Moving from Seattle to LA - any bustling, pedestrian areas? (Los Angeles: apartments, home)

[SebastianCalhoun]

I'll be relocating from Seattle to LA later this year for work. I've only been to LA once for an extended weekend about a year ago. In that time I hit downtown to see a Kings game, but was crashing in San Pedro. In other words, I didn't do a ton of exploring LA proper. So I've got an open mind.

In Seattle there are several hoods with bustling, walkable nightlife - Belltown, Capitol Hill, Ballard, Lower Queen Anne, Pike Place/Post Alley area, etc. I personally live in Lower Queen Anne, and value being able to walk out of my apartment and have a pretty decent selection of cafes/bars/venues etc. nearby. Easy to have a night out without fussing with a car or public transport.

Hell even when I lived in Austin, TX there were a couple walkable, lively districts (SoCo and downtown). And Texas overall isn't exactly known for density.

I realize LA is its own thing and that in aggregate, cars a a very real necessity (I'll have a car in LA, for the record).

But I don't think most people's experience in any given city is necessarily representative of the overall average. In other words, it's sometimes more useful to think of people of living in neighborhoods, not cities. For example: overall, the city of Seattle is very caucasian and doesn't have a ton of ethnic diversity. But if you live in the International District or the Columbia City neighborhood, your experience would be the inverse of the overall city average.

So I'm not asking if LA is overall walkable and pedestrian (we all know by most metrics, it's not), but rather focusing on particular neighborhoods. Since my work will have me driving around town to see clients, I'm looking at the Downtown / Echo Park / K-town type areas - close to freeways which is good for work, and they seem interesting.

So in those areas, are there any particular neighborhoods / streets that you'll find an active, bustling pedestrian vibe on the weekends? For what it's worth I'm a 31 year old single male.

I look forward to the move and to the adventure it represents. The rain here is murder and begs you to stay inside, so it's hard not to fetishize the idea of a sunny southern CA city!

[Texamichiforniasota]

Sure, there are many neighborhoods where a lot of things can be done on foot, both in the city of LA and in some other cities like Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Long Beach or Pasadena. Wherever the largest share of your client base is, or if you have a main office that you'll be based out of, you probably want to live near there. If you're literally all over LA County, there are a lot of neighborhoods and cities that would probably work.

In general, many neighborhoods in the flats west and north of downtown will work all the way to Santa Monica and MDR. Several of the beach cities have neighborhoods that would fit the bill as well. The other thing to consider in commuting patterns in LA is there are more people headed West from downtown than east towards it in the AM, but in general traffic is terrible in both directions. You don't get the reverse commute bonus that you do in a lot of other US cities, unless you are headed east towards the SGV.

[Salmonista]

I can't speak for DTLA, but if you want to venture east, Pasadena - particularly the "Old Town" area is supremely walkable.

[Peasy973]

Originally Posted by Salmonista

I can't speak for DTLA, but if you want to venture east, Pasadena - particularly the "Old Town" area is supremely walkable.

I concur with this statement. South Pasadena is also another walkable area around the Metro Gold Line station on Mission.

[saybanana]

The thing with the LA area that many people may not understand is how incredibly huge and spread out it is, not just in size and sprawl, but everything in general. Museums are spread all over. Nightlife is spread all over. Major shopping areas. Beaches. Hiking activites. Sport venues.

Because everything is so spread out and so many choices to go, it never feels super packed and crowded with a lively pedestrian vibe. PlThere are a few places that always is crowded like Hollywood Blvd with then thousands of tourists. Also Venice Boardwalk or Santa Monica pier/promenade. or the Grove shopping mall.

Also I find compared to other cities, LA is a lot more homebody. Maybe it is because many have large housing square footage. Some with front and backyards. I think many people like staying home, BBQ with friends in their backyards. Sit and relax at home after doing a few errands, or exercise. There is not much need to go out all the time and socialize esp on weekdays/nights. Because traffic is bad, not many want to venture out too far from home so they either stay home or go local.

So beside that point, out of the 3 places you listed, Downtown is probably the best place for you to live for the lifestyle you want. Walkable, nightlife, pedestrian activity. Downtown is not a singular neighborhood but a collection of districts and neighborhoods spread out over a large area. But most of these areas are connected to each other. I like Arts District and Little Tokyo areas. Most buildings are in the 5-7 story range. It is compact but not overpowering compared to Historic Core, South Park, Financial District where there are huge skyscrapers and highrises or buildings in the 8-12 story range. But with so many tall building, more people, more business, more cafes, more restaurants, bars, etc. Chinatown is starting to grow, but most businesses close at 5 or 6pm and the area dies except restaurants Most are Chinese owned and attended. But not much nightlife.

Echo Park is a large residential community with its main commercial corridor on Sunset Blvd. Most people live in 2-3 story apartments or single family housing. There are some places to go eat or have coffee. Some shops. Mix of hipster and latino immigrants/2nd gen. 2-3 miles from Downtown's center, and 1 mile from Silver Lake. Not too far from other options but dont except a lot in Echo Park in general.

Koreatown is largely run down with old housing stock lots of poorer residentis, except for the main Wilshire Corridor where many office skyscrapers are located and newer higher end housing. Most businesses in Koreatown are Korean owned and catered. Lots of Korean restaurants, noraebang, saunas, coffeeshops, shops, grocers, etc. So if you are looking for variety or even national chains like lots of Starbucks, CVS, hipster type places, Koreatown has much less of these compared to other neighborhood areas like Hollywood, Santa monica Downtown.

[Cloudwalker]

Check out the Fairfax/Beverly Grove area, roughly bounded by La Cienega, Fairfax, W Third St and Melrose. Lots of young, creative people, plenty of bars and restaurants, theatres and cinemas, very walkable. Not too far from freeway (which is not to say that traffic can’t get nutty around there).

DTLA - spent a bit of time there in the last few months. There are definitely some cool places there (bars, music venues, sports, restaurants, galleries, etc) and it is walkable, but...Maybe I’m showing my age, but it can still be pretty “gritty”. The streets are filthy (human and animal feces, urine, trash everywhere), discarded needles, people with some pretty erratic behavior. I don’t really have many qualms going there, including to concerts and plays by myself at night (I’m a woman in my fifties) but it’s not an environment I would want to actually live in.

Venice is also cool, but parts of it have many of the same problems as DTLA. They are both areas that are struggling under the weight of trying to figure out how to compassionately address the homeless situation while also addressing the very real concerns of its housed residents. And that’s not even bringing traffic and tourists into play.

Silverlake and Los Feliz are other areas you should look at, but traffic to other parts of LA might be a turn off.

[pwright1]

First off moving here from Seattle myself you will not have any problem finding dense walkable neighborhoods like Lower Queen Anne.
Second Koreatown is not Beverly Hills but it is far from rundown. It is the most densely populated neighborhood in Los Angeles. It has 2 subway stops, 24hr metrobus service. Did anyone say chains? It has TMobile, Sprint, Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tealeaf, a 24hr CVS, a 24hr Walgreens, a 24hr Ralphs supermarket and many other chains. The good thing imo is that it has many non chain businesses and tons of non chain places to eat. Plus many restaurants are open very late. Even Anthony Bourdain did a feature on the hot growing Koreatown restaurant scene.

[saybanana]

OK I'll take it back that Koreatown being run down. It isn't run down. There are tons of other areas in LA that look and feel run down. Koreatown is more in the middle compared to many parts of LA