One of the quiet debates that I hear in Los Angeles is whether or not our city is ugly.  Some argue that the design of our streets has taken the natural beauty of Los Angeles and made it ugly.  While there is some truth in this, I find there are so many beautiful streets and communities to more and balance out some of the ugliness in other areas.

Entering the debate is Jeremy Oberstein, known to some of you as a former contributor to LAist and current staffer to Councilman Krekorian, but he’s also the creator of Los Angeles Alleys: The Book and Los Angeles Alleys: The Blog.  The Book is twenty pages of beautiful shots of some of Los Angeles’ alleys and covers all corners of the city.  If you’re interested in buying the book, you can at the above link, or can actually view the book in its entirety.  Buying the book isn’t just a statement that you think Los Angeles is a beautiful place, but it also supports local artists and will doubtless be the most interesting coffee-table book you’ll ever own.

The beauty of our streets may be up for debate, but apparently you can find some real gems in our alleys.

For more images, click here to see the entire book, or view three more favorite alley pictures after the jump.