Best area to live in downtown LA? (Los Angeles: apartment complexes, neighborhoods)

[Mpredrox]

I have a job waiting for me next month and will be moving out to Los Angeles. I’m looking into downtown because of proximity to my work place. A few apartment complexes have interested me. One is by Pershing Square, one is right in front of Union Station and one is in Little Tokyo. Which of these areas is best to live in? They are all close in price range. I am a 26 yr old female

[Astral_Weeks]

Originally Posted by Mpredrox

I have a job waiting for me next month and will be moving out to Los Angeles. I’m looking into downtown because of proximity to my work place. A few apartment complexes have interested me. One is by Pershing Square, one is right in front of Union Station and one is in Little Tokyo. Which of these areas is best to live in? They are all close in price range. I am a 26 yr old female

Generally speaking South Park and the Financial District are often touted as the most desirable (proximity to amenities, cleaner, less homelessness, etc.). Here is a link to a map showing the various neighborhoods in Downtown LA:

https://www.downtownla.com/makeityours/neighborhoods

That said, you'll be fine in any of the areas you noted. Personally, I am not a huge fan of the Union Station area as a RESIDENTIAL area. Just not a ton of housing there and more of a tourist district.

Little Tokyo is quite nice. Very walkable with lots of retail/restaurants. Also, lots of new residential has been built there in the last 10 years. I've had single female co-workers that lived there that liked it just fine.

[2Easy]

I'm biased but South Park is the best residential neighborhood downtown by a good margin. It's clean (by DTLA standards), has lots of new buildings with nice amenities, it's close to lots of shopping, entertainment, restaurants, bars, and jobs, and the homeless aren't out of control (again by DTLA standards).

The Arts District is nice but it's far from most of downtown. It's easier to get to downtown from Koreatown than it is from the Arts District. Little Tokyo is cool, but seems like an older crowd. Lots of retirees in many buildings. Historic Core has a bad and increasing homeless issue that affects quality of life and safety. The Financial District is dead outside business hours, except down by South Park. That part is really great, but it's more like South Park North. It has the same qualities as South Park, but with better access to nearly everything, but more congestion and higher rents.

You may want to consider Koreatown. It's only 3 or 4 stops away by the purple line and has tons of restaurants and other things. It's very congested and has homelessness but off the main streets it can be very quiet. It's also cheaper than the neighborhoods downtown, with a large variety of older and new buildings.