Koreatown and area near Union Station (Alameda: apartment, leasing, crime)

[lmh182]

Hi everyone,
I live in South OC right now and am looking to move further north. I've been getting several phone calls for jobs in downtown. I would want to do an apartment transfer with the company I am currently leasing from. They have 2 apartment communities near downtown that would work within my budget. One is right next door to Union Station at the corner of Alameda St. & East Cesar Chavez Ave., and the other is in Koreatown in the 90006 zip code near the intersection of W. 9th St. & S. Western Ave.

I'm a single lady and would like to know how safe these area would be to live within. Would these areas be safe to walk around at night? Or would they be safe enough to live, but probably don't go on midnight walks through the neighborhood?

Thanks!

[ryanms3030]

I think they are both relatively safe. The Union Station area is right by Chinatown, Olvera St and Disney Concert Hall so they are pretty busy areas especially during the day and weekend but you do have the men's lock up a couple of blocks away so you get a bunch of shady characters being released from jail every morning onto the street. I lived in Koreatown for a while 8-10 years ago. Back then the area around Western was fine as long as you were north of Wilshire but as soon as you got south it got shadier and shadier but I know that neighborhood has come up a lot recently so I would suspect it's fine. I would't want to be walking around the neighborhoods at night as a single woman in either place but as long as you are sticking to main heavily traffic streets you should be fine.

[lmh182]

I've looked at a couple of crime maps, and it seems like Chinatown and the area around Union Station are quite a bit safer than Koreatown. Does this seem to be true from anyone's experiences with the two areas?

[ryanms3030]

Originally Posted by lmh182

I've looked at a couple of crime maps, and it seems like Chinatown and the area around Union Station are quite a bit safer than Koreatown. Does this seem to be true from anyone's experiences with the two areas?

Koreatown is much more densely populated so I would expect more crime

[majoun]

Originally Posted by lmh182

I've looked at a couple of crime maps, and it seems like Chinatown and the area around Union Station are quite a bit safer than Koreatown. Does this seem to be true from anyone's experiences with the two areas?

Definitely.

Union Station has a heavy law enforcement presence as does its vicinity. As for Chinatown, that is a pretty safe neighborhood. They say that the Triads help keep it safe, I don't know if there is any truth in this anymore.