Need Opinions Of West LA

[LASam]

Originally Posted by Icenet

I'm commuting to the valley.

Well, you'll have a reverse commute so traffic shouldn't be too big of a problem. I think it's kind of a cool part of town to live in. You have a lot of Japanese eateries around here, especially focused on Sawtelle near Olympic. The neighborhood is funkier around Santa Monica Blvd, and swankier around Wilshire since you are nearing Brentwood. You should be able to lease a 1-bedroom for around $1,150 a month in this area... maybe even less depending on the place. There's a couple art house theatres in the neighborhood, The Royal and The Nuart. For grocery shopping you have Ralphs and Trader Joes down at Barrington and Olympic. Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Century City, West Hollywood, and Culver City are all nearby. There's a nice big park, Stoner Park, in the neighborhood which they keep adding improvements to every year. I've been here 3 1/2 years and have had no problems with crime, and really haven't found the homeless to be that bad. There's a decent amount of immigrants around here, but I've had no issues with them. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

[LASam]

Originally Posted by smokingGun

West LA is also home to many many thrift stores too. And the Vons right on Barrington has to be the most sketch market I've been in forever. Old, nasty & creepy.

LOL, the Vons isn't creepy, it's just waaaaaaay too old. There are plans to demolish the current building and rebuild it. The Pavilions on Wilshire will close too to consolidate when this finally occurs.

[LASam]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

i looked at apartments in that area a few years ago and what i found was that street parking is terrible and that there are a lot of students that live in the area. generally, the area is pretty young, however, there is also a mix of low income immigrants, but i wouldn't call it an unsafe neighborhood. traffic can be bad, but hopefully you'll be nearby where ever you'll be commuting to.

Street parking is much better south of Santa Monica Blvd since you don't get all the Wilshire eaters/shoppers trying to park for free in the neighborhood.

[goldst]

I moved to this area about three months ago. to a front unit apartment, and so far it is just great.

Best location in L.A, amazing weather, lots of dining and bars within a short car ride, playgroung in a walking distance for the kid (Stoner park on Nebraska), friendly neighbors and the area is very quiet and safe at day or night and is clean for the most part.

I didn't see a single homeless in the last three months I was living here, not on the inner streets or in the main boulevards. I am not sure where that perception is coming from, maybe it used to be like that in the past but it is much improved now? There are few people that dig inside trash cans in the back alleys, but they only look for recycles and they don't leave any mess behind.

Also, there is always parking on the streets south of Santa Monica blvd.

There are many new buildings in the area that were over my budget (which was 2600 for a 3 bedrooms) that probably lure some strong population in.

As I work from home I could have chosen to live anywhere I liked in a decent proximity to an airport. I looked for a place for over a month, checking the valley (Agoura hills, tarzana, sherman oaks) , southbay (Redondo beach and Torrance), westwood, beverly adj, brentwood, santa monica, and found the perfect value for my money in west l.a 90025 zip code. Other places are more suburbans and family friendly perhaps, and I could have gotten a bigger house , but in order to get the feeling of L.A I decided on renting on the west side and being close to evrything L.A has to offer.

[readymade]

I lived right where you mention (right on Ohio near Butler), and I loved it. I felt totally safe, and it was near everything. I would move back there in a second. I personally wouldn't want to commute to the valley from there, however.

[Bruin5]

Live in the area. Ditto on the vagrants/ traffic is pretty bad on Ohio during the weekdays. On rainy days you will sometimes get people holding taking cover under coveredparking spaces (which I don't normally mind). I have, on occasion been woken up by vagrants yelling in the alley behind my apartment. It's not bad, but there are some seedy and unpleasent things in the area.

[West of Encino]

Originally Posted by smokingGun

I don't particularly like that area cause it's right across from the VA and you tend to get lots of homeless vets/vagrants that seem to wander the streets & alleyways. I think the area is also zoned for in-house alcoholic treatment & halfway homes for the mentally ill, so it doesn't give off a good vibe. Try moving downward toward Olympic where all the hip Asian eateries & Japanese pop-art galleries are. That Sawtelle area seems safer & more hip.

But isn't Sawtelle West LA? Where are the boundaries for Sawtelle?

[LASam]

Originally Posted by West of Encino

But isn't Sawtelle West LA? Where are the boundaries for Sawtelle?

Usually, people view Sawtelle as being a part of West LA. Technically, it is a seperate neighborhood between Santa Monica and the 405.