Are there "real" neighborhoods on the Westside?

[saybanana]

I use to live in Santa Monica about 10 years ago near Wilshire and 29th. I found the area along Wilshire near Douglas Park a great place to go, especially in the evening. There were always people walking, these tree lined streets. You see strollers, runners, little restaurants mixed in with franchise names with some bars in between. The nearby area is primarily apartments but a few blocks north are houses. There are many traffic lights so cars slow down considering it being a busy street. I use to commute to UCLA using the Big Blue Bus all the time. The roughest part of the bus trip is right when you get near the 405, Otherwise it flows well once you get away from the 405. You can get to the beach and 3rd street easily by bus or car if you feel you need more shopping and dining. I havent been around that area in 10 years so I dont know if it has changed.

Its more difficult to find real neighborhoods these days in most of Los Angeles county. People stop going to the small local theaters for those multiplexes. local hardware stores for the Home Depot. Mom and Pop groceries for Ralphs, Pavillions or Whole Foods, Small restaurants for fast food and name brand restaurants. Then these new stores placed parking lots right off the street and dont create a walkable place to go but rather a place to drive.

[JmanAA]

I thought Western Avenue was where the West side of LA started. It sure seemed that way when I lived in LA. Ofcourse, Western Ave. is where the 323 area code starts. I considered everything east of Western Ave. as being more in the downtown LA area. I guess many of you (and the people who write the phone books) consider the West side to be everything in the 310 area code, but that just doesn't seem right to me. The West side should (atleast) be considered everything west of Western Ave). Infact, we could even extend the boundary east to Vermont (which would put all of Koreatown on the West side as well).

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by JmanAA

I thought Western Avenue was where the West side of LA started. It sure seemed that way when I lived in LA. Ofcourse, Western Ave. is where the 323 area code starts. I considered everything east of Western Ave. as being more in the downtown LA area. I guess many of you (and the people who write the phone books) consider the West side to be everything in the 310 area code, but that just doesn't seem right to me. The West side should (atleast) be considered everything west of Western Ave). Infact, we could even extend the boundary east to Vermont (which would put all of Koreatown on the West side as well).

That seems a little extreme, the furthest I'd concede would be Highland, but even that is kind of a stretch IMO

[faunablues]

This poster didn't mean west of "Western." The name of the street has little to do with the dividing line for "west la" or the "westside" :|
On the topic of "real neighborhoods," I'd reconsider judgment of either West LA/Sawtelle and Westwood. There's both proximity to lots of businesses (and not necessarily chains, lots of small places) and nicer, treed areas. For WLA/Sawtelle I mean the blocks going west from Sawtelle Blvd, south of Santa Monica Blvd, north of Pico, and maybe ending around Bundy. Lots of nice little places there, and as far as ethnic stuff, there's Kosher, Persian, and Japanese things.

[7elephant7]

Originally Posted by faunablues

This poster didn't mean west of "Western." The name of the street has little to do with the dividing line for "west la" or the "westside" :|
On the topic of "real neighborhoods," I'd reconsider judgment of either West LA/Sawtelle and Westwood. There's both proximity to lots of businesses (and not necessarily chains, lots of small places) and nicer, treed areas. For WLA/Sawtelle I mean the blocks going west from Sawtelle Blvd, south of Santa Monica Blvd, north of Pico, and maybe ending around Bundy. Lots of nice little places there, and as far as ethnic stuff, there's Kosher, Persian, and Japanese things.

Also Korean, Thai, and some more..

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by faunablues

This poster didn't mean west of "Western." The name of the street has little to do with the dividing line for "west la" or the "westside" :|
On the topic of "real neighborhoods," I'd reconsider judgment of either West LA/Sawtelle and Westwood. There's both proximity to lots of businesses (and not necessarily chains, lots of small places) and nicer, treed areas. For WLA/Sawtelle I mean the blocks going west from Sawtelle Blvd, south of Santa Monica Blvd, north of Pico, and maybe ending around Bundy. Lots of nice little places there, and as far as ethnic stuff, there's Kosher, Persian, and Japanese things.

I think that is what he meant:

Originally Posted by JmanAA

"I thought Western Avenue was where the West side of LA started."

Either way, I agree that Western is not the dividing line. I also agree that there are neighborhoods on the West side, I like south Robertson and the Sawtelle area the most... Stumbled upon a really cool little Japanese bar waiting for the Nuart to open last weekend.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by munchitup

Either way, I agree that Western is not the dividing line. .

It was at one time (long before I was born)