Westsiders: Have you been to the Eastern parts of LA? (Los Angeles: apartment, movers)

[hipcat]

Im wondering if any of you who live on the westside have ventured east of La Brea. Like Downtown, the Hollywood district, or anywhere else east of La Brea.

[PDF]

I'd be more curious if the opposite were true. I've met many people here who live in those areas yet never venture out to the Westside.

[disgruntled la native]

^Thats more the case.

I live in the Westside, born and raised, but work east of La Brea, so I am east of La Brea for several hours a day. I've also spent a TON of time in Hollywood/Studio City for work and socialization. Downtown not so much.

But a lot of Westside natives won't go too east unless its for a special event, like concert tickets in Downtwon (Staples or disney hall), hollywood bowl, griffith park, etc.

[hockfan86]

I live on the Westside and I spend a majority of my time slightly north of Downtown as that is where I work. I also have a lot of friends in Burbank and Hollywood. I rarely go more than two days without spending time east of West Hollywood.

[BarcelonaFan]

Well since there is a bit of class/income divide between the two I can see how the two camps don't go past La Brea. I mean it's not like there is Berlin Wall or anything, but it's probably like asking if Manhattanites generally party in Brooklyn or the Bronx. Sometimes yes, but generally probably not.

[hipcat]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

Well since there is a bit of class/income divide between the two I can see how the two camps don't go past La Brea. I mean it's not like there is Berlin Wall or anything, but it's probably like asking if Manhattanites generally party in Brooklyn or the Bronx. Sometimes yes, but generally probably not.

I regularly ride the Metro on Wilshire, and the buses are usually crammed with people coming from Koreatown/Downtown/Eastside going to Westside to work. Santa Monica gets a grip of vistors from all over LA too. I bet thiers more Eastsiders going to the Westside than the other way around.

[BRinSM]

When I lived on the westside I spent very little time elsewhere. I had no issues with areas east, the attraction just wasn't great enough to lure me out of my neighborhood all that often. Now that I'm in the valley, the same holds true. Almost everything I need is within a few miles of my house (including work) so I'm rarely on the westside any more.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by hipcat

Im wondering if any of you who live on the westside have ventured east of La Brea. Like Downtown, the Hollywood district, or anywhere else east of La Brea.

I've been to downtown and Hollywood. I usually avoid those areas if I can, however.

[nighthouse66]

WOW.
i have to say i am completely gobsmacked that i am hearing NO one speak up for the eastside. I have lived here, worked here and been a part of an artists' "collective" in lincoln heights for going on five years now. i first came here in 2008 after having lived in venice for a couple of years, and it was a bit of a shocker. i had grown used to raw food and weird boutiques and surfers and trust fund babies. all i had heard about was stuff about how horrible and hard and gang-ridden the eastside was. then i moved into this victorian here in what is the oldest neighborhood in los angeles (look it up) and over time i completely, utterly fell in love with it. i am QUITE happy that my hood and its environs has a bad rep. you can actually still get decent cheap places on what are really absurdly safe streets. boyle heights and monterey park have beautiful parks, fantastic old homes, and close knit neighborhoods. and montecito heights is a JEWEL, green rolling hills and the best view of downtown that beats griffith park all to hell. and i see the same faces here year after year in the stores, and i know people's names. its easy to do here, have a feeling of community with down-to-earth people who aren't full of crap.

the thing is that westsiders tend to be much more part of some sort of "scene". they have pretensions. they have their boho screwed on perfectly. they have a "thing" and they came here from kansas or georgia or new york to "be" in los angeles. disproportionately that is what makes up the westside. movers and shakers and thinkers. fashion designers and video game developers and aspiring actors and whatnot.

but the eastside is everyone else, getting by. working on their grubstake. raising families. taking care of stuff. that is a gross oversimplification, but disproportionately true. and there are plenty of creative, wacky, artistic people over here, but in a largely working class neighborhood i find that the artists i meet are much more focused, much less flakey and have fewer resources to work with than the venice kids i knew. ergo, its got more heart. and they are doing it in between working a real job and probably raising a kid and they are still planting gardens and making art and starting radio shows and doing tattoos etc..

and the unspoken thing i think that goes on when people come to eastside or central neighborhoods is the gritty urbanity of it. but the thing people just forget over and over about los angeles is that the main drags are not where the beauty lies. if you want to see something you have to go on the side streets. the way urbanity and suburbanity nestle next to each other in this city is really amazing. venice boulevard and washington boulevard on the westside aren't much to look at going down em, but traverse those neighborhoods as a pedestrian and you will discover amazing vistas gardens and houses and parks. the eastside is no different. i am always turning people on to little spots i have found and i am always finding more.

i think that if you have not came down to the eastside and really reckoned with it you can't say you know anything about los angeles. this is where it all began in many respects. the gangs are really under control and most people everywhere just want to be left alone. they know where that stuff leads. there is a feeling in general about the whole gangsta ethos, that its a dead end. people are finding other things to do now. alot of people have gone to jail and came out and been forbidden from associating with "known criminals" as a condition of their parole, so now you have riverside and san bernadino counties chock full of ex-cons. around here its pretty quite, WEIRDLY so, whereas in venice there was always a random gunshot or a helicopter hovered over your apartment building all summer. i am honestly more afraid of the crustpunks and homeless kids in venice than i have ever been here of some tattooed vato in a dodgers cap. i know its not everyone's cup of tea, but people are missing a whole deeper dimension of los angeles if they just disregard the eastside or be afraid of it. not everyplace has to be like west LA. i would move if it were.

[EclecticEars]

I live in near San Francisco, not Los Angeles, but I will say this: I get the sense that nighthouse66 is correct.

In my trips to L.A., I have enjoyed the San Gabriel Valley (in particular), San Fernando Valley and north OC in a way that I just have not with the west side. Frankly, I've encountered the most stuck up/angriest vibe on the west side that I have anywhere in California (or at least tied with San Francisco and Marin). Much of the rest of the LA area is home to much more down to Earth people, in my experience.

I will say this for snobs and "wannabes": they tend to not want to venture out to the "dirty" or "ghetto" or "boring" areas. Many San Franciscans don't want to venture out to Oakland (although that is changing somewhat), San Mateo or San Jose. Likewise, maybe the west side snobs don't want to venture too much out to the valleys, which might be all the better for the actual residents.