Driving (Los Angeles, Bradbury: rental car, rental, transfer)

[jc76]

On the contrary my friend, when I'm in L.A. I usually walk or take the bus everywhere. That's the beauty of not having ice and snow and temps below 5 degrees, you can walk all the time, even in January when the other 3/4 of the US is a frozen tundra of death. Have fun!

[Dark of the Moon]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Biking around LA is doable. Been there, done that.

In combination with trains and busses, it is actually highly effective.

My only concern is that the OP is from out of town and unfamiliar with the city (and its semi-lunatic drivers ..... ). While I don't have a problem recommending mass transit, I'm just not sure that I'm comfortable suggesting a bike in this situation.

[marcag89]

Hello all! I'm in a similar situation. I'm moving to the LA area for school within a month and I dont drive or have a car. In fact I enjoy walking and using public transportation. I'm taking a trip to the LA area the 25th of June to finish getting everything together for school and to apartment/job hunt. I'm staying at a hotel near LAX. The school i'm attending is on Wilshire. I would also like to sight see a bit during my visit. Plus I will have night classes and will be using public transportation when school is dismissed (around 10 or 11 pm) Will I have too many problems getting back and forth?? (to LAX or even an apartment that's in hollywood?)

[uptown_urbanist]

To Hollywood, no, to LAX, possibly. Is the hotel a done deal? If not, and if you're not renting a car, you may want to reconsider switching to a more convenient/central location.

[marcag89]

Yea, it's a done deal. I got it on the cheap, came with the package, low price goods. Just for the week. When I move I wont be near the LAX area. Only for the week that i'm setting everything up. I just hope it's not unrealistic that I'd prefer not to drive period. Possibly in the future when I finish school in a year, but I actually enjoy the jorney of walking and busses... I dont think i'm quite old enough to rent a car anyway. How old do you have to be for that? 25?
Oh, Should I have any problems getting from LAX to Santa monica and Venice beach throught public transportation??

[uptown_urbanist]

You should be able to get to all of those places on public transportation easily enough, just leave enough time and possibly be prepared to transfer.

In general, though, it's not unrealistic to not drive, especially if your school is on Wilshire. We lived in Hollywood for a time, and it was extremely well-connected transit-wise; there's a subway line and many bus routes, so you should be fine if you end up getting an apartment there. Depending where on Wilshire your school is located you may have subway stops, and will certainly have bus access. I've read that the Wilshire corridor has the highest bus ridership of any bus line in the country; not sure if that is true or not, but based on experience (both being in a car and on a bus) I'd believe it.

You can rent a car if you're under 25 at some places, but usually the rates are a lot higher.

[marcag89]

Thanks for replying. I really appreciate your help.

[londoner1]

Originally Posted by Happy in Wyoming

You may be traveling from one very safe location to another. But what about transfer points between? You won't know. The people suggesting that public transportation is OK either live there and know whwhere not to be or they don't like cars, Probably because they can't afford them. Some may be hoping you're atacked, either because of some pathological taint or because they're jealous of your having the funds for international travel.

OK, that's just ridiculous.

Originally Posted by Happy in Wyoming

If you take public transportation at any time but rush hour half of your fellow passengers will be the dregs of society. The rest will be the old, the young, and in general not the people who will be able or willing to fight off three bully boys who are assaulting you.

I hate to say it, but it's a bad idea. If you had friends there, it would be different. My advice would be to pick a different film center. Remember, you're not going to be talking to anyone who actually deals with film making when you visit a studio.

There is one option. Take some driving lessons, get a license, the take a trip to the Continent to practice right hand drive. You can't believe how different the world of the driver is from that of the non-driver.

As a whole, Americans are nice people. But we have our scum and we don't wish innocent people to be victimized by them.

I could take some driving lessons over the summer but I don't think that'd make me an excellent driver - and considering you drive on the wrong side, I don't want to end up killing Californians. Besides, I just read there's age restrictions to renting a car.

[londoner1]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

OK, I think the above post is both paranoid and rather unfair. To the OP, of course people aren't trying to get you attacked! Who in the world even thinks like that? For the record, I could afford a car, and certainly have done my share of international travel.

The other thing about LA is that there is no typical "California" look or accent, it's a very international place, and for that matter, plenty of English people live and work in LA, and yes, take public transportation. I started taking public transportation the week we arrived in LA, and I knew next to nothing about the city. There was no problem. I got to know the city better over time, and continued to have no problems. And "dregs of society?" How ridiculous. Gotta ask again - has the above poster ever even set foot on an LA bus or train? I've run into a few annoying or unpleasant people, but by far most riders - even poor people who choose to ride PT because they can't afford to drive (and there is NOTHING wrong with that. That does not make someone a bad person!) are very friendly. In fact I have had better luck on LA public transportation than in most cities - people are generally very polite. There's a bit of a gender thing at work, too - as a woman I've often had people wave me to enter first, and while pregnant I NEVER had to stand. That's not true in many American cities.

To the OP, you probably know enough from your own experiences elsewhere to put these comments into a more realistic perspective. But I'm going to say it anyway: the stereotype of LA as one big den of crime, and of its buses and trains as pits of evil-minded criminals just ready to target innocent visitors from abroad, is simply not true. I don't think I'm the one with the "pathological taint" here, I just think you should know what the reality is, and also know that it would be more dangerous to learn how to drive then have the dubious fun as a new driver driving on the other side of the road in a city like LA, where the traffic is heavy, you wouldn't know your way around (far more difficult to figure out where you're going when you're trying to drive than if you're sitting on a bus with someone else in the driver's seat), and you'd be in more danger of a car accident than you would be of getting mugged on a bus from West Hollywood to Burbank.

When I visited the USA the first time, I didn't dare to leave the door because I thought there were crazy individuals outside, just waiting to kill me. There's this image of America as the land of the crazy and psychopaths which isn't of course true. Comments like Wyoming's perpetuate this wrong image.

I take your advice, Uptown urbanist & enjoy seeing all sides of LA. If I do feel unsafe at any point, I'll fork a bit for a chauffeured car. Thanks for your thoughts, guys.

[UB50]

You should be fine on public transportation. A lot of the smaller communities have local buses like Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus, Glendale's Beeline, Metro Dash Buses, etc. That makes it easier to see a lot of things in one part of the city without having to walk miles between things.

I hope you've put downtown LA on your list of things to see. There are a LOT of things to see in downtown!