Confusing "Safe" and "Desirable" for Los Angeles? (safe neighborhood, public schools)

[greggd]

I keep reading threads with the words "Safe" thrown in.. "Looking for a safe neighborhood". "Safe place to live", "Scared to move to LA any safe places to live?".. etc.

As an LA native, most of Los Angeles is a safe place to live. There are some areas that have gang problems, so if you have kids, and they like to dress and appear in similar fashion as gang members,you may have some issues when they attend school. If you see a group of guys standing around doing nothing, then walk by them really slowly, staring, your going to get attention. This would happen in any city. If your wearing a mini-mini skirt, same deal.

That said, the word "safe" in most of these questions should be replaced with "desirable". Desirability plays a much greater role than "safety" in Los Angeles. At least thats my experience, especially for parents looking for public schools.

Technically, safety has to be assessed on a much closer level than one area. Its almost a block by block issue in many areas.