Worst Areas of Los Angeles (Huntington Beach, Highland: transplants, neighborhood, live)

[linden52]

Originally Posted by roman24

I heard South Central, Glendale are pretty ghetto

Glendale? dufus.

[ECyde]

South Central is the reason LA is the gang capital of the nation...

[disgruntled la native]

OK, here's some little pockets of danger and scuzzy in areas you wouldn't think.


Pico Blvd between 20th and Stewart and the area a bit north of it (but south of Olympic)

The Santa Monica pier at night

Sawtelle Blvd from the VA to just south of Santa Monica Blvd

Westwood Village at night

In the Venice neighborhood, West of Lincoln East of 4th North of California.. particularly around Indiana and Brooks closer to 6th and 7th

Santa Monica Blvd at Larrabee and Palm after midnight

Santa Monica Blvd east of La Brea to its terminus

Cadillac

[majoun]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

OK, here's some little pockets of danger and scuzzy in areas you wouldn't think.

Sawtelle Blvd from the VA to just south of Santa Monica Blvd

Westwood Village at night

I would not consider those to be dangerous or particularly scuzzy areas at all. There are some homeless problems in both but the entire westside except for Beverly Hills and Culver City has homeless problems. Westwood according to the L.A. Times has one of the lowest violent crime rates of any neighborhood in L.A., lower than Pacific Palisades, Rancho Palos Verdes, Santa Clarita, or Westlake Village: Violent Crime Ranking - Mapping L.A. - Los Angeles Times

Sawtelle's also a pretty low violent crime area.

Some surprises on the list: West Hollywood coming in as a very high violent crime area, higher than West Adams or Westlake (this may be because the statistics are based on resident population not because of how many people are actually there at any given time) ; Ladera Heights also having a pretty high violent crime rate (just above West Compton, East Hollywood, and Boyle Heights) ; Fairfax, Larchmont, and Hancock Park coming in surprisingly high (although the L.A. Times' definition of the Fairfax District is a much smaller definition than the usual definition) ; Los Feliz having more violent crime than Echo Park and significantly more than Silver Lake (although the L.A. Times' boundaries of Los Feliz contain areas I'd consider to be in East Hollywood, which might explain it). This certainly doesn't fit in with my perceptions of those areas, or those of most other people familiar with L.A.

Besides somewhat Westside WeHo, Ladera, Fairfax (or more correctly the LAT's definition of it - very hard for me to believe violent crime's on a level with Palmdale and Panorama City),Carthay, Hollywood Hills West, and Westchester (again hard for me to believe those are so high) the only unquestionably Westside areas that have higher violent crime than average are Venice, Playa Vista,and Marina del Rey. The two Westside neighborhoods with the most immigrants and the cheapest rents, Palms and Del Rey, have low violent crime (comparable to East Pasadena, Malibu, and Eagle Rock) Some non-westside surprises: Lakeview Terrace has pretty low violent crime. El Sereno having low violent crime may surprise someone not familiar with the real Eastside but it is a very settled area.

This LAT list certainly alters one's perceptions about L.A., although I think some areas' rates may be based on actual population rather than how many people are there at a given time (which would skewer West Hollywood and Fairfax upward, and would mean that Venice's real violent crime rate is lower than listed - it would not explain Ladera, though. I don't know how they came up with that figure at all.)

BTW SM's Pico Neighborhood is not on the same level as Oakwood or Cadillac-Corning, although it's the worst part of SM If it were in the Valley it would be considered average not bad. I wouldn't recommend that neighborhood but it is not on the level of Oakwood or Cadillac-Corning. (The Times considers Cadillac-Corning to be part of Mid-City, btw)

[nowincal11]

There is a dumpy part of Playa Vista. For some reason the beaches always seem to attract an "interesting" crowd.

WeHo suprises me. There are some less than stellar areas, but I wouldn't have assumed violent.

[disgruntled la native]

I'm not talking about statistics necessarily. Westwood and Sawtelle by the VA are not areas you're gonna get murdered or even mugged. But the adjacent VA facility brings a lot of homeless on the street. And some of them have gotten pretty verbal and angry.

The problem with WeHo is the bar crowd at night. On the Sunset Strip and Santa Monica strip every night, thousands of people come from all over LA county and beyond. some of them are gang members. Or even the ones who are not gang members get drunk and angry. So assault at 2 am is not uncommon.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

I'm not talking about statistics necessarily. Westwood and Sawtelle by the VA are not areas you're gonna get murdered or even mugged. But the adjacent VA facility brings a lot of homeless on the street. And some of them have gotten pretty verbal and angry.

The problem with WeHo is the bar crowd at night. On the Sunset Strip and Santa Monica strip every night, thousands of people come from all over LA county and beyond. some of them are gang members. Or even the ones who are not gang members get drunk and angry. So assault at 2 am is not uncommon.

As a former WeHo resident it surprised me that WeHo came in above the adjacent areas of L.A. - what I would consider the Fairfax District but which the Times considers to be two neighborhoods, the Fairfax District and "Beverly Grove" (a name that I've never heard anyone use) Particularly because the Sheriffs Department was much better at controlling crime than the LAPD Hollywood Division (given that said LAPD division covers neighborhoods far, far worse). I never felt unsafe where I used to live, although it was a little gritty (on the east end of WeHo).I'd presume that the statistics are based on actual residents of WeHo rather than people there at any given time (a number that's much higher)

I looked at a City of West Hollywood crime map and it seems that the most crime nowadays is in the western part of WeHo closest to Beverly Hills, west of La Cienega. What you said about assaults involving patrons of bars explains that. The area with the least crime is between La Cienega and Fairfax. East of Fairfax, where I used to live, is in between. The problematic place in that area is Poinsettia Park, actually in the Fairfax District - major homeless magnet. Since it's run by the city of L.A. it's far more out of control than Plummer Park a few blocks away, and the problems do spill over into the adjoining streets.(The streets right by Fairfax High see more crime between 3 pm and 7 pm, after school lets out, but I wouldn't consider them even close to being unsafe. That's an unfortunate effect of having an LAUSD comprehensive high school next door, you have more problems. ) Your reference to SM and Larabee as a "problematic corner" doesn't fit with my experience - unless you're referring to the Sheriffs station as being "problematic". No part of WeHo nor any part of Fairfax, IMO, is even close to Oakwood or Cadillac levels of danger.

Still, that doesn't explain the statistics on Ladera Heights at all - and those statistics certainly don't jibe with my personal experiences or perceptions, which are that it's a safe area.

On a final note, it's interesting that the two neighborhoods often mentioned as a model for how Westwood Village can reinvent itself - Larchmont and Los Feliz - have significantly more violent crime, although neither one's unsafe IMO at all. I mentioned earlier, however, that the Times' definition of Los Feliz includes parts of what I'd consider East Hollywood. The Times' definition of Larchmont includes parts of what I'd consider Koreatown, including some pretty heavy drug and prostitution corners like Beverly and St. Andrews. Those areas assuredly drive up the overall crime levels.

[disgruntled la native]

West WeHo (by the gay bars and Sunset Strip) is not dangerous as an area. It's really safe during the day and most of the time. But between the hours of midnight and 4 am, especially on a weekend, it can be dangerous. That's because the Crip from South Central who just happens to be gay is boozing it up on Santa Monica Blvd (or maybe he's visiting a favorite band at the Viper Room) and then he's angry and drunk and looking for trouble on the street. If we're just counting residents and day time life, that area is super safe. It's a tiny portion and all outsiders that cause the trouble.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

West WeHo (by the gay bars and Sunset Strip) is not dangerous as an area. It's really safe during the day and most of the time. But between the hours of midnight and 4 am, especially on a weekend, it can be dangerous. That's because the Crip from South Central who just happens to be gay is boozing it up on Santa Monica Blvd (or maybe he's visiting a favorite band at the Viper Room) and then he's angry and drunk and looking for trouble on the street.

Or when there are rap shows at the Key Club...

If we're just counting residents and day time life, that area is super safe. It's a tiny portion and all outsiders that cause the trouble.

I'd agree with this. It's Crips and Bros who cause the problems. (Long before the term "Bro" existed, OC white trash were blamed for problems occurring on the Strip - probably the dads of today's Bros.)
Bros from OC and the IE have recently discovered Echo Park (that stretch of Sunset is the "new Strip") and I've heard stories of them looking for trouble at bars and even trying to start fights with local cholos.

[nowincal11]

Originally Posted by majoun

Or when there are rap shows at the Key Club...



I'd agree with this. It's Crips and Bros who cause the problems. (Long before the term "Bro" existed, OC white trash were blamed for problems occurring on the Strip - probably the dads of today's Bros.)
Bros from OC and the IE have recently discovered Echo Park (that stretch of Sunset is the "new Strip") and I've heard stories of them looking for trouble at bars and even trying to start fights with local cholos.

On all these threads, finally someone stopped blaming a minority. Cholos normally don't bother you if you don't bother with them. I have no problem going thru gang areas because I know chances are I am safer there than out in some redneck neighborhood driving thru or stopping to eat.

Someone before said the LAPD at Dodger Stadium should just beat the gangster looking types, how about the LAPD goes hats and bats on the 909ers.