Living in Los Angeles: Venice, CA
Known for its boho-chic, Venice is a casually eclectic, sunnily artsy beach town in Los Angeles.
Stroll shopping district Abbot Kinney and window shop everything from crowded antique and vintage stores to carefully edited boutiques of high-end independent designers; walk alongside the Venice Canals and face neighboring cozy craftsman homes and shining minimalist modern houses; dine at an Asian fusion bistro or snag take-out at a homestyle Chinese hipster dive.
Live in Venice and see Los Angeles’ high-end design meet its hipster street.
Living in Los Angeles: Studio City, CA
Ventura Blvd. winds through most of the San Fernando Valley, and plays as Studio City’s main street.
Cruise on Ventura Blvd. and see designer boutique shopping sprinkled between major chain stores, breeze by Starbucks and four-star sushi dives, glimpse multi-million dollar homes in Studio City’s hills to your side, keep driving southeast until Ventura Blvd. morphs into Cahuenga Blvd., and land in Hollywood’s heart and hustle, and understand Studio City:
Hollywood’s casual glam softened by suburban convenience.
Living in Los Angeles: Westwood, CA
While Los Angeles neighborhood Westwood is famously home to UCLA’s sprawling campus and most definitely a college town, Westwood is equally a glossy business district of skyscraper offices and penthouse apartments.
With Wilshire Blvd. as its backbone, Westwood is a central district of Los Angeles, and equally centered in its university fame and multi-million-dollar high-rise real estate: Westwood Village is a cozy shopping district both bustling late night while one of the safest parts of Los Angeles, Westwood Village is both In N’ Out and Nappa Valley Grille, Westwood is a few minutes west of glitzy Beverly Hills and south of hipster Sawtelle.
Living in Los Angeles: San Marino, CA
With one of the best public school systems in Los Angeles, a disinterest in chains (could this be the one neighborhood in Los Angeles with only one Starbucks?), and a dedication to cultivating a quiet community, San Marino is small-town smart in the middle of Los Angeles’ entertainment-centered metro.
Home to railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington’s estate - now a public library and park - , San Marino still has a bit of back East old school charm and manners: in place of Barnes & Noble is the San Marino Toy & Book Shoppe, grocery boutique and takeout cafe Julienne’s idea of a hamburger is dressed in Gruyere cheese and caramelized onions, and San Marino is locally famed for its decorating the St. Albans Rd.’s tall trees with Christmas lights come holiday season.
Living in Los Angeles: Hancock Park, CA
Nestled between Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and downtown Los Angeles, Hancock Park is quiet, glammy, convenience in LA.
Sometimes called “Old Beverly Hills,” Hancock Park first began thriving in the 1920’s and 30’s, when many of Hancock Park’s classic Spanish- and Mediterranean-style homes were built by some of the most prominent architects of the time. Conservative in comparison to the rest of Los Angeles, Hancock Park’s tree-lined neighborhoods surrounding the Wilshire Country Club are complemented by Larchmont Blvd., a strip of boutique shopping and star-sprinkled al fresco dining.
Living in Los Angeles: Long Beach, CA
Surfing? Check. Mexicali taco dives? Check. College beach town scene? Check.
Thriving arts district?
Check.
It’s easy to cruise through Long Beach on a weekend and vibe a twenty-something-year-old’s partyland, but slip down the eastern side of downtown Long Beach to its East Village, and discover boutiques selling everything from mid-century antiques to custom sneakers to hundred-dollar designer denim. Catch Long Beach Transit’s free Village Tour D’art and view the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, Long Beach Sports Arena, the Art Deco Breakers Hotel, the Museum of Latin American Art, the Oceanic Art Museum, historical churches, shop Long Beach Promenade shopping centers, and dine in Long Beach’s West Village.
Metro meets surf?
Check.
Living in Los Angeles: South Bay
The southwest corner of Los Angeles County, the South Bay includes all of Los Angeles’ Beach Cities - Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach - and all LA communities west of Long Beach, south of the 105 freeway.
The Beach Cities - or Bay Cities - are some of the best known cities in South Bay, mostly due to their renowned beaches - silky sands, clear waves, and pleasant piers - and the lifestyle the beaches create - think sunning, surfing, and skating the Strand, a paved path that runs along the beach from Redondo Beach north to Santa Monica. South Bay’s Beach Cities go metro, too - downtown Redondo Beach hosts wine-tasting galleries and boutique fashion.
Living in Los Angeles: Pasadena, CA
Probably most famous for its Rose Bowl football games and Rose Parade, Pasadena is the cultural center of Los Angeles’ San Gabriel Valley, and heavy with Los Angeles history.
Home to southern California’s first freeway - the 110 Pasadena Freeway - Pasadena was early a resort town for wealthy Easterners. This Pasadena past melts into its present as you tour the city: the arts and crafts Gamble House, home of David Gamble of Proctor & Gamble, is a now a tourist attraction; the railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington’s estate (actually adjacent to Pasadena, in San Marino) is open as the Huntington Library and gardens; and the Wrigley mansion - home of William Wrigley Jr. of Wrigley chewing gum - houses Rose Parade headquarters.
The Tournament of Roses’ Rose Bowl is also a historic landmark, and aside from hosting football games, once a month it plays home to a large fleamarket famed in Los Angeles. Those less interested in vintage Pucci and more into current Gucci can shop Old Town Pasadena and Paseo Colorado, two popular shopping and dining districts on Colorado Blvd.
Living in Los Angeles: San Fernando Valley, CA
Though there are other valleys in Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley is The Valley in LA.
Nestled in a northern corner of Los Angeles County, while the San Fernando Valley was - and continues to be - a butt of Angeleno jokes due to its suburban mall non-culture, the Valley is safe and quiet convenience for those looking to live in Los Angeles without being too removed from - or stuck in - Hollywood’s hubub.
Living in Los Angeles: Downtown LA
The glaring stainless steel of Walt Disney Concert Hall’s Frank Gehry-branded blobitecture shines as testament to Angelenos’ investing faith and billions into downtown slipping out of its cultural coma. Once home to the homeless and a decaying business district, downtown Los Angeles is going glossy with a solid cultural center and arts district, pushed with city efforts to make it West Coast’s Manhattan.
Grand Avenue plays home to Los Angeles Philharmonic (the Walt Disney Concert Hall), LA Opera (Dorothy Chandler), Broadway musicals (Ahmanson Theatre), the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), and blueprints for future Frank Gehry-designed apartment buildings.
Just south is the Arts District, one of the first downtown neighborhoods to have its old brick opened into live/work lofts. Organic coffee shops and Euro bistros stay open late, and a few blocks over Little Tokyo’s ramen houses and sushi dives welcome red eyes as well.
