Echo Park vs. Westlake/McArthur Park (Los Angeles, Glendale: rent, homes, safe neighborhoods)

[Cida]

Where exactly is Echo Park, vis-a-vis Westlake McArthur Park, which I know is downtown L.A.? I was recently watching the movie "Chinatown" again, and realized that I'd wrongly assumed that the little scene of boating on the lake was in Westlake Park, whereas it's supposed to be Echo Park.

[7th]

First of all, that's cool. Chinatown is considered a classic LA film and the Central Library last year held a special screening in their venue.

Now, regarding their locations, they border each other and both are west of Downtown LA, particularly the Harbor Freeway and are in fact, two of the earlier suburban neighborhoods of Los Angeles. As a basic guide, Echo Park is north of Hollywood Freeway and Temple while Westlake is south.

Echo Park also contains the smaller enclaves Sunset Heights, Elysian Heights, Angelino Heights and Victor Heights/Figueroa Terrace (I still don't get what's different between these two). Temple-Beaudry is usually considered a part of Echo Park as well, while Historic Filipinotown is sometimes considered part of Westlake because it's south of the 101. Sunset Bl/Cesar E Chavez, Hollywood Freeway and Temple are the primary streets to and from DTLA. Metro buses 2, 4, and 704 passes through DTLA and Echo Park.

Westlake contains Rampart Village and is know for Central American enclaves by MacArthur Park. The main thoroughfares between Westlake and Downtown are 3rd, 6th and 7th Streets as well as Wilshire Bl. Metro bus 16, 18, 20, 720, 51, 52, 352 and both the Red and Purple lines of Metro rail pass by and serve areas both in Westlake and DTLA.

Regarding the boating scene, it is a bit easy to confuse both parks actually because at many points in time boating is allowed in the lakes of both parks. Currently, boating is prohibited in MacArthur Park after being reintroduced for a short time. You can still rent a boat in Echo Park lake since it was rehabilitated like some years ago. I think what's around the parks maybe clues to the location. Echo Park is hilly and the park is surrounded by neighborhoods with cute homes by these hills on Echo Park Ave and Glendale Bl. The landmark to look for is the Angelus Temple. MacArthur Park is relatively flat with mostly Latino businesses around it. Look for the tunnels passing under Wilshire Bl, Langer's deli or the iconic Westlake Theater sign to identify it.

Both neighborhoods are colorful and lively, with Echo Park being more "gentrified", hip and happening while MacArthur Park more gritty and raw. They are both safe neighborhoods though EP feels more alive at night. At the parks, MacArthur has lots of families, kids and men playing football, chess etc and junkies especially in the afternoon. In Echo Park, there are lots of joggers-yuppie-types, hipster types, Asian elderly etc in the morning. You will see families boating and having picnic on weekends too.

If you want to visit both, you can take Metro bus 200, which runs from Echo Park to Expo Park. It passes by Echo Park Ave, where the lake is, and Alvarado Street, where MacArthur Park is (subway entry is across the street. They really are a must-see neighborhoods and both parks will give you amazing skyline views by the water. Metro bus 603 (Glendale-LA Trade Tech) and DASH (Echo Park-Pico-Union) also passes by both Echo Park and MacArthur Park. They really are both very accessible.

[Cida]

Thanks for you kind detailed answer. If by the Central Library, you mean that gorgeous old building downtown, that would be a wonderful place to screen the movie.

Right, I was just curious about the lakes, not the neighborhoods. I'm not about to go - I'm not in L.A. - but was just curious. When I was little, I adored when my father used to take me on the Westlake Park little boats. It just never registered on me before that the Chinatown movies was using a totally different place. It would be fun to see it sometimes.

[7th]

You're welcome. I have lived in both neighborhoods and I can get a bit chatty when it comes to these places.

Yeah, Central Library is the nice looking one downtown. It is a pity that boating isn't allowed in Westlake anymore as it must have been fun to kids in the past generation. Do you happen to have photos of Westlake from way back?