Admit it, you’re right here since you need to see how walkable your favourite (or least favourite, I suppose) L.A. neighborhood is. You need bragging rights, you need your biases confirmed, you need a completely unscientific, greater than slightly opinionated rating of Los Angeles neighborhoods by walkability. And we’re right here to provide it to you.
L.A. actually is a strolling metropolis. Discover our ground-level information to the folks and locations protecting our sidewalks alive.
Why unscientific? For starters as a result of these sorts of number-crunching rankings exist already in city planning grasp’s diploma tasks and on apartment-rental web sites corresponding to walkscore.com. And let’s face it, whereas knowledge tells a narrative, it doesn’t inform the entire story.
That’s why I put collectively this checklist: to focus on the issues that make strolling in a neighborhood, and in our expensive metropolis, particularly distinctive. These embody superstar adjacency (Will I see somebody well-known?), L.A.-ness (Is there an instantly-recognizable palm-tree dotted backdrop?), pedestrian density (If I noticed somebody strolling right here, would I instantly suspect one thing’s amok?). I additionally consulted many a pal and colleague — people who’ve really lived in these neighborhoods.
Lastly, as an Angeleno who’s lived right here for 27 years and likes to discover the town on foot after just a few drinks (or a puff or two of the herb), I took just a few — how shall I put it? — private liberties. In brief, that is my extremely specific checklist. Maybe you might have one in every of your personal?
Be forewarned: This isn’t an exhaustive overview (L.A. is massive! And lots of neighborhoods are principally residential.) however one which touches on the 4 least- and most-walkable neighborhoods (on the prime and backside of the checklist, respectively), together with some handpicked in-betweens you’re in all probability conversant in.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Occasions)
18. Bel-AirIt’s a reality: L.A.’s wealthiest neighborhoods are, for probably the most half, the least pedestrian-friendly, extra involved with privateness hedges than the secure passage of foot site visitors. Exhibit A: this sidewalk-free enclave the place folks as soon as, presumably, moved about with out vehicular help, however not appear to. I’ve by no means as soon as seen a pedestrian right here. Nor have I met anybody who has. Are there celebrities to be discovered on these icy manicured streets? Undoubtedly, however likelihood is you gained’t have the chance to put eyes on the likes of Rupert Murdoch (who just lately tied the knot at his vineyard right here), Joni Mitchell or Jennifer Lopez. Until, that’s, you’re a paparazzo who’s particularly referred to as on to take action. Oh, and don’t trouble in search of the unique “Fresh Prince” home both. That’s really in Brentwood.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Occasions)
17. Pacific Palisades Nobody walks to — or from — wherever within the Palisades. And, if anyone seems to be like they’re strolling, it’s in all probability as a result of they’ve simply parked the automotive or are popping from one retailer to the subsequent at Rick Caruso’s Palisades Village. I walked right here — simply as soon as — and felt like I used to be sporting the scarlet letter (“P” for pedestrian, naturally) your complete time. And what good is a stretch of shoreline for those who can’t stroll there with out taking your life in your arms? Even so, the neighborhood has loads of idyllic, Californian backdrops and its fair proportion of superstar residents. You would simply end up subsequent to a soup-slurping Cheech Marin at Casa Nostra Ristorante or crossing paths with Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, who’ve a home right here.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Occasions)
16. Hollywood HillsA rabbit warren of steep, slender, twisty streets and near-total lack of sidewalks make foot site visitors in most of this hilly neighborhood not simply difficult however downright harmful. And, because it’s overwhelmingly residential, locations — apart from hillside properties — to stroll to and from are all however nonexistent. Whereas loads of celebs name the hills house, your finest wager at laying eyes on a star is to discover a spot the place you may gaze out on the Hollywood signal on close by Mt. Lee in Beachwood Canyon. (P.S.: Nobody likes to confess it, however there’s additionally a severe rat drawback in them there hills. And the very last thing I need to fear about if I’m making an attempt to outrun a rapacious rodent is dodging site visitors.)
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Occasions)
15. Elysian ParkNotably house to 2 issues: Dodger Stadium — itself so inaccessible on foot that there was a years-long effort to construct a gondola to ferry folks there from Union Station — in addition to the neighborhood’s namesake 600-acre park, which can put it towards the highest of a strollability index. However so far as entry to purchasing and eating choices, not a lot (the seasonal Dodger Canine however).
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Occasions)
14. Beverly HillsA dense focus of high-profile locations to go and issues to do within the Golden Triangle definitely make this swanky slice of Higher L.A. appear walkable. Which it’s — up to a degree. However most of Beverly Hills is, effectively, hills. North of Sundown Boulevard and the half often known as “the flats” are principally residential, so neither actually lend themselves to strong pedestrian site visitors. The one factor that retains it from rating worse on the checklist is that you just’d be hard-pressed to discover a higher backdrop for the socials than the outlets of Rodeo Drive. Working example: I just lately watched a a younger influencer-type stick her smartphone to the entrance window of the Gucci boutique— actually, utilizing some type of suction cup cellphone case — so she might step again and beam her whereabouts to TikTok.
(Shelby Moore / For The Occasions)
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Occasions)
12. Downtown L.A. I’ve a principle: Downtown L.A. ranks close to the highest of quite a lot of walkability rankings as a result of it’s simply anticipated {that a} dense city core that serves as a serious transit hub would, by default, be a fantastic place for folks to reside their finest car-free lives. However right here we’re grading on a curve — and factoring within the actuality that the identical place the place we are able to simply sprint out on foot to seize a French dip sandwich or take within the symphony can also be a spot full of sufficient darkish alleys, vacant storefronts and litter-strewn sidewalks to make the on-foot really feel on guard after darkish.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Occasions)
11. Koreatown This can be a neighborhood that ticks all of the packing containers for walkability — it’s densely full of purchasing and eating choices (like quite a lot of scrumptious eating choices), it’s simply navigable on foot, and parking is so scarce, having a automotive is extra a legal responsibility than an asset. However it’s densely populated too, and that mixture of pedestrian site visitors and the automobiles zooming alongside the primary arteries of Wilshire and Olympic boulevards and Third Road, take slightly bloom off the rose.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Occasions)
10. Beverly Grove/Fairfax The Grove purchasing middle, the Unique Farmers Market, LACMA and the Academy Museum mix to provide this a part of Mid-Metropolis a stable rating. The most important hurdle right here — actually in some circumstances — are the handful of root-busted, close to impassable sidewalks. The one factor extra quintessentially L.A. than posing for a photograph in entrance of Chris Burden’s “Urban Light” set up (in entrance of LACMA) is doing it in a room stuffed with Oscar statuettes on the Academy Museum subsequent door. That is additionally the place you’ll be capable of amble by means of the grassy greenspace across the La Brea Tar Pits (tremendous enjoyable if you’re slightly baked, BTW) the place gooey asphalt might be seen effervescent up and oozing out of the bottom, thick and smelling like a freshly resurfaced roadway. An alluring, distinctly Angeleno fragrance, if I’ve ever smelled one.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Occasions)
9. HollywoodOut of necessity — and alternative — there’s a direct correlation between vacationer recognition and walkability in L.A. neighborhoods. That places Hollywood within the prime half of this checklist — however simply barely. It’s pedestrian-heavy and mass-transit-accessible with one thing to eat, purchase or take a photograph of at practically each flip. Although A-list celebs are often briefly provide (however for the occasional film premiere or awards present), there are legions of spider-folk, Jack Sparrows and different costumed characters alongside Hollywood Boulevard who will gladly play the half (for a “donation,” after all). And, irrespective of how expert a driver you’re, you’ll by no means be capable of discover the Hollywood Stroll of Fame from behind the wheel.
Sadly, the identical attracts that make it a walkable gawk for touristas of each stripe makes it a irritating train in perambulation for locals — form of like New York’s Occasions Sq. with balmier climate. Lots of the outlets site visitors in cheesy souvenirs and many of the eateries are of the soggy pizza type (beloved old-school Musso & Frank’s the uncommon exception). And, statistically, if you get that many individuals prowling the sidewalks, the probabilities for shenanigans are excessive. That’s how I discovered myself (in a considerably altered state, I’ll admit) being screamed at — and I imply screamed at — by a ghoulish-looking clown in full face paint as we handed one another in a Hollywood Boulevard crosswalk.
(Christina Home / Los Angeles Occasions)
8. Culver Metropolis In case you don’t instantly consider Culver Metropolis as walkable, it’s in all probability since you’ve solely pushed by means of it on the way in which to someplace else. Along with myriad eating and purchasing choices which can be thickest the place Washington, Culver and Venice boulevards intersect, there are additionally just a few items of walk-by Hollywood historical past. One is the wedge-shaped Culver Lodge — the place the actors who performed the Munchkins stayed in the course of the filming of “The Wizard of Oz,” and the Washington Boulevard entrance to Culver Studios, which might be seen within the opening titles of “Gone With the Wind.” A cliché picture op? Maybe. However frankly, I don’t give a rattling.
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Occasions)
7. Highland ParkThere’s a cause why L.A.’s legendary Bob Baker’s Marionette Theater decamped to Highland Park in 2019. Not solely does it sit on York Road throughout from a youngsters’s playground with a rattlesnake slide, however it’s additionally on the sting of a bustling business stretch the place you could find connoisseur bagels, lengua tacos at low costs and pleasant trinkets for practically each particular person in your life. The circulation of pedestrian site visitors is robust day and night time each right here and on Figueroa Road (the place you too can entry the Metro A Line). In case you grasp round sufficient, you may even cross by an NELA-dwelling superstar or two (my colleagues have noticed the likes of John C. Reilly and Eric Warheim in these components).
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Occasions)
6. Echo Park The crown jewel of this neighborhood — and the large pedestrian draw — is Echo Park Lake, the place strolling one loop will get you a couple of mile nearer to your step aim (and it’s particularly stunning throughout lotus season). However that’s not all that makes this a great place to forgo your four-wheeled transportation; there’s additionally the colourful, explorable bend in Sundown Boulevard that runs from Taix to to Quarter Sheets (previous El Prado and the Time Journey Mart) and the stretch of Echo Park Avenue simply north of Sundown (search for the mural-covered buildings on the nook) that takes you towards the Echo Park outpost of Jon & Vinny’s Cookbook market.
You may assume that bordering the not-so-walkable Elysian Park (see above) would negatively impression Echo Park’s walkability, however a number of of my colleagues guarantee me it’s really the other — utilizing it as a form of pedestrian base camp for a 20-minute stroll to Dodger Stadium (gondola plans be damned). The one factor that does reduce into the walkability (or a minimum of a few of the enjoyment of strolling) round these components are the steepness of a few of the streets as they rise towards the hills north of Sundown.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Occasions)
5. Silver Lake The meat in Silver Lake’s walkabilty sandwich is Sundown Junction, the place Santa Monica and Sundown boulevards converge and there’s loads for pedestrians to peruse, together with Mohawk Common Retailer and Taiwanese noodle store Pine & Crane, a twice-weekly farmers market and among the best Erewhons to people-watch in. Bonus: There’s additionally the Silver Lake Reservoir — for that form of strolling — and a few severe cardio-elevating staircases within the combine, together with the historic Music Field Steps, made well-known by the silent-film comedy duo Laurel and Hardy within the Nineteen Thirties.
(Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Occasions)
4. Los Feliz What provides this neighborhood the walkability edge over its seemingly related neighbors? Two retail- and restaurant-heavy streets for starters — Hillhurst and Vermont Avenues, house to a pedestrian-pleasing assortment of eating places, (Little Dom’s), bars (Ye Rustic for a few of the finest hen wings within the metropolis, the so-hip-it-hurts Dresden Room bar and lounge for martinis and a few reside music) and outlets (Skylight Books for the printed phrase). Hold your eyes peeled since you might simply end up downward dogging subsequent to Sandra Oh in a Pilates class or stumble upon Aaron Paul at Albertsons. This city walker’s paradise additionally will get additional factors due to its location — proper on the base of Griffith Park — making it a gateway, nay a biped’s launchpad, into one of many largest city parks in North America.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Occasions)
3. Santa MonicaThank the ten million vacationers that trek to the pier right here for serving to make the town — notably the stretch alongside Ocean Avenue and the three car-free blocks of the Third Road Promenade — among the many Southland’s most walkable. It will get additional factors for the pedestrian bridges over the bustling Pacific Coast Freeway that assist people get safely from the shops-and-restaurants a part of city to the seaside. Professional tip: Depart the pier and its speedy environment to the out-of-towners and channel your pedestrian vitality on the less-trafficked, native components of city. (There are loads — Wilshire and Pico boulevards east of Lincoln Boulevard and stretches of Montana Avenue for starters.) Seize dinner at close by old-school hang-out Chez Jay or head slightly farther afield for a knee-wobbling mai tai on the Galley. If you go away you’ll be completely happy you arrived on foot.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Occasions)
2. VeniceAnother tourist-heavy, pedestrian-friendly a part of city — with a view of the Pacific Ocean thrown in for good measure. You may must get right here by automotive, however the sooner you ditch it in a (in all probability overpriced) parking spot the higher. That frees you as much as dip into the human soup of the boardwalk for people-watching at its best: pigeon-training, python-handling carnies, distributors who can write your identify on a grain of rice or steadiness your chakras. (Throughout one go to, I spent the higher a part of a half-hour doing nothing however watching a man dressed like an escapee from a “Where’s Waldo?” guide — bold-red-and-white-striped shirt, black knit cap, skinny-leg denims — popping out and in of retailers.) Who is aware of, you may even glimpse Arnold Schwarzenegger or Owen Wilson pedal previous you on a motorcycle.
From the strand it’s a win-win for the strolling class irrespective of the course, due to a large swath of sandy seaside and the mighty Pacific on one facet and quaint, artsy neighborhoods with mural-covered partitions and funky yarn artwork timber on the opposite. One other quick stroll to the Venice Canals can transport you seemingly worlds away to a community of European-style canals and previous a magical, people-powered carousel for youths — neither of that are accessible by automotive.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Occasions)
1. West Hollywood I’ll admit it — I’m wildly biased about WeHo’s walkability for a few causes. It was the the primary place I lived after I moved to city greater than a quarter-century in the past and it was right here — in a liquor retailer on the nook of Sundown Boulevard and Larrabee Road — that I had my very first superstar sighting (“Goodfellas” actor Paul Sorvino consuming a powdered donut). That felt like peak walkability — the unique Spago, Tower Data, the Viper Room and Whiskey a Go Go all inside strolling (and sometimes stumbling) distance of one another. And the assortment of walkable wonderment has solely elevated within the years since. Along with the dense focus of locations to eat and drink (closely clustered alongside Sundown and Santa Monica boulevards) that make this a pedestrian-friendly vacation spot any time of day and late into the night time, this compact neighborhood/metropolis , is house to 5 of the county’s six open hashish consumption lounges — most clustered alongside a two-mile stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard. With the ability to mild up a joint at a spot just like the leafy jungle oasis that’s the Woods (the dispensary and weed lounge co-owned by Woody Harrelson) or seize dinner and a bong hit on the sex-shop-adjacent PleasureMed and never need to climb behind the wheel makes West Hollywood the unbeatable holy grail of L.A. neighborhood walkability — and the recipient of probably the most vaunted honor of this unscientific endeavor: a pair of golden sneakers.
