A Split Screen Tour Through Downtown Los Angeles Captured 70 Years Apart

The New Yorker recently had an interesting idea. They asked filmmaker Kevin McAlester to recreate a 70-year-old drive through downtown Los Angeles—a then and now video that shows just how much the city has changed since the 1940s.

McAlester’s footage was placed right up next to the 70-year-old shots… well, for the most part anyway. Some streets were closed off for construction, so the full four minutes doesn’t follow the exact same track.

The streets have changed dramatically, the city has exploded upwards, and modern day cars looks almost alien next to the vehicles of the 1940s. It reminds us of the London then and now video that put film from 1927 next to footage from 2013. Check out the full video up top.