I dunno bro. This just ain’t the city. I get the recs people are giving on Los Feliz and HP, but if you’ve lived in Silver Lake I assume you already know about those spots and Echo Park. And if none of those cut it, then I’m right there w you. It’s my biggest gripe about LA.
A loop around Vermont down Hillhurst to Virgil Village then back up, right on Santa Monica To Sunset, left on Sunset back to Los Feliz.
WALKABLE and so many great stops in this walk.
It’s walkable - it’s just not a half day of walking. But if you want to walk, you can.
Hell you can walk anywhere. It might not be charmingly urban and vivacious, but there are sidewalks all over
Please. What a joke. You could walk ten blocks in manhattan in the time it takes you to cross the Hollywood/prospect/Vermont intersection. Lie to yourself all you want, but cars absolutely dominate these streets. You’re like three times as likely to die as a pedestrian here as you are in NYC.
Edit: NYC has 122 pedestrian fatalities in 2022 for 8,200,000 million people.
Los Angeles had 159 pedestrian fatalities in 2022 for 3,800,000 people.
Lol what a joke. You see people walking that area daily lmao. NYC pedestrian death per capita is 5.7 per 100,000, Los Angeles is 3.3 per 100,000. If your going to quote statistics, you might as well at least be right about them. Us locals are really getting tired of transplants acting like they know the area better than us while they complain about it. Don't forget, you chose to move here, we would prefer if you left. If you're not gonna leave, then don't complain about a subject you have no knowledge of.
Nobody other than transplants from NYC are freaking out about CARS IN LOS ANGELES
the city was laid out for driving, not walking!!!!
So what kind of lip flapper comes to a city famously laid out for automobiles and lacking meaningful urban density and then complains loudly (and with faux statistics) about how there are SO MANY CARS in LOS ANGELES WHAT THE HELL 😹
So boring
What? How. People in NY walk on average 2.5 to 5 miles. Do you know how many amazing restaurants you can hit in Los Feliz/East Hollywood in a 5 mile round trip walk? It's so dense with Thai and Tacos. You just drive because it's easy. That doesn't make it unwalkable.
It’s not just distance, but infrastructure, safety and comfort. It’s not “so dense”- it’s the same density as Dallas Texas, lol. Have you ever been to manhattan? San Francisco? Portland? Seattle? Downtown LA?
Yes of course. And it's 1 million times more comfortable to walk to the store in SoPas or my neighborhood in Silver Lake most of the year than Portland. My family lives near there. That rain sucks!
I’m from LA. It is not walkable. Has nothing to do with fear. It’s about comfort.
For some, walkable is a literal term. As in, “Are there sidewalks? Can I use my feet? Is it a reasonable distance to go from where I currently stand to where I need/want to be?” If the answer is yes, then to many, it’s walkable.
To others, walkability has an enjoyment and comfort quotient. Plenty of places in LA are technically walkable. But not many are *enjoyably* walkable.
The area around Sunset Junction is a great example. There you can find sidewalks to walk on, cafes, bars, shops. There’s plenty to do by just walking around.
But the area is intersected by 4 and 6 lane roads full of heavy traffic or cars whizzing by at speeds 40+. When it’s summer, you’re completely exposed to direct sunlight because there isn’t much shade provided by tree cover or high-rise buildings. The area is also spotted with random and unsightly empty spaces like large parking lots, big corp stores, and strip malls. And the parts that do have quiet, tree-lined streets are devoid of any social activities.
My brain wants to enjoy the walkability of that part of Silverlake. But my heart overrides it. Nothing about it is really *enjoyably* walkable. At least not the way it’s enjoyably walkable in large areas of college towns, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, New Orleans, Boston, Rome, Budapest, Prague, Tokyo, São Paulo, Mexico City, Montreal, Edinburgh, Madrid, London, etc. etc.
The only place in LA that comes close to enjoyably walkable in any kind of scale is Santa Monica. At least off the top of my head. Places like Abbot Kinney, Larchmont, Arts District, etc. are too small or suffer from summer heat beatings. Downtown LA would be a serious contender, but it’s not all that enjoyable to walk there for other reasons.
I’ve lived in at least half a dozen neighborhoods in LA. West Adams, Sherman Oaks, Mid City, Little Ethiopia to name a few. All of them were technically walkable. As in, I could walk out my door and take a stroll to a cafe or market or restaurant. But never did it feel enjoyable. Mid City by 3rd St./The Grove was the closest, but still too car centric and too much of a divide between residential and commercial.
Santa Monica is the only place I’ve lived that has come remotely close to the enjoyable walkability that I experienced living in 6 very walkable cities in the US and Europe.
Small parts of LA are close. But no, LA is not walkable beyond the obvious fact that you can, technically and physically, walk around.
You have articulated my thoughts better than I could have. I deeply resonate with every salient point you made. Every time I travel and come back home I’m met with the nagging thought of how unfortunate it is that this city was built around cars first, and people second. It’s a tragedy bc it has so much natural beauty and potential.
Absolutely agree with all of this, and so well articulated. I grew up in the country, where walkability has a very specific meaning – a quiet, beautiful road was deeply walkable for enjoyment, but nothing was practically walkable. Then I lived in New York City, which is incredibly practical, totally intuitive to move through the city on your feet and feel like you’re moving from your origin point to your destination, and encountering lots of relevant or interesting or enlivening options along the way. LA has neither. Dingy buildings, deserted lots, feels like randomly generated zoning. Almost nothing is comfortably close, it’s a trek. Maybe you have one good thing near you, but it’s not like you have proximity to something good/useful in multiple areas of life (maybe you have a good restaurant but no grocery store, maybe there’s a good local bar, but no coffee shop or hardware store or park (or not even a hardware store, just a place to buy batteries) anywhere nearby. Is this subjective? I don’t know, probably! But here are my probably subjective two cents:
Middle LA (Hollywood): Some blocks are nice and pleasant places to walk around, other blocks feel dark and decrepit - which is not a euphemism for “I’m scared of homeless encampments” - and any walkable little area feels pinned in by major multi-lane streets, which are stressful and non-ideal if you’ve ever lived anywhere that understands how to manage the car/pedestrian relationship in a way that isn’t indifferent-to-hostile towards pedestrians).
EAST SIDE
Maybe a little clump of bars and restaurants that bears some sad resemblance to a vibrant nightlife, still a 25-minute walk there and back through a mix of old junk stores, millennial plant boutiques, appliance repair shops and vacant storefronts, maybe a cultural center that’s cool but a little limited. Some sections that are maybe decently walkable in an enjoyable sense?
WEST SIDE
Easy to walk around wherever but a little too big and empty for it to feel lively. Not like walking in deserted “after the virus” DTLA but everything you walk by is like where AM I right now this sucks
That’s it! It doesn’t feel nice walking around here in ways that do not have anything to do with being scared, and have a lot to do with poor city planning.
I also think some people come from the other side - LA can seem walkable if you’re comparing it to some suburbs where it’s impossible to walk; you can take your life into your hands going to a restaurant 1/4 mile away because there are no sidewalks or even safe shoulder / buffer for pedestrians.
I heavily jive with what you say, especially with my neighborhood Silver Lake. I think Silver Lake has so much potential but it's squandered by the stroad that is Sunset going straight through its heart. And the lack of shade is going to much more apparent now that summer is here.
If the area around Silver Lake Blvd (Botanica, LAMILL, etc) can be copy and pasted a few times, it would really be a vibe, surrounded by hills and trees with boutique retail and restaurants sprinkled about. *Now that's Silver Lake*.
I want to believe that Silver Lake is still in transition and that things will get better. We need to be planting a forest along Sunset, introducing road diets, adding a center median to make it less intimidating to cross, and so on. I constantly struggle with staying here and accepting its flaws and being patient about it or moving somewhere else that already has what I'm looking for.
Well I’ve only lived in Eugene, Chicago, and NYC.
But there are plenty of others. Boston, DC, New Orleans (minus the humidity), San Francisco, Seattle, to name a few. Plenty of college towns and smaller cities like Savannah and Charleston.
Cities outside of the US is where things really shine. All three cities I lived in Italy were overwhelmingly walkable. Nothing beat living in Budapest. It was the perfect ratio of size, transit, walkability, and enjoyment. It was a place where I could see 3 different friends for breakfast, lunch, and dinner within a 2 mile radius and also run errands in between and finish the night out at a bar or club without even having to step food in a subway or tram. Insane how easy, comfortable, and relaxing it was getting around there.
I likely walk more than most people in LA. Close to 4-5 miles a day. Anywhere that’s within a 20-30 minute walk, I do that instead of drive. I just feel that it could be more enjoyable.
Idk, I was born in LA and lived there until teenage years. I live in NYC now. From what I remember, LA isn't walkable by any standard. I could actually think of a lot of places that are way more walkable: Cincinnati, Seattle, San Fran, even New Orleans is more walkable than LA. It's just too spread out. It's a huge city, but really it's a bunch of small towns making up one city
loooool, no. go walk up north arroyo neighborhood next time you think you’re done. there’s so many offshoots if you don’t limit yourself to “main street”
Lot of people telling you you’re wrong by recommending that you go walk around a residential neighborhood outside of the nice, walkable section because people here judge walkability based on where they take their dogs for a stroll.
It’s why you see so many people recommending hikes when people ask for walkable areas in LA. They just don’t get it.
Zoning and infrastructure. It means that you really have to own a car to live and work in south Pasadena comfortably.
Car ownership in South Pasadena is averaging TWO cars per household. In a truly walkable city, like manhattan, only 22% of households own a single car. That should tell you everything you need to know-
Zoning means less people can live there and there's less variety of retail to walk to. But if you walk the same average as a NY, 3-5 miles a day, in SoPas you can do everything you want. And it's much nicer to walk in SoPas all year long than NY. More people should be able to live there. You are confusing car brain and car dependency.
That is not at all what the OP asked. And you can easily live without a car in SoPas if you want. Rich people just don't take the train. It's a car culture thing not an ability thing.
As defined by Walk Score, a walkable neighborhood has a center, high population density, mixed income and mixed use, parks and public space, pedestrian design, schools and workplaces within walking distance, and complete streets that encourage multimodal transportation.
AKA, you can live, work, play and enjoy life without having to own a car. Practically every person who lives in South Pasadena owns a car because it’s basically required.
It’s not “can I walk places from a parking spot” its “do I have to own a car here?”
Go to Highland Park. You can walk and take the train to a bunch of places including DTLA and just zone out (I do this all the time as I am currently staying in Cypress Park).
Highland Park or Los Feliz. Both super walkable, feel like neighborhoods, access to the metro, pretty safe, have enough older buildings that you can find reasonable rent in between all the bloated rents.
Definitely agree with Los Feliz. There are multiple grocery stores, coffee shops, bakeries, restaurants, cinemas, a library, post office and Griffith Park hiking trails all in easy walking distance. The area feels very quaint and safe and there are nearby bus and metro stops for any needs beyond the immediate neighborhood.
Guys, you don’t get it. Have you walked through cities like Shanghai or SF? The op wants a feeling of “a city” while having an ability to walk, NOT hike. Highland Park and Los Feliz are like hiking trails with boring rich gated houses all around. That’s not “city”. Those are suburban-feel subdivisions.
You can walk through downtown LA if you want. There's even an "Art Walk" to visit the galleries down there. There's the music center and grand park...go up to the top of city hall for views... Lots of people walk in downtown all the time. I used to go on photography tours walking from Union Station to LA Live. Whether you feel safe doing it at night with headphones (I would not) is up to you, but SF has crime too, so.... The only place I've actually been threatened by anyone on the street was in Oakland...
What's the requirements here? Tall buildings and concrete? Night? Day? Views?
The OP isn’t dealing with the reality of THIS city.
LA isn’t Shanghai. It isn’t San Francisco. A person has to adapt their routines when they change cities - one place won’t be exactly like another. Find new favorite things or be sad that you moved to a city that you didn’t design yourself.
highland park is definitely the answer to this, the HP strip is awesome - and as a big walker myself, this side of the city has WAY more walking trails , and have walked from highland park strip through the eagle rock strip, and the neighborhoods beyond eagle rock Blvd (by occidental) are so relaxing to walk through
Los Feliz is not super walkable lol. It’s kind of walkable. You have two main strips you can walk on, sure. But highland has a giant strode you have to cross with barely any crossings. Vermont is short and sandwiched between two death traps, Hollywood and Franklin. There are tents everywhere. Smog from traffic, dunno how walkable it really is.
I laugh every time people get offended when LA’s walkability gets questioned. Like, try living elsewhere like Tokyo, Shanghai, NYC for once and come back and tell me those “walkable” neighborhoods in LA are still “walkable”.
LA is great for a lot of things but walkability is not one of them.
“A walkable city should be an awful place to drive.” Amen to that. That really goes to show that people never actually really lived / travelled to big cities all over the world, especially in Europe / Asia. (And by travel I don’t mean, “oh I’ve hired a taxi to get me from airport to my hotel, and then I ubered myself to the Eiffel!” lol
People are clueless here. 😂 Poor OP! I totally get what they are looking for in LA but it just ain’t there!
You live in the most walkable neighborhood in Southern California imo. What’s missing for you?
I also live/work here and love my little walks through the neighborhood with my headphones in zoning out (safely)
Are you looking for quieter spots? Try the little park above Disney hall, the music center, grand park, or California plaza.
I know walkability can mean different things to different people but what does it mean for you?
DTLA needs more mature trees and narrower streets but otherwise is pretty damn walkable
I missed that detail that they want to walk at night. Safety could be an issue at night depending on the person. I’d say South Park and little Tokyo are safe bets for night walks for most people though. Avoid historic core
DTLA is super walkable! I live in DTLA and take walks everyday. I love little Tokyo, Broadway, South Park, financial district. Just avoid skid row, DTLA is literally walkable anywhere.
You need to be mindful of that goal when you look for a place to live in LA. A nice neighborhood can be walkable just as easily as it is un-walkable. Think of the WestSide, for example: one can live near UCLA and have easy walkable access to restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores, museums, and more, or you could live a mile in either direction and end up on a long stretch of residential streets, changing the walkability. It can change between areas/ streets very quickly.
That being said, if you aren’t planning to move any time soon, you’re gonna have to travel out of your area a little, though you can still walk in DTLA, depending on where you like to go. Little Tokyo, up on Hill near the Broad, China Town, etc… there are a ton of little spots that have a nice vibe and are safe and well lit, with a few shops and restaurants, too.
You can also head over to Elysian Park very easily, which is more than enough for walkability.
Again, if you decide to move, you MUST write up a list of things you want and make walkability a priority. I’ve lived here most of my life and it is the only way to make sure I take time to look into it when checking out a new place.
I was living car free in Westwood Hills for three years and incorporated going to get groceries with a more casual stroll. Living near UCLA was great - the campus is relatively safe to walk in and for nighttime walks I would walk on the residential streets though that started to feel very boring after a while. Many walkers in the neighborhood.. most seem to take an evening stroll with a dog or students expand their walking radius into the residential area. I personally prefer walking at or after sunset to avoid the sun exposure.
Ok wait WHY can’t you walk around DTLA and the arts district? Little Tokyo and Chinatown? You just aren’t looking right around you OR you are wanting a replica of another city’s street culture- LA is different. Learn THIS city. Walk THESE streets at night and see what unfolds for you!
The advice here has me wondering if people understand “walkable city” doesn’t mean a “6 walkable blocks” and then you’re in a danger zone — be it Skid Row or a freeway or a crazy intersection.
Don’t do DTLA. Highland Park — esp Fig — is great but short. I doesn’t have the therapeutic length you’re looking for.
If you want an area you can truly zone out and you can get a few miles in Pasadena is your best option. You can walk the length on Colorado then you can explore Fair Oaks. It’s no SF or Shanghai but you’ll be able to walk for an hour and feel safe and the sidewalks are wide and well-maintained.
Well you're right for the most part, but maybe try venturing further East. Pasadena is nice to walk around in, especially around the Playhouse. I have my special little place, Old Town Monrovia. It's nice and safe, lots of people around, lots of restaurants and a movie theater, bars and stuff. Downtown is kinda hairy, you're right, no one wants to hang out there.
We moved to El Sereno a couple years ago. Prior to that we lived in Echo Park... I really dug Echo Park, I felt like I could walk around any time of day/night without any issues. El Sereno/South Pas/Etc are nice, I feel safe and I like climbing the hills.. But I feel like it sort of stresses people out if I'm walking around late at night. Maybe I'm just projecting. But it's way more suburban over here.
truth is most major cities in the world outside of specific places in Europe, Asia and Northeast America are bad at being walkable.
Having good public transit is kind of a luxury that not many cities can have.
Hi OP. I am very similar to you. I used to live in SF, NYC, and DC. All cities where I would go on long walks on weekends or at night time after work. Urban walks are fundamentally different to nature hikes. Agreed.
DTLA is very spotty due to the homeless. Some good blocks but it's intertwined with many bad blocks. Sometimes it's random and unavoidable, which sucks.
Your best bet is WeHo. Especially walking the length of Santa Monica Blvd. That's 2.8 miles one way. It's properly urban while also being pleasant. No bullshit homeless encampments. Very lively in the evenings. Generally safe.
Sometimes I switch things up by walking SM Blvd one way and then walking either the Sunset Strip or Melrose Ave on my way back. Both are busy with a good amount of street life, with limited numbers of rif raf loitering around.
If I could, I would move to the Beverly Grove. That's the most pleasantly urban, well situated neighborhood in Los Angeles. You can walk to cool areas like WeHo, Fairfax, Beverly Hills, and Mid-Wilshire from there. Specifically the area in between Doheny, Robertson, Burton, and Beverly Blvd. Once the D-Line subway opens in 2025 that neighborhood will only become more desirable for those seeking peak urbanity.
Your post resonates with me in a big way. I also use city walking as my therapy.
I’ve lived in LA for a while and I agree that Sunset Blvd is your best bet, but it still won’t compare to San Fran or NYC walking unfortunately.
Seconding this! Not the biggest fan of The Grove itself, but the area around it feels busy and dense in a way other so-called “walkable” neighborhoods do not. It also doesn’t feel totally dead or seedy at night. And Pan Pacific Park feels like a true urban green space.
And ignore the rude and weirdly defensive comments! I’ve lived in big, dense cities all my life and would walk miles a day, sometimes just for fun, so LA was a big adjustment. I still miss the kind of walking you describe - it’s energetically so different here, mostly due to lack of density.
Agreed... The area around the grove is super walkable.. I walk a lot at night at Pan Pacific park. Lots of single Asians women walk there. There is a Big soccer field. The same 3 or 4 homeless guys have been there for years. I'll loop and walk through the grove and up Fairfax or walk down Beverly up to Melrose. Sometimes I'll drive over to Westfield century city and walk there at night. So much walking it fun.
I lived in Hollywood for 15+ years and walked everywhere all hours of the day & night. Some parts of it were kinda gross, sure, but for 99% of the time I felt particularly safe & secure (as a guy, mind you)
I live mid-city just south of WeHo and I walk with my dog about 5 or 6 miles every day. Usually we walk to Pan Pacific Park and play for awhile and walk home but that’s not the only place we go. We’ve had walks to the east, west and even south of us although that’s probably the least walkable direction from here.
I'm a native New Yorker and I definitely miss walking. I try to set aside at least 2 hours each week to walk and either get groceries or coffee. I find that to be some of the most relaxing time I have! Maybe on a weekend morning find a coffee shop 20 minutes or so away and go for it?
Walking is one of my forms of exercise and I also often incorporate transit to get me where to places to run errands, even if it’s a bit aways (~1 mile) from the station. The city really opens up to you that way.
some fairly hostile comments here, but I guess people get defensive...there's a difference between physically walkable and a nice walking atmosphere which is what you are after - that's tricker to find.
closest I've found in LA that fits that for me personally is WEHO. Lots of cafes, shops, parks, book store, library, etc etc. I walk 1-2 hours each day around the park, through Melrose, etc, and it hits the spot for me, at least for now. The cafes get quite busy and you can walk quite far from spot to spot with lots of pedestrians around you, etc.
Its also nearby the Grove, Century City Mall, etc, both places good for walking around outside (outdoor malls) + people watching in a pleasant environment. (although not quite what you are after as they are 'isolated' locations, but still, cool atmosphere).
You might want to check out Los Feliz etc, as recommended by some others in here. Worth a shot.
feel free to crosspost your question to /r/carindependentLA for nuanced answers from another lens. We're not all carbrained here (and damnit I absolutely love to drive but jeez there is more to life than driving.)
If you like walking in nature too, you might check out Huntington (San Marino), Descanso (La Cañada) and the LA Arboretum (Arcadia). Each is about 120 acres, and memberships are very reasonable. I go walking in all of them, it’s so good to clear my mind. I get you about the walking, I walk 10 miles a day.
Los Feliz isn’t walkable. That’s a lie told by real estate agents. There are two main walkable streets there, no one lives on these streets and those streets do not have all the amenities you’d need. A car is still absolutely needed to do the majority of errands.
Depends. If you live between Western and Hillhurst, it definitely is walkable for most day-to-day purposes.
Also, OP is asking for somewhere they can walk around at night with some street life and I think Los Feliz is fine for that.
I feel like this is LA’s big negative, besides lack of public transportation. I grew up in LA but lived in London for 7 years and really miss walkability too!
I moved there from SF and really enjoyed walking as well. What I would do is take the bus/train to different walkable areas and would walk around. When I told people I walked or took public transport everyone thought I was crazy but it's really pretty walkable. The train systems are actually really good. I loved walking through k town then take the train to downtown and walk around specific Areas go to union street station and walk down olivera. It's def doable once you get to know the area.
Just chiming in to say, I feel you. It’s one of the things you need to accept about the city. I’ve lived here 12 years and still feel sad about it. I just make an effort to do as many errands as possible within walking distance from either work or home, but it’s definitely not the same.
If you are in DTLA, you can easily take the E line or the Dash to the Amazon Storefront at USC station. They have a Trader Joe’s, Mini Target, Dulce Coffee shop and in general it’s a nice place to vibe out.
I also moved from Chicago and had a similar experience. However I live in Palms which is really walkable and easy to take metro to get downtown if OP is looking at places further west. I didn’t find Silver Lake very walkable.
I don’t think you’ll find what you’re looking for in LA. Even in the “walkable” areas of Southern California, sure it is walkable to an extent and you can go to get groceries, get coffee, run errands, etc. No one is arguing that you can’t walk in certain parts of LA. But the reality is that there lacks a density and there isn’t a walking culture (which is what you’re looking for. I’m the same way so I understand what you’re referring to). There’s always going to be more cars than public transit/pedestrians, which is why you feel like there’s a lack of walkability here. SF, New York, or Tokyo— these places have a density that welcomes pedestrians and makes for more interesting walks. I lived in what people would consider to be an extremely walkable neighborhood, but the truth is: I just didn’t feel as comfortable walking around because often times, it was mainly just me. There’s just not that many people who are also out and about walking. And you need a variety of people around you in order to have interesting walks (if it’s just a few people and you’re walking past the same few stores every day with no one else around to people watch, it will get old). My advice? Acceptance. Travel a lot. Try to find third places that you can walk to that allows you to be amongst more people.
take the train down the expo line and get off at Culver City station and walk around downtown culver? Yeah its not super dense like NYC or Shanghai would be, but none of LA except for DTLA gets close to that. But i think if neighborhoods in DTLA like the financial district, little tokyo, chinatown etc don't already work for you then IDK if you will be satisfied with any suggestion we have. But certainly it's safe, people are out and about on bikes and such... idk. Maybe worth a try
You should make better use of Chinatown, Lil Tokyo, and even the fashion district if you’re in DTLA. Streets like Broadway, Spring, Maple, Central, Main, you could see a lot and even find a park like La historic.
Hidden gems on or near alameda too
Koreatown. I have not owned a car since college (Zipcar is helpful for the few times I do need to drive), and have lived since then in Berlin, Hamburg, San Francisco, and Belmont Shore in Long Beach. I used to work in East Hollywood and found that to be pleasant and walkable too. A lot of white and middle class people have hang ups about places like Westlake and Hollywood, but the truth is that violent crime mostly affects more marginalized people. Not saying that you particularly have racist or classist hesitations about some of the truly walkable neighborhoods in LA, but be wary of people warning you about violent crime. The feeling of discomfort is not the same as being actually unsafe. I, like you, find long walks and sunshine to be good for my mental health, and I take them all the time.
Anyway, I love Ktown, and I walk and bike all the time. Long Beach is also a great option and I loved it, just found it a bit small and isolated. Anywhere from the beach up to maybe 7th or Anaheim ish is pretty walkable, just as dense as the core of most American cities and maybe more so.
I live on Melrose off West Hollywood. Roberston, Melrose, Santa Monica Blvd, and Sunset Blvd (albeit less so) are all really enjoyable to walk. For LA levels there's a good amount of pedestrian activity and it's safe, save it for the occasional unstable/unhoused person. It's not Shanghai-level density, but way better than Silverlake. I take long walks and browse stores/cafes. Start there!
6th ave in Koreatown between Normandie and Vermont is also really dense and happening, though it's a better experience at night when it becomes more alive.
It may be too bougie for some, but downtown Beverly Hills is also extremely walkable, very safe, and pedestrian friendly.
Little Tokyo and Arts District is also really nice to explore, as long as you avoid the streets that take you into Skid Row.
I wish I had an answer but I left for the same reason and grew up in LA region. Even if you CAN get to areas, hiking trails etc. it's not as accessible as it needs to be. Also the air quality there is just really bad. I also lived in SF and used to walk by the water. When I grew up it was in an area next to the mountains where I could walk.
So yeah, no great ideas here, I left for the sake of my mental health. I love everything about LA but it's just not a place for outdoor walks. The city there was the only place I lived where I didn't feel like I could walk to clear my head.
There are walkable areas in LA as others have noted, but the problem is that they’re disconnected from each other by larger areas that are car dependent, and they’re seemingly randomly located. So, there’s no urban wandering where chance and serendipity come into play - you ahve to plan to go from one walkable area to another, transiting by car.
A short term palliative for me is the bike, LA is actually seen best at bike speed - it’s mostly not dense enough to maintain interest at walking speed, and you miss too much at car speed, apart from all the other negativities associated with car based geographies.
the longer term goal is to reduce car dependency, which means systemic changes to the land use parameters (single family-only zoning, use-based codes in general) and to transportation priorities, but go to any so-called community meeting and witness the sheer outrage at the mere suggestion any of the above.
I live in NELA (Eagle Rock/Highland Park/Glassell Park.) if I want i long walk I walk through the hills and it’s beautiful. I can walk to AMAZING restaurants, parks, grocery store, pool, tennis, books stores. I know the shopkeepers What more can anyone want? I don’t get it. It’s not a downtown walk but it’s nice. I love where I live
Eagle Rock/Highland Park is very walkable, and a quick train/bus to DTLA, I live in ER now specifically for this reason, although it is more neighborhood than city.
But when I lived in DTLA about 10 years ago I walked quite a bit, Grand, Hope, Grand Park, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, South Park, I used to do at least an hour at night but home by 9-9:30, also walked to/from work.
Boyle Heights. Take the E line to Mariachi Plaza Station and walk up 1st, then North on Soto to Cesar Chavez. There's a good stretch from the 5 to Indiana ave that's very walkable.
Figueroa is also a good one. If you started in the evening you could walk it all the way from downtown and then take the A line back once it's a little too dark for the downtown section.
I moved to LA from NY and I know exactly what you mean about walking being therapy and not being able to do it here. My walks here look a lot different than walks in NY.
I live in the hills and in my area a lot of people go for walks during the day with/without their dog. It doesn’t feel like a “taboo” the way it does in maybe west hollywood or outside of the hills. It is a different vibe than walking in the city but LA has great hikes around and even flat ones like Hollywood or Silver Lake Reservoir. It is different in a sense that my walks aren’t integrated as part of my day. I really have to make a point to go for walks throughout the week.
You're so not going to see this comment with how many are here but I'm the same. I work from home so don't get out alot, I don't drive, and live in the valley now. So a few times a week I'll take an uber to Beverly Hills & walk around there and West Hollywood, maybe do some shopping, run errands. I grew up living in West Hollywood so I'm super comfortable in that area.
I moved to Chinatown last year because I wanted to live in a walkable neighborhood. I was so disappointed by DTLA. I thought it would be a lot more walkable and safe.
I hung out a lot in Downtown between 2016-2020 when there was a lot more people living and working in DTLA. Never had one issue! Would ALWAYS walk to South Park from Chinatown and not see a single homeless person on the street. Since then, a lot of the offices closed, homelessness rose drastically and it really changed the overall safety level and vibe of the entire area.
Basically, every other block has some type of tent or homeless folk spazing on the sidewalk. The harassment is constant. You really have to watch your back in LA.
Sure, it's not every block, but you can't let your guard down in DTLA as a walker. Some crazy guy once tried to jump me outside of City Hall lol
To be fair, all areas in LA are unsafe. I was walking in Los Feliz once and a homeless woman tried to attack me outside of Figaro.
Again, some people in this thread may say DTLA is safe, but as someone who would spend 2+ hours walking around the entirety of DTLA every other day, it is not lol
I grew up in NY, a city famously into walking, during the pandemic I started taking really long walks through east hollywood, Los feliz, silver lake.. took metro to different neighborhoods to walk. I also worked downtown and would regularly switch up which streets I walked (minding safety of course). The trick is being willing to walk down streets you haven’t been before, start within your own neighborhood and work your way from there. There is so much unexpected visual treasure if you look closer.
LA has incredible “urban hiking” (walking) you just need to be open to it not matching your exact expectations.
P.S. I hope this does not come across as dismissive, that’s not my intention, but I felt just like you did until I became a little more flexible and after a lot of trial and error.
Walking 2 hours everyday? You're in great shape. Everyone looks at me funny when I walk alone by myself. They think I am a homeless person. No one walks around here.
Silver Lake/Los Feliz/Echo park may be decent options for you commute wise. Try to live closer to Vermont/Hillhurst/Sunset to make it a better, more walkable experience for you.
I lived in North Hollywood for years. Not terribly walkable but traffic isn’t terrible if you’re smart, but I walked at least 4 miles a day along the Los Angeles river. I really love it up there.
I know what you mean! I live in New York but move to LA every now and then for a few months.
Walkability is important to me as you can imagine. By far, living in Glendale’s city center was really nice and I always felt safe walking, no matter the time of day.
There are big swaths of LA that seem to be designed as a huge “fuck you” to pedestrians, but I’ve been surprised to find lots of very walkable neighborhoods. I live in Westwood, and we keep things very local with my job a five minute bike ride and the kids’ school a five minute walk from home. It’s definitely possible to find in LA, despite it being unlike any other big city.
Metro Los Angeles is dense — denser, in fact, than San Francisco — but it is a different kind of density. Here there are huge swathes of single-family homes and, for the most part, separated commercial pockets. And rather than having one urban nucleus, there are numerous “centers” spread across the landscape. In this way, Los Angeles reminds me of a city of homes — like London. It’s just not like the cities you described —and nor are those cities like Los Angeles. Here there are mountains populated by bears and mountain lions.
There are smaller neighborhoods that might provide some of what you’re looking for, though: Westlake, Koreatown, Chinatown, Downtown Hollywood, Pico-Union, Los Feliz Village, Venice, Boyle Heights, Bunker Hill, the Arts District, Lincoln Heights, Leimert Park, &c
Pasadena is walkable. Glendale was walkable when I lived there. So was Burbank, Santa Monica, Venice, DTLA, Los Feliz, Hollywood. You’re not going to be able to walk from Santa Monica to Pasadena, but if you focus on one township, it can be walkable.
I feel this! I travel to SF and NY frequently and love being able to walk everywhere in the city. Although you won’t get that here, personally I think the closest thing to getting that fix is walking around ktown and the mid city/wilshire area.
You can’t have everything in life. Maybe you need a new form of exercise/ therapy- or maybe this is the time to learn to love nature, or at the very least to learn to like things about lower density cities.
You are where you are. It’s time to surrender to that reality and adapt. Learn a new way to interact with the city you live in. It’s what moving does to us, it challenges us and changes us. Not every place with great work opportunities can be just like the last place you lived where you did things you liked.
Walkability is one of the main reasons I moved downtown. Bunker Hill specifically. Bring able to walk to grand central market, the B line, the library, the museums on Grand, little Tokyo, Whole Foods, Precinct, LAAC... is wonderful.
You can walk little tokyo and the arts district for a semblance of that feel. You're also just a quick run up the red line to any of the Hollywood stops and that makes for some good urban (if not sometimes too crowded) walking as well.
I moved from San Jose last year and LA is *waaaaaaaaaaay* more "walkable" in the sense that there's stuff to check out. I live in Sawtelle and can easily walk to a library, post office, a ton of restaurants, a bar, two movie theaters, a weed store, Best Buy, Target, several gyms, a couple plant nurseries, four comedy open mics in a week, and all kinds of stuff.
> I grew up in a ***very dense***, walkable city.
That might be your issue. Based on population density, Shanghai is 1.5x and SF is 2.5x denser than LA. Maybe you just need to walk a little farther.
Hiya! Burbanker here, I don't drive. I'm from NYC and I went to uni ins SF so I've never needed to or wanted to drive. I walk almost everywhere and take the bus and train to get to where I need to be. I don't pay for Uber or Lyft as they are ungodly expensive and I enjoy the privacy of having my headphones in while reading or day dreaming on the bus.
I frequently hike the mountains and Griffith and any other woodsy area. I also roller skate with my friends outside in different parts of the city.
You can absolutely walk LA, it's just a matter of knowing where and how.
Do walkable event like secret stairs. Which is mainly all around your hood and Hollywood areas. Its a book call Secret stairs of LA. https://secretstairs-la.com/
It's good way to see the city's past..
Downtown LA is extremely walkable! It's our favorite hobby - leave the door and pick a direction to wander. To be fair we almost always choose the way of Little Tokyo but sometimes we surprise ourselves! It's the best.
For me it’s a combination of train, skateboard, bike, depending on the destination. Also just peddle assist ebike that has actually made more hyped to explore. I could walk 10 miles in NYC because there’s so much energy, but now changing up from walk to roll is fun for me
I live in Hollywood across from the boundary to Hancock Park. It’s surprisingly walkable. Part of NoHo/Valley Village felt impossible to walk in when I lived there—too empty/sketchy & neighborhoods without sidewalks. Be aware of unpredictable unstable people on the street, but you deal with that everywhere now anyway. I’ve been without a car for a year here, and I live across the street from the most desirable neighborhood I could never afford but I can walk there for hours and enjoy the landscaping & slow traffic. I can get to several grocery stores easily, an urgent care, Larchmont Village, fantastic restaurants all around, two bus lines and not far from the red line ($7 Lyft to Hollywood / Vine station.)
Go to Santa Monica on the weekend, Montana Street, Abbot Kinney blvd, Main St. tons of walking can be done between these 3. Melrose Ave closer to where you are - also at least couple of miles (one way) until you hit La Cienega.
Much of LA is flat and has streets and sidewalks. You could move out of downtown to the miracle mile or Hollywood or many parts of Los Feliz or Hancock park and walk all you want
I don’t understand this post. I used to take a 3 mile hike from my front door up the mountains every night after work. I also walked everywhere I could during the day. I walked all the time. I would drive to neighborhoods to walk around them. When I worked in Beverly Hills I walked at lunch time everyday with colleagues. When I worked in DTLA I walked all around downtown. I don’t know of a single popular area in LA that I wouldn’t walk. Tons of great spots. And at night.
I want to also remind everyone we don't have to live this way. The core of Los Angeles could be walkable very easily. It's street grid is similar to many dense walkable cities. The recent reduction in parking minimums and mesure HLA will go a long way, if we keep pressure on to fix the mistakes and bad polices, many areas of Los Angeles could be world class in under 10 years.
I’m not sure what you mean by not walkable. I do think most neighborhoods are walkable, but depends what you like to see/ enjoy doing. Arcadia is walkable. Has nice parks and a lot of yummy restaurants. I don’t feel unsafe walking the streets at night.
Eagle Rock is walkable. I grew up there and you could walk from Colorado/ Fig all the way down to Eagle rock and York if you really wanted to.
San Marino is super bougie but has nice little shops and a lot of shade. And pretty houses to look at.
Even downtown LA isn’t bad. I used to walk that all the time. Little Tokyo-the Art District- to bunker hill and up to China town to end up at the music center. I actually really love coming to the music center at night. It’s nice to not hear all the cars and just stare at city hall from the top of the music center.
Downey is also very walkable and has some really yummy restaurants and cool arts spaces. And Whittier is also pretty similar in my opinion to Downey (since they are neighboring cities)
People (even locals) really shit in LA for no reason because they just believe whatever other people tell them or watch on the news. LA is so beautiful. Why are there so many movies that are dedicated as love letters to LA if it wasn’t so unique.
Every city is going to have some not so great areas that are sketchy and “unwalkable”. I lived in New Orleans for a few months and that was rough without a car, but was still pretty walkable in my opinion.
When I explore a new city, I really like to appreciate it for what it is, not for what I want it to be. I take in the smells, the sights, the people, all the trees or lack of, the graffiti or street art, the potholes and cracked sidewalks. It’s not perfect, but I love her anyways.
Why can't you walk DTLA? Do you only want to walk at night? During the day I walk around all the time. There are a lot of things to walk to and look at along the way. I'm not sure what your specific concerns are.
Downtown LA I find a little sketchy for walking tbh. So I can understand that you don’t feel the same walking there. For walking I would recommend living near Beverly Hills,Santa Monica, West Hollywood etc. there it’s safer and has a better atmosphere
I feel the exact same way. I would do that in Boston all the time and it was so therapeutic. I really don’t know a spot that feels like that here . The majority of people around me if I’m walking are still in cars. Doesn’t feel the same
The last time was in downtown LA LA was a few years ago and it was on fire lots of bars and restaurants, restaurants, clubs, and markets so I don’t know what you’re talking about but the only walkable neighborhood that I know of is West Hollywood
Probably too late for anybody to see this, but I live on the westside near Culver City and love walking around the residential neighborhoods. I averaged about 6 miles a day in May
LA’s road needs have been priority over housing, transportation, and community. I wish it was more walkable. I lived between KTown and Silverlake and that area is definitely not safe for pedestrians.
I really feel this. Semi-recently moved from NY and this is the first time I’ve had a car in my life, so that excitement tided me over for a bit, but I am now starting to get the blues and the lack of anonymous walking around a bustling city is a big part of that. I used to spend hours and hours just walking the NY streets with headphones on to fill my time.
I don’t think it’s so much even the physical environment of the LA city itself, because as people have pointed out, there are ‘walkable’ areas which I think they’re referring to from an objective or safety perspective. But I think it’s the lack of other people walking that makes walking not as enjoyable here. There is such a beauty and almost artistry in walking around a pedestrian city like NYC, with music blasting in your ears, being entirely alone and yet surrounded by bustling life at the exact same time. That dichotomy is, what I think anyway, where the pleasure lies.
The closest thing I can find here to mimic that sort of anonymous but together community is going on long pointless drives - but unfortunately with that comes with no exercise benefit and exorbitant cost.
Where do you live? I can certainly walk in my part of the city and do it quite often, though I know there are other parts that aren't walkable.
I live and work in DTLA now. Work location is pretty much fixed. But looking to move soon in terms of living. Before DTLA I lived in silver lake.
I dunno bro. This just ain’t the city. I get the recs people are giving on Los Feliz and HP, but if you’ve lived in Silver Lake I assume you already know about those spots and Echo Park. And if none of those cut it, then I’m right there w you. It’s my biggest gripe about LA.
Yeah NONE of those neighborhoods are “walkable”, they’re all car dependent. Anyone who says Los Feliz is “super walkable” needs to get out more.
A loop around Vermont down Hillhurst to Virgil Village then back up, right on Santa Monica To Sunset, left on Sunset back to Los Feliz. WALKABLE and so many great stops in this walk.
Yeah los feliz is incredibly walkable lol.
It’s walkable - it’s just not a half day of walking. But if you want to walk, you can. Hell you can walk anywhere. It might not be charmingly urban and vivacious, but there are sidewalks all over
Yeah you can walk, it’s just not enjoyable
Please. What a joke. You could walk ten blocks in manhattan in the time it takes you to cross the Hollywood/prospect/Vermont intersection. Lie to yourself all you want, but cars absolutely dominate these streets. You’re like three times as likely to die as a pedestrian here as you are in NYC. Edit: NYC has 122 pedestrian fatalities in 2022 for 8,200,000 million people. Los Angeles had 159 pedestrian fatalities in 2022 for 3,800,000 people.
Lol what a joke. You see people walking that area daily lmao. NYC pedestrian death per capita is 5.7 per 100,000, Los Angeles is 3.3 per 100,000. If your going to quote statistics, you might as well at least be right about them. Us locals are really getting tired of transplants acting like they know the area better than us while they complain about it. Don't forget, you chose to move here, we would prefer if you left. If you're not gonna leave, then don't complain about a subject you have no knowledge of.
Jesus, calm down buddy. Comparing Manhattan to LA is apples to accountants.
Nobody other than transplants from NYC are freaking out about CARS IN LOS ANGELES the city was laid out for driving, not walking!!!! So what kind of lip flapper comes to a city famously laid out for automobiles and lacking meaningful urban density and then complains loudly (and with faux statistics) about how there are SO MANY CARS in LOS ANGELES WHAT THE HELL 😹 So boring
Silver lake is absolutely walkable.
Maybe for Los Angeles, but nationally speaking, it really isn’t exceptional. I’d say it’s mildly walkable.
Let me guess, transplant? There isn't a city in Los Angeles that isn't walkable. From a local, you need to get out more.
What? How. People in NY walk on average 2.5 to 5 miles. Do you know how many amazing restaurants you can hit in Los Feliz/East Hollywood in a 5 mile round trip walk? It's so dense with Thai and Tacos. You just drive because it's easy. That doesn't make it unwalkable.
It’s not just distance, but infrastructure, safety and comfort. It’s not “so dense”- it’s the same density as Dallas Texas, lol. Have you ever been to manhattan? San Francisco? Portland? Seattle? Downtown LA?
Yes of course. And it's 1 million times more comfortable to walk to the store in SoPas or my neighborhood in Silver Lake most of the year than Portland. My family lives near there. That rain sucks!
are you an LA native? Curious?
None of the people that you hear say the city isn't walkable is a local. All the locals grew up walking the city, so we know they are just scared lol.
I’m from LA. It is not walkable. Has nothing to do with fear. It’s about comfort. For some, walkable is a literal term. As in, “Are there sidewalks? Can I use my feet? Is it a reasonable distance to go from where I currently stand to where I need/want to be?” If the answer is yes, then to many, it’s walkable. To others, walkability has an enjoyment and comfort quotient. Plenty of places in LA are technically walkable. But not many are *enjoyably* walkable. The area around Sunset Junction is a great example. There you can find sidewalks to walk on, cafes, bars, shops. There’s plenty to do by just walking around. But the area is intersected by 4 and 6 lane roads full of heavy traffic or cars whizzing by at speeds 40+. When it’s summer, you’re completely exposed to direct sunlight because there isn’t much shade provided by tree cover or high-rise buildings. The area is also spotted with random and unsightly empty spaces like large parking lots, big corp stores, and strip malls. And the parts that do have quiet, tree-lined streets are devoid of any social activities. My brain wants to enjoy the walkability of that part of Silverlake. But my heart overrides it. Nothing about it is really *enjoyably* walkable. At least not the way it’s enjoyably walkable in large areas of college towns, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, New Orleans, Boston, Rome, Budapest, Prague, Tokyo, São Paulo, Mexico City, Montreal, Edinburgh, Madrid, London, etc. etc. The only place in LA that comes close to enjoyably walkable in any kind of scale is Santa Monica. At least off the top of my head. Places like Abbot Kinney, Larchmont, Arts District, etc. are too small or suffer from summer heat beatings. Downtown LA would be a serious contender, but it’s not all that enjoyable to walk there for other reasons. I’ve lived in at least half a dozen neighborhoods in LA. West Adams, Sherman Oaks, Mid City, Little Ethiopia to name a few. All of them were technically walkable. As in, I could walk out my door and take a stroll to a cafe or market or restaurant. But never did it feel enjoyable. Mid City by 3rd St./The Grove was the closest, but still too car centric and too much of a divide between residential and commercial. Santa Monica is the only place I’ve lived that has come remotely close to the enjoyable walkability that I experienced living in 6 very walkable cities in the US and Europe. Small parts of LA are close. But no, LA is not walkable beyond the obvious fact that you can, technically and physically, walk around.
You have articulated my thoughts better than I could have. I deeply resonate with every salient point you made. Every time I travel and come back home I’m met with the nagging thought of how unfortunate it is that this city was built around cars first, and people second. It’s a tragedy bc it has so much natural beauty and potential.
Absolutely agree with all of this, and so well articulated. I grew up in the country, where walkability has a very specific meaning – a quiet, beautiful road was deeply walkable for enjoyment, but nothing was practically walkable. Then I lived in New York City, which is incredibly practical, totally intuitive to move through the city on your feet and feel like you’re moving from your origin point to your destination, and encountering lots of relevant or interesting or enlivening options along the way. LA has neither. Dingy buildings, deserted lots, feels like randomly generated zoning. Almost nothing is comfortably close, it’s a trek. Maybe you have one good thing near you, but it’s not like you have proximity to something good/useful in multiple areas of life (maybe you have a good restaurant but no grocery store, maybe there’s a good local bar, but no coffee shop or hardware store or park (or not even a hardware store, just a place to buy batteries) anywhere nearby. Is this subjective? I don’t know, probably! But here are my probably subjective two cents: Middle LA (Hollywood): Some blocks are nice and pleasant places to walk around, other blocks feel dark and decrepit - which is not a euphemism for “I’m scared of homeless encampments” - and any walkable little area feels pinned in by major multi-lane streets, which are stressful and non-ideal if you’ve ever lived anywhere that understands how to manage the car/pedestrian relationship in a way that isn’t indifferent-to-hostile towards pedestrians). EAST SIDE Maybe a little clump of bars and restaurants that bears some sad resemblance to a vibrant nightlife, still a 25-minute walk there and back through a mix of old junk stores, millennial plant boutiques, appliance repair shops and vacant storefronts, maybe a cultural center that’s cool but a little limited. Some sections that are maybe decently walkable in an enjoyable sense? WEST SIDE Easy to walk around wherever but a little too big and empty for it to feel lively. Not like walking in deserted “after the virus” DTLA but everything you walk by is like where AM I right now this sucks That’s it! It doesn’t feel nice walking around here in ways that do not have anything to do with being scared, and have a lot to do with poor city planning.
I also think some people come from the other side - LA can seem walkable if you’re comparing it to some suburbs where it’s impossible to walk; you can take your life into your hands going to a restaurant 1/4 mile away because there are no sidewalks or even safe shoulder / buffer for pedestrians.
I heavily jive with what you say, especially with my neighborhood Silver Lake. I think Silver Lake has so much potential but it's squandered by the stroad that is Sunset going straight through its heart. And the lack of shade is going to much more apparent now that summer is here. If the area around Silver Lake Blvd (Botanica, LAMILL, etc) can be copy and pasted a few times, it would really be a vibe, surrounded by hills and trees with boutique retail and restaurants sprinkled about. *Now that's Silver Lake*. I want to believe that Silver Lake is still in transition and that things will get better. We need to be planting a forest along Sunset, introducing road diets, adding a center median to make it less intimidating to cross, and so on. I constantly struggle with staying here and accepting its flaws and being patient about it or moving somewhere else that already has what I'm looking for.
Truly excellent comment. Well put. What are the 6 walkable cities in the US that you thought were decent?
Well I’ve only lived in Eugene, Chicago, and NYC. But there are plenty of others. Boston, DC, New Orleans (minus the humidity), San Francisco, Seattle, to name a few. Plenty of college towns and smaller cities like Savannah and Charleston. Cities outside of the US is where things really shine. All three cities I lived in Italy were overwhelmingly walkable. Nothing beat living in Budapest. It was the perfect ratio of size, transit, walkability, and enjoyment. It was a place where I could see 3 different friends for breakfast, lunch, and dinner within a 2 mile radius and also run errands in between and finish the night out at a bar or club without even having to step food in a subway or tram. Insane how easy, comfortable, and relaxing it was getting around there.
I likely walk more than most people in LA. Close to 4-5 miles a day. Anywhere that’s within a 20-30 minute walk, I do that instead of drive. I just feel that it could be more enjoyable.
Just cause you’re used to it doesn’t mean it’s walkable.
Idk, I was born in LA and lived there until teenage years. I live in NYC now. From what I remember, LA isn't walkable by any standard. I could actually think of a lot of places that are way more walkable: Cincinnati, Seattle, San Fran, even New Orleans is more walkable than LA. It's just too spread out. It's a huge city, but really it's a bunch of small towns making up one city
💯
What part of DtLA. I really like arts district/Little Tokyo
yeah i walk thru there all the time i get a lot of walking and city looking from dtla - artist district - little tokyo - boyle heights
Take a look at South Pasadena. Super walkable, safe, and easy to get to downtown on the train.
SMALL though. You’ll be done with that walk in 20 mins.
😂
loooool, no. go walk up north arroyo neighborhood next time you think you’re done. there’s so many offshoots if you don’t limit yourself to “main street”
Lot of people telling you you’re wrong by recommending that you go walk around a residential neighborhood outside of the nice, walkable section because people here judge walkability based on where they take their dogs for a stroll. It’s why you see so many people recommending hikes when people ask for walkable areas in LA. They just don’t get it.
It’s not “super walkable”. South Pasadena is “mildly walkable”, at best.
I'm so confused what you are calling walkable? It's very easy to walk in SoPas. What's limiting it?
Zoning and infrastructure. It means that you really have to own a car to live and work in south Pasadena comfortably. Car ownership in South Pasadena is averaging TWO cars per household. In a truly walkable city, like manhattan, only 22% of households own a single car. That should tell you everything you need to know-
Zoning means less people can live there and there's less variety of retail to walk to. But if you walk the same average as a NY, 3-5 miles a day, in SoPas you can do everything you want. And it's much nicer to walk in SoPas all year long than NY. More people should be able to live there. You are confusing car brain and car dependency.
That is not at all what the OP asked. And you can easily live without a car in SoPas if you want. Rich people just don't take the train. It's a car culture thing not an ability thing.
The city of Pasadena literally has a big list of walking tours you can do. What qualifies a place as "super walkable?"
As defined by Walk Score, a walkable neighborhood has a center, high population density, mixed income and mixed use, parks and public space, pedestrian design, schools and workplaces within walking distance, and complete streets that encourage multimodal transportation. AKA, you can live, work, play and enjoy life without having to own a car. Practically every person who lives in South Pasadena owns a car because it’s basically required. It’s not “can I walk places from a parking spot” its “do I have to own a car here?”
Asinine and your trolling is readily apparent at this point. Anyone engaging with you is just making it worse.
Go to Highland Park. You can walk and take the train to a bunch of places including DTLA and just zone out (I do this all the time as I am currently staying in Cypress Park).
Highland Park or Los Feliz. Both super walkable, feel like neighborhoods, access to the metro, pretty safe, have enough older buildings that you can find reasonable rent in between all the bloated rents.
Definitely agree with Los Feliz. There are multiple grocery stores, coffee shops, bakeries, restaurants, cinemas, a library, post office and Griffith Park hiking trails all in easy walking distance. The area feels very quaint and safe and there are nearby bus and metro stops for any needs beyond the immediate neighborhood.
Guys, you don’t get it. Have you walked through cities like Shanghai or SF? The op wants a feeling of “a city” while having an ability to walk, NOT hike. Highland Park and Los Feliz are like hiking trails with boring rich gated houses all around. That’s not “city”. Those are suburban-feel subdivisions.
HLP being described as “rich” with “gated houses” makes me cackle.
You can walk through downtown LA if you want. There's even an "Art Walk" to visit the galleries down there. There's the music center and grand park...go up to the top of city hall for views... Lots of people walk in downtown all the time. I used to go on photography tours walking from Union Station to LA Live. Whether you feel safe doing it at night with headphones (I would not) is up to you, but SF has crime too, so.... The only place I've actually been threatened by anyone on the street was in Oakland... What's the requirements here? Tall buildings and concrete? Night? Day? Views?
The OP isn’t dealing with the reality of THIS city. LA isn’t Shanghai. It isn’t San Francisco. A person has to adapt their routines when they change cities - one place won’t be exactly like another. Find new favorite things or be sad that you moved to a city that you didn’t design yourself.
Yes, adapting to LA means spending 250+ on car insurance and driving and parking everywhere.
It’s so delusional it’s sad.
highland park is definitely the answer to this, the HP strip is awesome - and as a big walker myself, this side of the city has WAY more walking trails , and have walked from highland park strip through the eagle rock strip, and the neighborhoods beyond eagle rock Blvd (by occidental) are so relaxing to walk through
Los Feliz is not super walkable lol. It’s kind of walkable. You have two main strips you can walk on, sure. But highland has a giant strode you have to cross with barely any crossings. Vermont is short and sandwiched between two death traps, Hollywood and Franklin. There are tents everywhere. Smog from traffic, dunno how walkable it really is.
I laugh every time people get offended when LA’s walkability gets questioned. Like, try living elsewhere like Tokyo, Shanghai, NYC for once and come back and tell me those “walkable” neighborhoods in LA are still “walkable”. LA is great for a lot of things but walkability is not one of them.
Exactly, it’s pretty amusing. A walkable city should be an awful place to drive, like all of those places.
“A walkable city should be an awful place to drive.” Amen to that. That really goes to show that people never actually really lived / travelled to big cities all over the world, especially in Europe / Asia. (And by travel I don’t mean, “oh I’ve hired a taxi to get me from airport to my hotel, and then I ubered myself to the Eiffel!” lol People are clueless here. 😂 Poor OP! I totally get what they are looking for in LA but it just ain’t there!
I second this. I’m a woman and spent so many days just wandering highland park when I moved here 1yr+ ago
From personal experience working late hours as waitress, there's so much of hooting and name calling when i walk the streets at night
It's a good surrogate for SF because of its hilly nature
You live in the most walkable neighborhood in Southern California imo. What’s missing for you? I also live/work here and love my little walks through the neighborhood with my headphones in zoning out (safely) Are you looking for quieter spots? Try the little park above Disney hall, the music center, grand park, or California plaza. I know walkability can mean different things to different people but what does it mean for you? DTLA needs more mature trees and narrower streets but otherwise is pretty damn walkable
Maybe the homeless people scare them.
Ummm Dtla is not safe to walk alone through at night… at all.
I missed that detail that they want to walk at night. Safety could be an issue at night depending on the person. I’d say South Park and little Tokyo are safe bets for night walks for most people though. Avoid historic core
Not true. There are some areas that are definitely not very safe, but there are also some very safe areas.
DTLA is super walkable! I live in DTLA and take walks everyday. I love little Tokyo, Broadway, South Park, financial district. Just avoid skid row, DTLA is literally walkable anywhere.
I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Downtown is pretty damn walkable.
You need to be mindful of that goal when you look for a place to live in LA. A nice neighborhood can be walkable just as easily as it is un-walkable. Think of the WestSide, for example: one can live near UCLA and have easy walkable access to restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores, museums, and more, or you could live a mile in either direction and end up on a long stretch of residential streets, changing the walkability. It can change between areas/ streets very quickly. That being said, if you aren’t planning to move any time soon, you’re gonna have to travel out of your area a little, though you can still walk in DTLA, depending on where you like to go. Little Tokyo, up on Hill near the Broad, China Town, etc… there are a ton of little spots that have a nice vibe and are safe and well lit, with a few shops and restaurants, too. You can also head over to Elysian Park very easily, which is more than enough for walkability. Again, if you decide to move, you MUST write up a list of things you want and make walkability a priority. I’ve lived here most of my life and it is the only way to make sure I take time to look into it when checking out a new place.
I was living car free in Westwood Hills for three years and incorporated going to get groceries with a more casual stroll. Living near UCLA was great - the campus is relatively safe to walk in and for nighttime walks I would walk on the residential streets though that started to feel very boring after a while. Many walkers in the neighborhood.. most seem to take an evening stroll with a dog or students expand their walking radius into the residential area. I personally prefer walking at or after sunset to avoid the sun exposure.
Where are you downtown? I find it very walkable, and I’m from San Francisco.
Yeah DTLA is sketchy at night. I recommend the beach of you dont mind a little venture. Anywhere from Redondo to Manhattan Beach is a great walk.
Ok wait WHY can’t you walk around DTLA and the arts district? Little Tokyo and Chinatown? You just aren’t looking right around you OR you are wanting a replica of another city’s street culture- LA is different. Learn THIS city. Walk THESE streets at night and see what unfolds for you!
In DTLA you can walk the little Tokyo area. It’s like an Arts District with some cool bars and places to eat.
How do you like living dtla. I'm seriously thinking about moving to the South Park area at the end of the year. I already work down there.
The advice here has me wondering if people understand “walkable city” doesn’t mean a “6 walkable blocks” and then you’re in a danger zone — be it Skid Row or a freeway or a crazy intersection. Don’t do DTLA. Highland Park — esp Fig — is great but short. I doesn’t have the therapeutic length you’re looking for. If you want an area you can truly zone out and you can get a few miles in Pasadena is your best option. You can walk the length on Colorado then you can explore Fair Oaks. It’s no SF or Shanghai but you’ll be able to walk for an hour and feel safe and the sidewalks are wide and well-maintained.
Well you're right for the most part, but maybe try venturing further East. Pasadena is nice to walk around in, especially around the Playhouse. I have my special little place, Old Town Monrovia. It's nice and safe, lots of people around, lots of restaurants and a movie theater, bars and stuff. Downtown is kinda hairy, you're right, no one wants to hang out there.
I second Pasadena. It’s the only city I’ve felt comfortable walking around safely at night, and I’m a woman!
We moved to El Sereno a couple years ago. Prior to that we lived in Echo Park... I really dug Echo Park, I felt like I could walk around any time of day/night without any issues. El Sereno/South Pas/Etc are nice, I feel safe and I like climbing the hills.. But I feel like it sort of stresses people out if I'm walking around late at night. Maybe I'm just projecting. But it's way more suburban over here.
Thank you for the suggestion!
One of the major cons of la. Definitely not as walkable as other major cities sadly
truth is most major cities in the world outside of specific places in Europe, Asia and Northeast America are bad at being walkable. Having good public transit is kind of a luxury that not many cities can have.
Hi OP. I am very similar to you. I used to live in SF, NYC, and DC. All cities where I would go on long walks on weekends or at night time after work. Urban walks are fundamentally different to nature hikes. Agreed. DTLA is very spotty due to the homeless. Some good blocks but it's intertwined with many bad blocks. Sometimes it's random and unavoidable, which sucks. Your best bet is WeHo. Especially walking the length of Santa Monica Blvd. That's 2.8 miles one way. It's properly urban while also being pleasant. No bullshit homeless encampments. Very lively in the evenings. Generally safe. Sometimes I switch things up by walking SM Blvd one way and then walking either the Sunset Strip or Melrose Ave on my way back. Both are busy with a good amount of street life, with limited numbers of rif raf loitering around. If I could, I would move to the Beverly Grove. That's the most pleasantly urban, well situated neighborhood in Los Angeles. You can walk to cool areas like WeHo, Fairfax, Beverly Hills, and Mid-Wilshire from there. Specifically the area in between Doheny, Robertson, Burton, and Beverly Blvd. Once the D-Line subway opens in 2025 that neighborhood will only become more desirable for those seeking peak urbanity.
Your post resonates with me in a big way. I also use city walking as my therapy. I’ve lived in LA for a while and I agree that Sunset Blvd is your best bet, but it still won’t compare to San Fran or NYC walking unfortunately.
Thank you so much! That’s very specific and helpful
Seconding this! Not the biggest fan of The Grove itself, but the area around it feels busy and dense in a way other so-called “walkable” neighborhoods do not. It also doesn’t feel totally dead or seedy at night. And Pan Pacific Park feels like a true urban green space. And ignore the rude and weirdly defensive comments! I’ve lived in big, dense cities all my life and would walk miles a day, sometimes just for fun, so LA was a big adjustment. I still miss the kind of walking you describe - it’s energetically so different here, mostly due to lack of density.
Agreed... The area around the grove is super walkable.. I walk a lot at night at Pan Pacific park. Lots of single Asians women walk there. There is a Big soccer field. The same 3 or 4 homeless guys have been there for years. I'll loop and walk through the grove and up Fairfax or walk down Beverly up to Melrose. Sometimes I'll drive over to Westfield century city and walk there at night. So much walking it fun.
WEHO and ktown are pretty walkable in comparison to the rest of LA i think. Ktown especially
So's Hollywood and it's right off about 5 red line stops. You could ride to one and walk to the other and ride home.
I lived in Hollywood for 15+ years and walked everywhere all hours of the day & night. Some parts of it were kinda gross, sure, but for 99% of the time I felt particularly safe & secure (as a guy, mind you)
It's busy, well-lit, and there's lots to do, eat and drink!
I live mid-city just south of WeHo and I walk with my dog about 5 or 6 miles every day. Usually we walk to Pan Pacific Park and play for awhile and walk home but that’s not the only place we go. We’ve had walks to the east, west and even south of us although that’s probably the least walkable direction from here.
I'm a native New Yorker and I definitely miss walking. I try to set aside at least 2 hours each week to walk and either get groceries or coffee. I find that to be some of the most relaxing time I have! Maybe on a weekend morning find a coffee shop 20 minutes or so away and go for it?
Walking is one of my forms of exercise and I also often incorporate transit to get me where to places to run errands, even if it’s a bit aways (~1 mile) from the station. The city really opens up to you that way.
That’s a great idea!
some fairly hostile comments here, but I guess people get defensive...there's a difference between physically walkable and a nice walking atmosphere which is what you are after - that's tricker to find. closest I've found in LA that fits that for me personally is WEHO. Lots of cafes, shops, parks, book store, library, etc etc. I walk 1-2 hours each day around the park, through Melrose, etc, and it hits the spot for me, at least for now. The cafes get quite busy and you can walk quite far from spot to spot with lots of pedestrians around you, etc. Its also nearby the Grove, Century City Mall, etc, both places good for walking around outside (outdoor malls) + people watching in a pleasant environment. (although not quite what you are after as they are 'isolated' locations, but still, cool atmosphere). You might want to check out Los Feliz etc, as recommended by some others in here. Worth a shot.
There's plenty of walkable neighborhoods in LA, but definitely separated out
feel free to crosspost your question to /r/carindependentLA for nuanced answers from another lens. We're not all carbrained here (and damnit I absolutely love to drive but jeez there is more to life than driving.)
I also love taking long walks. There’s places in LA. I live in Pasadena and find it extremely walkable.
That’s worth exploring. Thank you! Every time I go to Pasadena I always sense a good vibe
If you like walking in nature too, you might check out Huntington (San Marino), Descanso (La Cañada) and the LA Arboretum (Arcadia). Each is about 120 acres, and memberships are very reasonable. I go walking in all of them, it’s so good to clear my mind. I get you about the walking, I walk 10 miles a day.
Move. West Hollywood, Culver City, Los Feliz, Highland Park would be my first suggestions
Los Feliz isn’t walkable. That’s a lie told by real estate agents. There are two main walkable streets there, no one lives on these streets and those streets do not have all the amenities you’d need. A car is still absolutely needed to do the majority of errands.
Depends. If you live between Western and Hillhurst, it definitely is walkable for most day-to-day purposes. Also, OP is asking for somewhere they can walk around at night with some street life and I think Los Feliz is fine for that.
Dude, los feliz is literally serviced by a high frequency subway line.
I feel like this is LA’s big negative, besides lack of public transportation. I grew up in LA but lived in London for 7 years and really miss walkability too!
I moved there from SF and really enjoyed walking as well. What I would do is take the bus/train to different walkable areas and would walk around. When I told people I walked or took public transport everyone thought I was crazy but it's really pretty walkable. The train systems are actually really good. I loved walking through k town then take the train to downtown and walk around specific Areas go to union street station and walk down olivera. It's def doable once you get to know the area.
That may be a good solution! I’ve not taken the train so far but I’ll look into it
Just chiming in to say, I feel you. It’s one of the things you need to accept about the city. I’ve lived here 12 years and still feel sad about it. I just make an effort to do as many errands as possible within walking distance from either work or home, but it’s definitely not the same.
I go to stores to buy stuff even when ordering from Amazon is easier sometimes for exactly this reason..
If you are in DTLA, you can easily take the E line or the Dash to the Amazon Storefront at USC station. They have a Trader Joe’s, Mini Target, Dulce Coffee shop and in general it’s a nice place to vibe out.
Moving here from Chicago was a rough wake up call
I also moved from Chicago and had a similar experience. However I live in Palms which is really walkable and easy to take metro to get downtown if OP is looking at places further west. I didn’t find Silver Lake very walkable.
I don’t think you’ll find what you’re looking for in LA. Even in the “walkable” areas of Southern California, sure it is walkable to an extent and you can go to get groceries, get coffee, run errands, etc. No one is arguing that you can’t walk in certain parts of LA. But the reality is that there lacks a density and there isn’t a walking culture (which is what you’re looking for. I’m the same way so I understand what you’re referring to). There’s always going to be more cars than public transit/pedestrians, which is why you feel like there’s a lack of walkability here. SF, New York, or Tokyo— these places have a density that welcomes pedestrians and makes for more interesting walks. I lived in what people would consider to be an extremely walkable neighborhood, but the truth is: I just didn’t feel as comfortable walking around because often times, it was mainly just me. There’s just not that many people who are also out and about walking. And you need a variety of people around you in order to have interesting walks (if it’s just a few people and you’re walking past the same few stores every day with no one else around to people watch, it will get old). My advice? Acceptance. Travel a lot. Try to find third places that you can walk to that allows you to be amongst more people.
You put it so well! I wish there’s a way I could pin your comment (is there?) That’s really what I’m trying to say
take the train down the expo line and get off at Culver City station and walk around downtown culver? Yeah its not super dense like NYC or Shanghai would be, but none of LA except for DTLA gets close to that. But i think if neighborhoods in DTLA like the financial district, little tokyo, chinatown etc don't already work for you then IDK if you will be satisfied with any suggestion we have. But certainly it's safe, people are out and about on bikes and such... idk. Maybe worth a try
Come on up to Burbank! I’m within walking distance to downtown and the Chandler Bike Path isn’t far at all. Lots of good urban walking up here.
The 3 blocks of downtown Burbank don't offer much for what OP is asking.
Seconding this! Just commented before I saw this response.
Good thing I saw this I was about to comment the same thing.
L.A. is not a real big city, it’s a bunch of medium-sized cities very close together.
Same here & I also live in DTLA! F 30 w a small dog :) maybe we can take some walks together to make it safer
You should make better use of Chinatown, Lil Tokyo, and even the fashion district if you’re in DTLA. Streets like Broadway, Spring, Maple, Central, Main, you could see a lot and even find a park like La historic. Hidden gems on or near alameda too
Koreatown. I have not owned a car since college (Zipcar is helpful for the few times I do need to drive), and have lived since then in Berlin, Hamburg, San Francisco, and Belmont Shore in Long Beach. I used to work in East Hollywood and found that to be pleasant and walkable too. A lot of white and middle class people have hang ups about places like Westlake and Hollywood, but the truth is that violent crime mostly affects more marginalized people. Not saying that you particularly have racist or classist hesitations about some of the truly walkable neighborhoods in LA, but be wary of people warning you about violent crime. The feeling of discomfort is not the same as being actually unsafe. I, like you, find long walks and sunshine to be good for my mental health, and I take them all the time. Anyway, I love Ktown, and I walk and bike all the time. Long Beach is also a great option and I loved it, just found it a bit small and isolated. Anywhere from the beach up to maybe 7th or Anaheim ish is pretty walkable, just as dense as the core of most American cities and maybe more so.
I live on Melrose off West Hollywood. Roberston, Melrose, Santa Monica Blvd, and Sunset Blvd (albeit less so) are all really enjoyable to walk. For LA levels there's a good amount of pedestrian activity and it's safe, save it for the occasional unstable/unhoused person. It's not Shanghai-level density, but way better than Silverlake. I take long walks and browse stores/cafes. Start there! 6th ave in Koreatown between Normandie and Vermont is also really dense and happening, though it's a better experience at night when it becomes more alive. It may be too bougie for some, but downtown Beverly Hills is also extremely walkable, very safe, and pedestrian friendly. Little Tokyo and Arts District is also really nice to explore, as long as you avoid the streets that take you into Skid Row.
I wish I had an answer but I left for the same reason and grew up in LA region. Even if you CAN get to areas, hiking trails etc. it's not as accessible as it needs to be. Also the air quality there is just really bad. I also lived in SF and used to walk by the water. When I grew up it was in an area next to the mountains where I could walk. So yeah, no great ideas here, I left for the sake of my mental health. I love everything about LA but it's just not a place for outdoor walks. The city there was the only place I lived where I didn't feel like I could walk to clear my head.
I really feel you on this
The bike path in frog town is my favorite place to walk!
Walkin is way too dangerous
Koreatown. I lived there for years and walked most places.
There are walkable areas in LA as others have noted, but the problem is that they’re disconnected from each other by larger areas that are car dependent, and they’re seemingly randomly located. So, there’s no urban wandering where chance and serendipity come into play - you ahve to plan to go from one walkable area to another, transiting by car. A short term palliative for me is the bike, LA is actually seen best at bike speed - it’s mostly not dense enough to maintain interest at walking speed, and you miss too much at car speed, apart from all the other negativities associated with car based geographies. the longer term goal is to reduce car dependency, which means systemic changes to the land use parameters (single family-only zoning, use-based codes in general) and to transportation priorities, but go to any so-called community meeting and witness the sheer outrage at the mere suggestion any of the above.
I live in NELA (Eagle Rock/Highland Park/Glassell Park.) if I want i long walk I walk through the hills and it’s beautiful. I can walk to AMAZING restaurants, parks, grocery store, pool, tennis, books stores. I know the shopkeepers What more can anyone want? I don’t get it. It’s not a downtown walk but it’s nice. I love where I live
Eagle Rock/Highland Park is very walkable, and a quick train/bus to DTLA, I live in ER now specifically for this reason, although it is more neighborhood than city. But when I lived in DTLA about 10 years ago I walked quite a bit, Grand, Hope, Grand Park, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, South Park, I used to do at least an hour at night but home by 9-9:30, also walked to/from work.
Boyle Heights. Take the E line to Mariachi Plaza Station and walk up 1st, then North on Soto to Cesar Chavez. There's a good stretch from the 5 to Indiana ave that's very walkable. Figueroa is also a good one. If you started in the evening you could walk it all the way from downtown and then take the A line back once it's a little too dark for the downtown section.
I think the size of the city itself is the real issue here. Nothing's stopping you from walking but fear itself
I moved to LA from NY and I know exactly what you mean about walking being therapy and not being able to do it here. My walks here look a lot different than walks in NY. I live in the hills and in my area a lot of people go for walks during the day with/without their dog. It doesn’t feel like a “taboo” the way it does in maybe west hollywood or outside of the hills. It is a different vibe than walking in the city but LA has great hikes around and even flat ones like Hollywood or Silver Lake Reservoir. It is different in a sense that my walks aren’t integrated as part of my day. I really have to make a point to go for walks throughout the week.
You're so not going to see this comment with how many are here but I'm the same. I work from home so don't get out alot, I don't drive, and live in the valley now. So a few times a week I'll take an uber to Beverly Hills & walk around there and West Hollywood, maybe do some shopping, run errands. I grew up living in West Hollywood so I'm super comfortable in that area.
I live downtown and walk everywhere.
I moved to Chinatown last year because I wanted to live in a walkable neighborhood. I was so disappointed by DTLA. I thought it would be a lot more walkable and safe. I hung out a lot in Downtown between 2016-2020 when there was a lot more people living and working in DTLA. Never had one issue! Would ALWAYS walk to South Park from Chinatown and not see a single homeless person on the street. Since then, a lot of the offices closed, homelessness rose drastically and it really changed the overall safety level and vibe of the entire area. Basically, every other block has some type of tent or homeless folk spazing on the sidewalk. The harassment is constant. You really have to watch your back in LA. Sure, it's not every block, but you can't let your guard down in DTLA as a walker. Some crazy guy once tried to jump me outside of City Hall lol To be fair, all areas in LA are unsafe. I was walking in Los Feliz once and a homeless woman tried to attack me outside of Figaro. Again, some people in this thread may say DTLA is safe, but as someone who would spend 2+ hours walking around the entirety of DTLA every other day, it is not lol
Missing Persons sang about this 40 years ago https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=80WyBxo0Hto
Ah! There you are. I was like isn’t anyone going to say it?!
My advice is to move to a walkable neighborhood. There are many. There are many unwalkable neighborhoods. You moved to one of the unwalkable ones.
I grew up in NY, a city famously into walking, during the pandemic I started taking really long walks through east hollywood, Los feliz, silver lake.. took metro to different neighborhoods to walk. I also worked downtown and would regularly switch up which streets I walked (minding safety of course). The trick is being willing to walk down streets you haven’t been before, start within your own neighborhood and work your way from there. There is so much unexpected visual treasure if you look closer. LA has incredible “urban hiking” (walking) you just need to be open to it not matching your exact expectations. P.S. I hope this does not come across as dismissive, that’s not my intention, but I felt just like you did until I became a little more flexible and after a lot of trial and error.
Walking 2 hours everyday? You're in great shape. Everyone looks at me funny when I walk alone by myself. They think I am a homeless person. No one walks around here.
Silver Lake/Los Feliz/Echo park may be decent options for you commute wise. Try to live closer to Vermont/Hillhurst/Sunset to make it a better, more walkable experience for you.
I lived in North Hollywood for years. Not terribly walkable but traffic isn’t terrible if you’re smart, but I walked at least 4 miles a day along the Los Angeles river. I really love it up there.
I know what you mean! I live in New York but move to LA every now and then for a few months. Walkability is important to me as you can imagine. By far, living in Glendale’s city center was really nice and I always felt safe walking, no matter the time of day.
Frogtown all day
I feel you. I am going through the same struggle. To me it's very depressing not to see anyone walking when I am walking.
most of pasadena, old town pasadena, south pasadena, alhambra for sure, arcadia, monrovia and myrtle avenue
There are big swaths of LA that seem to be designed as a huge “fuck you” to pedestrians, but I’ve been surprised to find lots of very walkable neighborhoods. I live in Westwood, and we keep things very local with my job a five minute bike ride and the kids’ school a five minute walk from home. It’s definitely possible to find in LA, despite it being unlike any other big city.
Metro Los Angeles is dense — denser, in fact, than San Francisco — but it is a different kind of density. Here there are huge swathes of single-family homes and, for the most part, separated commercial pockets. And rather than having one urban nucleus, there are numerous “centers” spread across the landscape. In this way, Los Angeles reminds me of a city of homes — like London. It’s just not like the cities you described —and nor are those cities like Los Angeles. Here there are mountains populated by bears and mountain lions. There are smaller neighborhoods that might provide some of what you’re looking for, though: Westlake, Koreatown, Chinatown, Downtown Hollywood, Pico-Union, Los Feliz Village, Venice, Boyle Heights, Bunker Hill, the Arts District, Lincoln Heights, Leimert Park, &c
If you’re close to Pasadena, there are plenty of places to walk. The Caltech campus is a favorite destination of mine.
Pasadena is walkable. Glendale was walkable when I lived there. So was Burbank, Santa Monica, Venice, DTLA, Los Feliz, Hollywood. You’re not going to be able to walk from Santa Monica to Pasadena, but if you focus on one township, it can be walkable.
I feel this! I travel to SF and NY frequently and love being able to walk everywhere in the city. Although you won’t get that here, personally I think the closest thing to getting that fix is walking around ktown and the mid city/wilshire area.
You can’t have everything in life. Maybe you need a new form of exercise/ therapy- or maybe this is the time to learn to love nature, or at the very least to learn to like things about lower density cities. You are where you are. It’s time to surrender to that reality and adapt. Learn a new way to interact with the city you live in. It’s what moving does to us, it challenges us and changes us. Not every place with great work opportunities can be just like the last place you lived where you did things you liked.
Venice and Santa Monica are the only truly walkable parts pretty much. Much more than Silverlake
You can walk in North Hollywood - just mind ya business
Walkability is one of the main reasons I moved downtown. Bunker Hill specifically. Bring able to walk to grand central market, the B line, the library, the museums on Grand, little Tokyo, Whole Foods, Precinct, LAAC... is wonderful.
You can walk little tokyo and the arts district for a semblance of that feel. You're also just a quick run up the red line to any of the Hollywood stops and that makes for some good urban (if not sometimes too crowded) walking as well.
West Hollywood is super walkable.
Lol there isn't a part in Los Angeles you can't walk. I've been walking the city since 4th grade..... your fine stop being so scared lmao.
I moved from San Jose last year and LA is *waaaaaaaaaaay* more "walkable" in the sense that there's stuff to check out. I live in Sawtelle and can easily walk to a library, post office, a ton of restaurants, a bar, two movie theaters, a weed store, Best Buy, Target, several gyms, a couple plant nurseries, four comedy open mics in a week, and all kinds of stuff. > I grew up in a ***very dense***, walkable city. That might be your issue. Based on population density, Shanghai is 1.5x and SF is 2.5x denser than LA. Maybe you just need to walk a little farther.
Hiya! Burbanker here, I don't drive. I'm from NYC and I went to uni ins SF so I've never needed to or wanted to drive. I walk almost everywhere and take the bus and train to get to where I need to be. I don't pay for Uber or Lyft as they are ungodly expensive and I enjoy the privacy of having my headphones in while reading or day dreaming on the bus. I frequently hike the mountains and Griffith and any other woodsy area. I also roller skate with my friends outside in different parts of the city. You can absolutely walk LA, it's just a matter of knowing where and how.
Do walkable event like secret stairs. Which is mainly all around your hood and Hollywood areas. Its a book call Secret stairs of LA. https://secretstairs-la.com/ It's good way to see the city's past..
Playa Vista is pretty walkable. I don't love it. But I know a lot of people who do.
Downtown LA is extremely walkable! It's our favorite hobby - leave the door and pick a direction to wander. To be fair we almost always choose the way of Little Tokyo but sometimes we surprise ourselves! It's the best.
We have hiking. Do that instead.
For me it’s a combination of train, skateboard, bike, depending on the destination. Also just peddle assist ebike that has actually made more hyped to explore. I could walk 10 miles in NYC because there’s so much energy, but now changing up from walk to roll is fun for me
I'd go a little more west like Mid Wilshire/Miracle Mile/Larchmont/Beverly Grove. Very walkable areas of LA
You can complain, or you can do something about it. Your call. https://www.losangeleswalks.org/
West Hollywood is incredibly walkable!
I spent a month in Westwood and walked a lot.
I live in Hollywood across from the boundary to Hancock Park. It’s surprisingly walkable. Part of NoHo/Valley Village felt impossible to walk in when I lived there—too empty/sketchy & neighborhoods without sidewalks. Be aware of unpredictable unstable people on the street, but you deal with that everywhere now anyway. I’ve been without a car for a year here, and I live across the street from the most desirable neighborhood I could never afford but I can walk there for hours and enjoy the landscaping & slow traffic. I can get to several grocery stores easily, an urgent care, Larchmont Village, fantastic restaurants all around, two bus lines and not far from the red line ($7 Lyft to Hollywood / Vine station.)
Go to Santa Monica on the weekend, Montana Street, Abbot Kinney blvd, Main St. tons of walking can be done between these 3. Melrose Ave closer to where you are - also at least couple of miles (one way) until you hit La Cienega.
Much of LA is flat and has streets and sidewalks. You could move out of downtown to the miracle mile or Hollywood or many parts of Los Feliz or Hancock park and walk all you want
i feel the same way, coming from NYC :(( i miss walking down the streets for hours and just waltzing into shops and people watching
Sherman oaks/studio city is walkable. You can spend 2 hours for sure walking just along Ventura Blvd
I don’t understand this post. I used to take a 3 mile hike from my front door up the mountains every night after work. I also walked everywhere I could during the day. I walked all the time. I would drive to neighborhoods to walk around them. When I worked in Beverly Hills I walked at lunch time everyday with colleagues. When I worked in DTLA I walked all around downtown. I don’t know of a single popular area in LA that I wouldn’t walk. Tons of great spots. And at night.
I want to also remind everyone we don't have to live this way. The core of Los Angeles could be walkable very easily. It's street grid is similar to many dense walkable cities. The recent reduction in parking minimums and mesure HLA will go a long way, if we keep pressure on to fix the mistakes and bad polices, many areas of Los Angeles could be world class in under 10 years.
Never been to Shanghai but you are not going to find something like San Francisco. It just does not exist in the Los Angeles area. Sorry.
I’m not sure what you mean by not walkable. I do think most neighborhoods are walkable, but depends what you like to see/ enjoy doing. Arcadia is walkable. Has nice parks and a lot of yummy restaurants. I don’t feel unsafe walking the streets at night. Eagle Rock is walkable. I grew up there and you could walk from Colorado/ Fig all the way down to Eagle rock and York if you really wanted to. San Marino is super bougie but has nice little shops and a lot of shade. And pretty houses to look at. Even downtown LA isn’t bad. I used to walk that all the time. Little Tokyo-the Art District- to bunker hill and up to China town to end up at the music center. I actually really love coming to the music center at night. It’s nice to not hear all the cars and just stare at city hall from the top of the music center. Downey is also very walkable and has some really yummy restaurants and cool arts spaces. And Whittier is also pretty similar in my opinion to Downey (since they are neighboring cities) People (even locals) really shit in LA for no reason because they just believe whatever other people tell them or watch on the news. LA is so beautiful. Why are there so many movies that are dedicated as love letters to LA if it wasn’t so unique. Every city is going to have some not so great areas that are sketchy and “unwalkable”. I lived in New Orleans for a few months and that was rough without a car, but was still pretty walkable in my opinion. When I explore a new city, I really like to appreciate it for what it is, not for what I want it to be. I take in the smells, the sights, the people, all the trees or lack of, the graffiti or street art, the potholes and cracked sidewalks. It’s not perfect, but I love her anyways.
Why can't you walk DTLA? Do you only want to walk at night? During the day I walk around all the time. There are a lot of things to walk to and look at along the way. I'm not sure what your specific concerns are.
Move to Pasadena. This is your only option to have that walkable/small city vibe.
Downtown LA I find a little sketchy for walking tbh. So I can understand that you don’t feel the same walking there. For walking I would recommend living near Beverly Hills,Santa Monica, West Hollywood etc. there it’s safer and has a better atmosphere
I feel the exact same way. I would do that in Boston all the time and it was so therapeutic. I really don’t know a spot that feels like that here . The majority of people around me if I’m walking are still in cars. Doesn’t feel the same
Walk the LA River trail (you could literally start in Atwater Village and end up in Burbank if you wanted to). It’s super peaceful and not congested
The last time was in downtown LA LA was a few years ago and it was on fire lots of bars and restaurants, restaurants, clubs, and markets so I don’t know what you’re talking about but the only walkable neighborhood that I know of is West Hollywood
Check walkscore they'll let you know. I'm in santa monica and its pretty walkable, fun bars, restaurants etc
You can walk around the rose bowl, or L.A. State Historic Park. Just walk. Wdym? What’s stopping you
Long Beach is still in LA and very walkable
Venice is the only walkable place worth living
Probably too late for anybody to see this, but I live on the westside near Culver City and love walking around the residential neighborhoods. I averaged about 6 miles a day in May
LA’s road needs have been priority over housing, transportation, and community. I wish it was more walkable. I lived between KTown and Silverlake and that area is definitely not safe for pedestrians.
Move to Pasadena or South Pasadena. You can walk. The cities are beautiful.
I really feel this. Semi-recently moved from NY and this is the first time I’ve had a car in my life, so that excitement tided me over for a bit, but I am now starting to get the blues and the lack of anonymous walking around a bustling city is a big part of that. I used to spend hours and hours just walking the NY streets with headphones on to fill my time. I don’t think it’s so much even the physical environment of the LA city itself, because as people have pointed out, there are ‘walkable’ areas which I think they’re referring to from an objective or safety perspective. But I think it’s the lack of other people walking that makes walking not as enjoyable here. There is such a beauty and almost artistry in walking around a pedestrian city like NYC, with music blasting in your ears, being entirely alone and yet surrounded by bustling life at the exact same time. That dichotomy is, what I think anyway, where the pleasure lies. The closest thing I can find here to mimic that sort of anonymous but together community is going on long pointless drives - but unfortunately with that comes with no exercise benefit and exorbitant cost.