical farmers around the world. They offer a wide range of blends and roasts. If you buy from them using the link, it will help me buy coffee to fuel my writing of new neighborhood guides and work.
Affiliate/Partnerships
Bookshop.org
I believe in their mission of supporting local bookstores. I have put together three lists of books about or set in Los Angeles that I love, that deep-dive into this city’s amazing architecture, or that feature Los Angeles restaurants or chefs.
Reading Los Angeles
These are my favorite books about or set in Los Angeles. From an oral history of punk to the detailed history of Los Angeles through the library.
There is something for everyone on this list. I hope it helps you get to know this city through different perspectives.
All of your money goes towards supporting a small business, whether it be your local bookstore, a bookstore in Los Angeles, and my small business.
Los Angeles Architecture
Although Los Angeles is a younger city and you won’t see grand Renaissance basilicas here, you will see Frank Lloyd Wright houses, the Case Study houses that began our love affair with Mid-century modern, and more wonders of architecture throughout Los Angeles County.
The books on this list detail the movements and the architects who left their mark on this city.
All of your money goes towards supporting a small business, whether it be your local bookstore, a bookstore in Los Angeles, or my small business.
Eating Los Angeles
Los Angeles is the land of celebrity chefs–Top Chef and Chef’s Table alums. Here is the list of cookbooks putting Los Angeles on the map.
All of your money goes towards supporting a small business, whether it be your local bookstore, a bookstore in Los Angeles, and my small business.
Why I am not an affiliate for big companies like Amazon
You do not know how many people ask me this.
Bloggers and websites make a lot of money with affiliate marketing. I am sure you have seen all the website ads or clickbait listicles that send you directly to Amazon. Personally, I’m not too fond of the way that Amazon treats its warehouse workers. I also find quality issues with the recommended products. I would rather you support small businesses when you buy.
Pop-up ads–so annoying, right?
Pop-ups and background videos are horrible for neurodivergent readers. Most people have installed pop-up blockers on their browsers, and those ads never get seen. So why should I do it?
Thank you!
Thank you so much for reading how to support This Ugly Beautiful City. Any support you give me is appreciated, from sharing my posts, to subscribing to my free newsletter, to booking services. I hope this gives you ideas on how to support businesses like mine.