What is the appeal of the west side?

[BarcelonaFan]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

ok, well you're getting philosophical and absolute there. what I meant is the neighborhoods of LA can't be compared to NYC. There is no equivalent to the lower east side in LA, and there is no hollywood hills in NYC, for example. Where is the "Beverly Hills" of NYC? The Brookyln of LA?

I would think Rodeo in Beverly Hills would be 5th Avenue.

I also would compare SoHo, NoHo to Melrose going on down til you reach Beverly Hills. I mean of course it's an LA version of the NYC counterpart but for the most part LA does remind of NYC the most while retaining it's own character.

[Jonah1979]

Originally Posted by 1200RT

Have you ever lived in Burbank?

I worked there for about 5 years (Disney)...lived in Pasadena.

[woodsart]

Originally Posted by cityKing

the appeal? LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION.

You are close the biggest things in Los Angeles, downtown/hollywood/the valley, santa monica +other beaches nearby, the airport

the closer in you get by the coast the weather even gets better. You also are located on more hilly terrain.

The west side is where all the party is at and the amenities around there are all top notch world class.

If you have money to blow and want to live it up in Los Angeles, the westside is where you wanna be.

I both agree and disagree.

Living on the Eastside, I am much more accessible to DTLA and Hollywood than I would be if I were on the Westside. DTLA is maybe 10 minutes, and Hollywood maybe 20 minutes from my house, and I rarely hit a lot of traffic. I can hop on the Metro and be at either one without driving or parking. One of my best friends lived on the Westside and it took forever to get anywhere from her house in West LA -- just to get to the freeway was a battle. I'm also closer to the valley than she was, if you look at time rather than distance. I drive to Northridge for work and through virtually no traffic, compared to sitting still on the 405. I can get almost anywhere from here with little difficulty as long as I'm not going past DTLA on the 110. But yeah, she was closer to the airport and beaches. I could care less about the airport, because the 405 tends to suck to drive anyway. From here, I can be there almost as quickly on the shuttle from Union Station and get there without driving at all.

The weather is better on the Westside (at least to me), but I live next to a hill. We are surrounded by hills on the Eastside, plus we have the big mountains. There are hills everywhere you look. You can easily live on a hill and it doesn't cost you a fortune, and you get a view of the entire downtown region if you're oriented right.

I've considered moving to the Westside because I like the beach and the air quality is better, but those are the only two reasons. I'm not a huge fan of the flat, mostly concrete without trees, expanse of the Westside. And it is such a bad drive to anywhere. The surface streets and 405 are clogged to the max. Going crosstown or getting out of the area at all is a nightmare, especially on a Friday night.

The area I'm in Eagle Rock/Highland Park/South Pas is covered in trees and hills, crammed with little distinctive downtowns with their own characters, and extremely commutable to the Valley (work) and Hollywood/DTLA (play).

That said, if I could afford to live in something nice within walking distance of the beach, I'd do it. But I can't. And for me, no amount of being closer to the beach (yet unwalkable), would make up for the crazy commute, lack of parking, crappy housing options, and lack of trees and charm.

Both areas have their good and bad, and yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the heat and smog here on the Eastside. But man, it is hard to beat the proximity to everything combined with more space, more quaint historic housing, more trees and hills, and less traffic.