South Bay vs The Westside (Torrance, Vista: homes, school districts, living)

[hipcat]

Which of these areas of LA County do you prefer?

Westside
West LA
Santa Monica
Westwood
Brentwood
Venice
Culver City
Beverly Hills
Marina Del Rey
Playa Vista
Westchester

South Bay
El Segundo
Manhattan Beach
Hermosa Beach
Torrance
Palos Verdes

Comparing in
Culture
Safety
Schools
Nightlife
Outdoor Activities
Traffic
Food

[GoBears98]

Here's a quick run through. I can fill you in on my take on the specific westside locales once I get a better sense of your sage in life.

South Bay
El Segundo - a bit boring personally but if close to work, then convenient
Manhattan Beach - my ideal place to raise a fam
Hermosa Beach - great place for young professionals, outdoorsy, active and the single!
Torrance - vanilla
Palos Verdes - beautiful homes and views, but will take you forever to leave from and get to

Ranking:

Culture - Santa Monica/venice/West LA
Safety - Manhattan Beach
Schools - Manhattan beach (great schools) for raising a family
Nightlife - Redondo, Santa Monica, Venice
Outdoor Activities - Santa Monica/West LA/Brentwood - beach, hiking, stairs, fitness
Traffic - it's LA, all is horrible haha
Food - Santa Monica/venice

Hope that helps!

[2Easy]

Comparing in
Culture - Westside
Safety - South Bay
Schools - South Bay because much of the westside is LAUSD
Nightlife - Westside
Outdoor Activities - South Bay
Traffic - South Bay
Food - Westside

Basically the westside has significantly more amenities, more restaurants, more shopping, more city stuff. Where I picked the South Bay the edge is slight.

[taydigga]

Originally Posted by 2Easy

Comparing in
Culture - Westside
Safety - South Bay
Schools - South Bay because much of the westside is LAUSD
Nightlife - Westside
Outdoor Activities - South Bay
Traffic - South Bay
Food - Westside

Basically the westside has significantly more amenities, more restaurants, more shopping, more city stuff. Where I picked the South Bay the edge is slight.

I think the Westside since it includes Santa Monica, wins on the outdoor stuff. I'm on the trails in the Santa Monica mountains all the time. NOt to mention we have everything the South Bay has as far as beach and stuff like that.

[skyway31]

Originally Posted by hipcat

Which of these areas of LA County do you prefer?

Westside
West LA
Santa Monica
Westwood
Brentwood
Venice
Culver City
Beverly Hills
Marina Del Rey
Playa Vista
Westchester

South Bay
El Segundo
Manhattan Beach
Hermosa Beach
Torrance
Palos Verdes

Comparing in
Culture
Safety
Schools
Nightlife
Outdoor Activities
Traffic
Food

You can't have this discussion without factoring proximity to work. The South Bay is relatively isolated compared to other parts of L.A. But, I'll give my ratings under the assumption that one's work and friends are primarily located in or near to the given area.

Culture: As in diversity? Westside wins here. South Bay is pretty homogenized.
Safety: South Bay. The drifting weirdo factor is much lower in the south bay than anywhere else in L.A.
Schools: Public, private or both? There are more elite private options up in the west side and S.M. But the public schools in the South Bay are much better than those up on the west side due to the homogenized population. There are really no poor kids with residences in south bay school districts.
Nightlife: Depends on how large of an area you're speaking of. Looking at the entire west side and S.M., you have a much larger area and larger population. So, you've got many more nightlife options. BUT, when talking nightlife, isn't it assumed you're going to have alcohol involved? Whereby having a bunch of night spots in very close proximity to one another and not having to drive is important? If so, Manhattan and Hermosa Beaches are great options and are better than any (walkable) parts of the westside. You're not going to be able to hit up Main St. and also the bars on Santa Monica near Bundy etc without involving an automobile...
Outdoor Activities: More mountain access from the westside, with the Santa Monica mountains providing more hiking oppportunities than Palos Verdes. But, the beach experience is dramatically better in the South Bay. There is no freeway running alongside the beach in the South bay. Live in Santa Monica and want to go to the beach? Even if you're on like 5th st, the walk down to Ocean Ave and then across and down the cliff and over the Pacific Coast Highway is a pain in the a*s after a while. And S.M. and Venice beaches being much more well known to tourists and much more accesible via the 10 freeway brings a different crowd and vibe to those beaches.
Traffic: If you go by my initial assumption of working within the given community, there is MUCH less traffic in the SB than on the westside. But, if you're commuting to downtown, Hollywood or the westside, it's a much longer commute from the South Bay. But just driving from Point A in the South Bay to Point B in the South bay is much easier than driving on the west side.
Food: Has to be the West side by a large margin.

[skyway31]

And to calbear, who ranked Redondo #1 in nightlife...I'd suggest he/she actually go out in Redondo before speaking. There's zero nightlife in Redondo LMAO.

[timtemtym]

I prefer the South Bay because of accessibility. I can park alongside the beach for free and walk down. Also, once I get to the beach, it's mostly people who are there to enjoy the beach, not people who are vending or living on the beach. I don't like the beaches in El Segundo though, it seems to attract a louder crowd being the nicest beach closest to the inland parts of south LA.

That being said, getting in and out of much of the south South Bay to other parts of LA is pretty bad. Getting away from the beach areas in Hermosa, Torrance, RPV to go to the 405 and then to other parts of LA can be quite the ordeal. It's why most people in know in the South Bay don't venture out much beyond the south bay.

Nightlife, culture and food are better on the westside, but the South Bay has good restaurants, cool and friendly people to hang out with and um culture... not so much. The culture is homogenous in the South Bay and feels like a time warp compared to other areas of LA.

[skyway31]

^^^All why a more compact city like SF is the better way to develop a place. The best parts of L.A. combined are better than the best parts of SF combined. But, the best parts of SF are all easily accessible car, no car, drunk or sober. In L.A., you pick one hood and spend 90% of your time there because the other hoods are a pain to get to. And any one part of L.A., by itself, is not all that great or "happening" compared to the entire city of SF...

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by taydigga

I think the Westside since it includes Santa Monica, wins on the outdoor stuff. I'm on the trails in the Santa Monica mountains all the time. NOt to mention we have everything the South Bay has as far as beach and stuff like that.

Yeah I know, I was surprised that someone would say the South Bay has the edge on outdoor activities, considering how far you are from any mountains of any kind. From the Palms/Culver area where I live I can basically get to Temescal Canyon trailhead in a little under 20 minutes. (which can link up to the rest of the trail systems in the SM Mountains backcountry through the Backbone trail).

I guess I would give a slight edge for outdoor activities to the South Bay if you are JUST talking beach/ocean/marine activities.

The beaches generally are a little less crowded, and you have whale watching cruises that leave Redondo, as well as the ferries that go to Catalina. But most of all the Palos Verdes area. Those rock cliffs are very unique in SoCal (in northern California they're pretty much standard) Having smugglers cove with the tidepools and the Cabrillo aquarium in San Pedro is pretty awesome.

[ElysianEagle]

i think if you like getting in the water, you're better off in the south bay. IIRC, manhattan beach has the safest water of all beaches in this general area, at least from a report i read a few years back. not sure if it's still the case.

for hiking tho the westside is definitely a lot better.