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It's scattered and many of the "nodes" are weak and less vibrant than SF's too. Santa Monica? Venice? The streets there are dead with few people out and about in comparison. In typical LA fashion they're just spread too far apart to create the vibrancy you see in other cities nightlife nodes.
I'm saying scattered in a relative comparison, but I think I failed to clarify that scattering might be better said as relatively sparse. You're not too likely to bar hop from Silver Lake to Downtown as it's a bit of a pain which isn't that far of a distance.
The vast majority of nightlife in NYC is also geared towards locals, which also seems to be the case for NOLA and Chicago, as there is nightlife everywhere in very dense clumps in multiple places and then sparser, but within walking distance of many throughout many neighborhoods. There certainly exists nightlife areas filled with tourists and visitors, but there are many more that are not. The large variety of nightlife with different kinds of setups, vibes, people, etc. with many in easy walking or transit distance is what makes hopping from one place to another fun and that doesn't need to include tourists at all.
I'm from the area and I end up visiting LA about three to a half dozen times a year. Since I went to school there, I've got some friends who stayed in the area and know someone living in every neighborhood you've mentioned save for Newport and have gone out in all these places. LA's nightlife's definitely gotten a lot better with the growth of downtown and the advent of rideshare and I've done nights going from Thai Town to Arts District to Koreatown a few times which in earlier years would have been either a real schlep or a disaster, so it's better, but I think you need to spend a significant amount of time elsewhere to kind of understand how it compares.
You're not an LA native, for starters and I don't live there anymore.
And your vastly exaggerating night life in Chicago and NOLA, which is not *everywhere*.
That being said, sure it's harder to bar hop from Silver Lake to DTLA despite the short distance. But the exact same thing can be said if your trying to barhop from Haight to the Mission in SF, despite close proximity.
Manhattan is the only place with nightlife like LA in dense setting. But even then, there are vast dead zones in Staten Island, Queens, and the Bronx.
Same goes for Chicago. Most of the action there is from the the neighborhoods surrounding downtown. But there are total deadzones on the south and west sides. And the suburbs there are dead.
So your notion that LA's nightlife has gotten better is sophmoric. LA and NYC have had the best nightlife for 100 years. It's the transit that has gotten better in LA.
Last edited by WizardOfRadical; 08-29-2018 at 09:59 AM..
The Bay Area and its not even close. L.A. is grossly overrated ans dead. The must action snd hustle and bustle is the traffic on the freeway. Doesnt come close to The City
Yes it does. SF can get old after awhile with the tolls, too chilly for the season weather, more visible homeless, etc. The Bay Area in general, outside of the City and a few small parts of the East Bay (some Oakland, some Berkeley) is average. Plus SF has some bad traffic too. It can take 45 minutes to go from the west to east side of SF. There's just way more to do in LA. I always enjoy my time in the Bay but after a couple of days, I'm ready to head back to LA. Plus it gets too chilly in SF and I always seem to forget a jacket when I go in late August - September. I do enjoy how there's more scenery built into the Bay Area metro than in LA where it's further away for the most part.
It's scattered and many of the "nodes" are weak and less vibrant than SF's too. Santa Monica? Venice? The streets there are dead with few people out and about in comparison. In typical LA fashion they're just spread too far apart to create the vibrancy you see in other cities nightlife nodes.
Santa Monica and Venice dead? HAHAHAHAHAA said no one ever.
Hell, just walking along the beach in Venice is more vibrant than 90% of SF unless SF is having it's gay parade that day.
Concord, now that's DEAD AS A DOORNAIL.
Shopping? Hmmm we have lovely Rodeo Drive, versus Union Square where you have homeless people pooing in the street. Yep, real tough choice there hahaha
Last edited by WizardOfRadical; 08-29-2018 at 10:10 AM..
It's scattered and many of the "nodes" are weak and less vibrant than SF's too. Santa Monica? Venice? The streets there are dead with few people out and about in comparison. In typical LA fashion they're just spread too far apart to create the vibrancy you see in other cities nightlife nodes.
Huh? You basically bump shoulders in both places and there are lines out of the door at some restaurants/bars too. The tourists staying in these areas flood the streets. I really think some of the nodes in LA could compete with the entirety of nightlife in the City of SF. West Hollywood alone can compete with any section of SF. All together, it's not even a comparison. I like SF now but let's be real here. It's a small city and the Bay in general is half the size of Greater LA. It's not going to have as many options (or as diverse of options) because of that AND because it doesn't have that entertainment tilt that LA has.
Santa Monica and Venice dead? HAHAHAHAHAA said no one ever.
Hell, just walking along the beach in Venice is more vibrant than 90% of SF unless SF is having it's gay parade that day.
Concord, now that's DEAD AS A DOORNAIL.
Shopping? Hmmm we have lovely Rodeo Drive, versus Union Square where you have homeless people pooing in the street. Yep, real tough choice there hahaha
In comparison to the dense, urban nightlife districts you find in SF and other urban cities yes they are relatively dead with few pedestrians out and about. The bars are spread father apart and you just don't see many people on the street.
Concord? Um ok, nobody was talking about it or claimed anything about it. What a bitterly bizarre thing to bring up lol.
Yes Rodeo Dr is very nice, not being in the ratchet city of LA is probably why. Does the urban core of LA even have high end stores?
Huh? You basically bump shoulders in both places and there are lines out of the door at some restaurants/bars too. The tourists staying in these areas flood the streets. I really think some of the nodes in LA could compete with the entirety of nightlife in the City of SF. West Hollywood alone can compete with any section of SF. All together, it's not even a comparison. I like SF now but let's be real here. It's a small city and the Bay in general is half the size of Greater LA. It's not going to have as many options (or as diverse of options) because of that AND because it doesn't have that entertainment tilt that LA has.
The bars there aren't that concentrated. Some could but most are pretty below par when compared to SF and other urban cities. Again its just the spread out nature of LA. Yeah LA is bigger with more options but its also more spread out and less vibrant. Still very much an auto-oriented city.
The bars there aren't that concentrated. Some could but most are pretty below par when compared to SF and other urban cities. Again its just the spread out nature of LA. Yeah LA is bigger with more options but its also more spread out and less vibrant. Still very much an auto-oriented city.
But that's probably not even the main nightlife area for LA. I'd say Hollywood/West Hollywood is that and you can't tell me that place is not vibrant. There's almost always a couple of acts playing somewhere, a boatload of tourists, and quite a few locals. Hollywood/WH can compete with any spot in SF quite easily as far as vibrancy goes. This isn't even mentioning Downtown LA, Ventura Bl in the Valley, Long Beach, Pasadena, etc. All things considered, nightlife in SF just isn't very big which is okay!
But that's probably not even the main nightlife area for LA. I'd say Hollywood/West Hollywood is that and you can't tell me that place is not vibrant. There's almost always a couple of acts playing somewhere, a boatload of tourists, and quite a few locals. Hollywood/WH can compete with any spot in SF quite easily as far as vibrancy goes. This isn't even mentioning Downtown LA, Ventura Bl in the Valley, Long Beach, Pasadena, etc. All things considered, nightlife in SF just isn't very big which is okay!
I never suggested it was. Yes I would agree than Hollywood/WH are and they're very vibrant, I never said otherwise. Outside those two areas though the other nightlife nodes just aren't that vibrant in comparison. This basically follows urban vibrancy overall in LA, mediocre when compared to your typical urban city.
I never suggested it was. Yes I would agree than Hollywood/WH are and they're very vibrant, I never said otherwise. Outside those two areas though the other nightlife nodes just aren't that vibrant in comparison. This basically follows urban vibrancy overall in LA, mediocre when compared to your typical urban city.
In my experience over the past few years:
Hollywood/West Hollywood - no explanation needed
Downtown - vibrant and getting more vibrant with each month it feels like
Koreatown - very vibrant on the weekends especially, colorful, and can get pretty crowded
Santa Monica/Venice - pretty damn vibrant with diverse walks of life
Long Beach - can be vibrant if there's stuff going on but otherwise, it's low-key
Pasadena - the same as Long Beach but with slightly more class
I don't have much experience along Ventura in the Valley.
You can take rail to explore the first three pretty closely. If you're feeling adventurous, you can head to SM on rail too. The first two alone dwarf what SF has. Throw in Koreatown and that's the Bay Area.
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