Mixed Up Run Down and New in LA

My brother took me to his old haunts in LA and we drove all over the city. We probably passed by millions of people as we traversed parts of this expansive city. So many scenes exude a past that was better than the present. But those older parts are so run down that the new cheap buildings are a better deal than the old dwellings. Some of the pics show big, prison-like apartments that have the character of a mountain on the moon. They all appear to be cold and desolate places.