Need specific area info on Los Feliz, Silverlake, Hancock, Studio City, and Valley Village (Los Angeles: apartments)

[Bronze18]

Good Afternoon everyone!

So...after being here for a year (next week to be exact--can't believe I survived--it's been a wild ride!) I am looking to finally get my own place. My own as in a spacious studio or small 1 bedroom with no roommates.

I am particulary interested in the following areas:

Los Feliz
Silverlake
Hancock Park
Studio City
Valley Village

My question to you all is...can anyone provide specific streets that are in desirable areas of these locations? We all know that there are good and bad places of every city/area so instead of randomly searching, I thought you all good provide me some specific streets.

Thanks in advance.

[harhar]

Most of Los Feliz is pretty decent. Most of the APTs are on Los Feliz Blvd.

Parking (although never a problem for me on Lowry) can be bad. Traffic and noise might be a problem.

It can be on the more expensive side, but its close to the 5 and Glendale. And it's pretty walkable/bus-able.

The only time I felt unsafe was when a pack of coyotes passed by me one night.

I would relate it more to a Hancock Park, but a bit more hipster-ish with the Silverlake influence.

I'd stay by LF Blvd or northern Los Feliz if you want to be sheltered from any grit.

[Delron]

Originally Posted by Bronze18

Good Afternoon everyone!

...I am looking to finally get my own place. My own as in a spacious studio or small 1 bedroom with no roommates.

I am particulary interested in the following areas:

Los Feliz
Silverlake
Hancock Park
Studio City
Valley Village

My question to you all is...can anyone provide specific streets that are in desirable areas of these locations? We all know that there are good and bad places of every city/area so instead of randomly searching, I thought you all good provide me some specific streets.

Thanks in advance.

Okay, so studios or 1 bedrooms, obviously you are not going to be in the most desirable parts of some of those neighborhoods, i.e. "the Oaks"/north of Los Feliz Blvd. in Los Feliz or Windsor Square/Hancock Park proper, as those areas are filled with estates. I will leave Studio City and Valley Village to Valley folks, but comment on the others.

Los Feliz is for the most part broken up into 3 locations - North of Los Feliz Blvd + parts of the area west of Normandie, South of the Blvd., and Atwater Village (basically anything east of the LA River/5 fwy).

The best parts are the affluent north of Los Feliz/west of Normandie areas (i.e. the gated communities there), but these are mostly 1 million and up (well into the multi-million and ten million and up category) single family homes/estates. The other two parts of Los Feliz as outlined above vary wildly in terms of safety, cleanliness, crime etc. The apartments along Los Feliz particularly the high rises tend to be the nicest and most expensive. The further away you get from here toward the south and east, the worse they get. The better the view, the more you'll be paying.

Atwater is mainly smaller, post-war houses and has various very charming neighborhoods (artsy and working community is what it was until the boom...LOTS of extreme makeover/flip my house type places there last I checked) but also Atwater was/is home to various gangs, including I believe it was called the Toonerville gang that was broken up badly by the feds/LAPD recently. But these clowns were VERY bad news, just google atwater village gang for info. Hopefully that problem is gone now though.

You will find some "barrio" type neighborhoods here and there in Atwater and southeast Los Feliz, particularly around John Marshall High, but not as much or as bad as parts of Silverlake or worse (though nowhere near as bad as they once were) Echo Park. Worst parts of Los Feliz are around John Marshall High and the border with Silverlake as well as around the River/5 freeway.

Okay...Hancock Park. I don't think there are any 1 bedrooms/studios in Hancock Park/Windsor Square proper. You will have to look around the fringes for apartments in duplex/triplex/fourplexes, or perhaps some of the new condos or apartments in the fringes around Koreatown. Safety/cleanliness/crime etc. can vary widely. West of Hancock Park will be safer and cleaner than Koreatown, and is probably the best choice, given the limited info you have provided particularly how much you're looking to spend. This is the area of Beverly Grove/MidWilshire/Miracle Mile and Carthay Square. Nice areas one and all, but it will be more $. To the east of HP is Koreatown, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're Korean. There are some very nice modern buildings/condos being rented here and there, along with many slums still. Many slum apartments here and there as well, along with to the north/northeast of HP (Hollywood) and to the south around Los Angeles High, which can be quite ghetto/barrio.

Silverlake...well, around the lake and highest elevations are the most desirable, and it progresses downward from there. The area around Sunset junction and Sunset in general toward Echo Park is the worst, along with the western fringe that borders Los Feliz and around Hyperion Ave., but it has come quite a way.

[LABornandRaised]

I'm curious what your budget is. I've lived in both Studio City and Valley Village. There are many apartments in Studio City compared to Valley Village, which tends to have more single family homes. There are especially a lot of apartments near Ventura Blvd in Studio City (where I lived). The closer you move to Ventura Blvd, the higher the rents tend to be. If you can find an apartment around Tujunga and Moorpark in Studio City, that is another great alternative to Ventura Blvd. It's a little more laid back, but has the nice shops on Tujunga you can walk to. It's more village like there with a Hancock Park feel.

In terms of Valley Village, there are some apartments, but most of them tend to be on the major boulevards such as Riverside Drive. Valley Village is a very small area, so it won't be too hard to find how many apartments are there. Valley Village is bordered by the Tujunga Wash to the West, Burbank Blvd to the North, the 101 FWY to the South and the 170 FWY to the East. I used to live right across the street from Valley Village Park on Westpark Drive. There are some apartments there that look like houses so if you can get into one of those, that would be ideal. On the other hand, if you want to be closer to retail, you need to stay closer to Riverside Drive and Laurel Canyon Blvd. Valley Village is very residential and has a very limited selection of retail. You have to hop over to the NoHo side if you want more retail.

[Tasksgirl]

Los Feliz is mostly all nice.. when you start getting toward Atwater and the retail there aren't that many apartments around there anyway.. I always liked the area when you go down Los Feliz and turn on Vermont.. that area is nice.. also when you turn on any of those side streets off of Vermont all the way down to Prospect.. not sure if that becomes Hollywood already or not..

If I had to pick I would pick Los Feliz or Silverlake..

[CaliYork]

One of the best kept secrets is east of Cahuenga above Franklin. It's part of the Hollywood Hills and it's gorgeous. There are a lot of neighborhoods (Camrose, Whitley Heights, Hollywood Heights...) that are some of the nicest in the city. Be lucky if you find a place there.

The WeHo neighborhoods you mention are all fine.
Culver City has Sony but doesn't seem to have a soul yet. You might like it.

The part of Los Feliz you mention is the most affordable spot in LF and has some cool buildings but make sure you get off street parking or walking 1/2 mile to your apartment could happen about twice a week for street cleaning. Walking distance to Franklin Village and Los Feliz Village make it a great spot.