Where's the Nightlife in LA? (Glendale, Pasadena: rent, lofts, condos)

[emederos]

Hi everybody,

I'm looking to move to LA sometime soon and part of my decision-making in looking for a place is that it be within walking distance of some good nightlife. (bars, restaurants, etc.)

Right now i'm looking at downtown lofts; but, I must admit this stems mainly from me liking city living and wanting to be in the middle of it all. Realistically, I don't know if this is the best area for nightlife.

I pull down about 6k a month, so rent isn't really much of an issue, to a certain extent. But I wanted to know where, in your opinion, the best nightlife is in LA.

To help you in responding, I'll give you my demographic:

30 year old professional.
Like loft/condo/high-rise living
I'm a lounge/bar fly. (in other words I prefer lounges and bars to clubs)
Like to be "in the middle of it all".

Thanks for your help, everyone.

[redturtle]

There is no "middle of it all" in LA because that's not how the city is - it's very different than just about any city in the US that way.

It's more a collection of smaller cities/enclaves. Reason why folks don't cluster in one area is because it's so spread out and traffic is enough of a hassle that you will spend most of your time within a 10-15 mile radius (and only venture out of that once in a while).

For example, you want to live downtown. Thing is, folks who live on the west side (Santa Monica, Venice, Culver, the beaches, etc.) will not make it out to downtown all that often, and vice versa (you will not be heading to the westside every weekend either).

Your friends and social circle will be dictated by where you live. Get used to it.

Again, there's pockets of nightlife everywhere in LA, but where you end up going will be dictated by where you live and work.

Even for people living in Pasadena (not that far away from downtown) or Silverlake/Echo Park, they may not head downtown as often as you'd think. It's a different crowd.

From what you want (lounges, lofts/condos/high rises, etc.) downtown is probably the place for you, but know that it's just one of many different enclaves in LA and not some "hot spot" where everyone goes to (because again there is no true center or neighborhood where all the action is - it's spread out in pockets everywhere across the entire county).

[emederos]

so are the areas in LA defined by their population? For example. Is downtown where the young professionals are? West hollywood for the artistic and gay community, Some other place for the hipsters, etc?

Not trying to sound ignorant, just curious.

[redturtle]

Downtown is really a hodgepodge. It's a relatively new development (or redevelopment, to be precise) where there has been a lot of condo development in the last 10 years. So for a while, it felt more like living in your own Truman Show where everything seemed a bit too prefab, or like you were living in a condo developer's model neighborhood (i.e. the neighborhood didn't grow organically, but was "developed"). Only in the last few years has there been more of a sense of community.

Office professionals (young or otherwise) live all over the place. Some live on the westside, others in the valley, some downtown, some in Hollywood, some in Pasadena, Glendale, MidWilshire, etc.

Yes, West Hollywood has a large gay population - but within that there's still a mix of all kinds of gays (its not like they're all wearing tiaras all the time and work in fashion).

Focus more on finding a place to live that makes your commute to work the least painful. Traffic will have a far bigger impact on your quality of life here in LA than just about anything else. In other words, you can find people to hang out with in just about any neighborhood, but you can't make traffic go faster at will. Too many people coming here seem to resist this idea and insist on living in a certain area, only to find out that traffic ends up negating the benefit of living in that area ("I insist on living in Manhattan Beach even though I work downtown!").

[JohnG72]

Have you walked around downtown at night?

There's at least 50 bars/lounges downtown.

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by emederos

Hi everybody,

I'm looking to move to LA sometime soon and part of my decision-making in looking for a place is that it be within walking distance of some good nightlife. (bars, restaurants, etc.)

Right now i'm looking at downtown lofts; but, I must admit this stems mainly from me liking city living and wanting to be in the middle of it all. Realistically, I don't know if this is the best area for nightlife.

I pull down about 6k a month, so rent isn't really much of an issue, to a certain extent. But I wanted to know where, in your opinion, the best nightlife is in LA.

.

If you want to live within walking distance to nightlife and live in an area with 30-something professionals I would consider the following areas:

1. Downtown LA
2. Santa Monica
3. Hollywood
4. Old Town Pasadena

LA is a more spread out (mult-centered) city but the above are areas where you can live and walk to various nightlife destinations. Santa Monica has the added benefit of being walkable to the beach. Downtown LA and Hollywood have the added benefit of being walking distance to subway/rail lines. Pasadena is close to the Gold Line (light rail).

[emederos]

I used to live in LA when I was a child; but, obviously I don't recall much and i'm sure it was way different back then. Also, I clearly wasn't enjoying LA the same way I would as an adult. I haven't been back to LA since I left maaaannnnyy years ago. I just wanted to get an idea of the demographic of people and where they tend to reside. I grew up in Miami so i'm not averse to any group. I'm used to living in a hodgepodge setting.

[SlowMotionApocalypse]

What kind of nightlife? Me? I am totally into the music scene but never very into "hanging out." Downtown has been amazing the past few years, mainly for a few places that host the kind of bands I am into (garage, rock, punk etc). 2nd place Echo Park. Mainly because I can get to those places on 1 bus. Hollywood/ West Hollywood is still happening to a lesser degree but I rarely go unless it's a touring band I rarely get to see. Just a hassle dealing with it.

[emederos]

I'm looking namely for lounges or upscale bars. Places where you can get dressed up and talk to pretty girls and where you don't feel like a creep if you have to hang out at the bar by yourself. (read: you can chat it up with a sociable bartender).

[A1Lexo]

House parties