How safe is Hollywood (CA)? And LA freeway advice

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ll be in Los Angeles later this month, and will be staying in the Hollywood/Universal City area. Now, after paying for my no-changes-allowed reservations, I see online that Hollywood is widely considered to be run down, sorta dirty, and generally lacking its former luster.

But is it unsafe? Would I be nuts to wander around Graumann’s Chinese Theater after dark? Am I damned to dining hotel fare for four nights? Any other tips?

Also, I’ll be renting a car. On my previous two trips to LA in the past couple of years, I got around using Airport Bus. But now I’m going to drive. My first day there I need to get from LAX to the Garden Grove/Anaheim area, and then to Hollywood/Universal City. Second only to dark basements, one of my greatest irrational fears is taking the wrong exit in a strange city. Mapquest and other similar sites want me to take the 105 to 605 to the Santa Ana freeway; but in my ten-year-old Rand McNally it looks like I can take the 405 straight to Harbor Blvd in Garden Grove. Should I trust Mapquest?

Any and all info will be greatly appreciated!

2

Its been years since I’ve lived there, and it wasn’t all that bad. If you are used to Mexico City, I would say its probably about the same.

For more info, I’ll defer to Johnny LA.

She told me she loved me like a brother. She was from Arkansas, hence the Joy!

3

  1. Stay on the 405.

  2. With a car and directions from the hotel concierge, you can drive to any number of excellent restaurants in Hollywood.

  3. DO NOT wander around alone on Sunset, or any other Hollywood street after dark. Just common sense in a big city that you don’t know. No more dangerous than New York or Chicago. But Hollywood does have its share of street weirdos.

  4. Have a chili dog at either Tommy’s or Pink’s.

4

And El, don’t forget your guitar case full of pistolas! :smiley:

5

Oh… and if you’re on the 405, watch out for airplanes. :slight_smile:

If you see a sign for Queenston or Niagara Falls, you’re on the wrong 405.

6

I agree, just stay on the 405. It will be hell, but you won’t get lost.

7

Until I was made redundant, I worked in Orange. My route was the 405 South (note: “the [freeway number]” is how we say it here) to the 22 East. If you’re looking for Little Saigon, then that would be the Brookhurst exit. Try My Nguyen (“May NGwen”). I like the Bahn Xaio, and many of their other offerings. There is a Harbor Blvd. exit off the 22 which is a few miles south of Disneyland.

If you want to go to Disneyland, then 405-22 is a good way. You can also take the 105 from LAX to the 605 South to the 91 to the 5 and get there that way. It’s a little shorter, but traffic can be bad. (Actually, traffic can be bad anywhere – especially on the 22 East in the morning, the 22 West in the afternoon, and the 405 North in the afternoon.)

To get to Hollywood from Garden Grove, take the 22 East to the 5 North to the 101 North. From LAX take 105 East to the 5 North to the 101 North.

I’ve driven around Sunset in the wee hours. Not so bad driving, but there can be some rough trade. Hookers and street people. Probably harmless, but as silenus you need to know what to look out for. Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood abounds with male prostitutes. I don’t know how aggressive they are in general, but I was propositioned by a male street person. I told him I’m straight (actually, “I’m not into guys.”) and he said, “Oh, but you have to be!” Kind of amusing. This was in the early afternoon, BTW.

I’ve driven around downtown between 0100 and 0500 (I used to go to the now-closed Gorky’s Café). It’s fairly empty except for the street people. Not a place I’d hang out after dark. There are some iffy neighbourhoods right next to downtown. Be careful.

Also be careful about getting off the freeway in South Central. USC is down that way, but I’d avoid getting off at Hoover, Vermont, Western, Normandie, etc. in the late night/early morning.

I’ve never felt unsafe in Hollywood at night. But then, I’d go to The Cat & Fiddle or House of Blues and then come home. You’re safe enough in your car. I don’t want to scare you. Just be a little cautious.

An old copy of Let’s Go: California said this about hitchhiking: “Hitchhiking is tantamount to suicide.” They don’t put it that way anymore, but they do say it’s a remarkably bad idea. If your car breaks down, don’t ask a random person for help. You might flag down a police car or use your cell phone to call for help.

I’ve never been to Mexico City. Isn’t it the biggest city in the world? You are familiar with the problems there, and L.A.'s problems are probably similar.

8

Eh? The advice locals give each other is to avoid the 405 at all costs unless it’s between the hours of midnite and 4am.

Unfortunately, the routes you’re taking are going to take you thru some of the most congested areas of the LA freeway system.

Number one rule: Call ahead and get directions. Talk to a local, like a restaurant hostess, concierge, reservation desk clerk… etc. This will virtually guarantee that you will not get lost.

If you’re arriving anywhere near either of the rush hours (6 to 10am or 3 to 7pm) then you can avoid the legendary parking lot segment of the 405 by taking the 105/605 route. The transitions are well marked,

Most freeway onramps are paired so that if you get off at the wrong place, you can find your way back on very easily. So don’t sweat it. And if you get directions before leaving, you won’t even need to worry about this.

When you come back, take the 91 west or the 405 north to the 110 north and just stay on that until you get to Downtown, and then look for the 101 north, Hollywood freeway. If it’s a nice day, you’ll get a wonderful view of downtown.

The other posters make Hollywood sound like a mean, scary place, but really, it’s just colorfully weird, not dangerous. If you look like you’re confident and alert, nobody is going to mess with you, just like in any big city. And if you’re walking down Hollywood Blvd or Sunset just seeing the sights, then there are going to be thousands of others doing the same thing… you’ll be fine.

The people who consider Hollywood run down, dirty, etc., live in cookie-cutter, mass-franchise, suburban sprawl hells like Orange County and the San Fernando Valley, and feel uncomfortable when they encounter anything that hasn’t been culturally sanitized and forced into conformity with their preconceptions.

9

Oh, one more thing: A Thomas Bros. Guide (“Thomas Guide”) is an excellent investment if you want to spend any amount of time here. It’s easy to read and quite detailed. I think they’re about $20.

10

Many thanks for the all great advice so far.

I’ve always been a big city boy so the general be-safe shouldn’t be a problem, and I can certainly appreciate the colorful contribution of street weirdos. But reading some of these online warnings, it seemed like you couldn’t step onto the Walk of Fame without being shaken down by mentally deranged sexshop barkers.

Taking the wrong turn in Cypress or Buena Park probably wouldn’t be too awful, but I’d really like to avoid a deadly mistake as described by Johnny L.A.

Here too there are some neighborhoods that warrant the tinker’s warning - You see, nobody ever goes in and nobody ever comes out!

11

Yeah, the 405 sucks sometimes. Unfortunately, it’s often hard to avoid. I’ve tried getting off of it and taking surface streets, but that takes longer. Basically, any freeway you choose is going to be a parking lot at one time or another.

Which is why I ride a motorcycle. We don’t do traffic jams. :smiley:

12

Bring a map. Don’t go anywhere without a map as the locals aren’t all that nice (if you need, ask at a major hotel) & often they don’t even have a clue where a street is.

Avoid freeways on Thanksgiving if you can. Took me 2 hours to go 20 miles one Thanksgiving day.

13

Hollywood’s fine, no worse than any other major city at night. It’s not as tourist-friendly as it could be, but that’s not the same as saying you need to avoid being out on the streets or anything. The only areas of L.A. which I’d consider unsafe are those spots you wouldn’t be interested in going to anyway.

Mapquest is nuts.

LAX to Anaheim – take the 405 south, then switch to the 91 freeway east (the switch is at the 110 freeway). 91 east to 5 south will get you straight to Disneyland.

Anaheim to Hollywood – take the 5 north all the way to the downtown LA, then transfer to the 101 north.

Depending on when you drive, the traffic could be ridiculously dense, and that’s before you factor the current transit strike into things (the 405 and 101 are notoriously congested by default), but these routes are fairly easy to follow.

14

405 offramp at Harbor does not put you in Garden Grove, it puts you in Costa Mesa/Santa Ana.

My email is listed here. I live in Orange County. If you need advice or help, feel free!

Ric

15

First off are you staying in Hollywood or in Universal City? This may seem like a nitpick, but these are two seperate areas on different sides of the Holywood Hills. Getting to or from these two areas could entail differnt “best” routes.
LAX to Garden Grove/Anaheim 105 to 605 is a great choice if traffic is heavy. Depending on just where you are going in GG Anaheim the 605 to the 5 or 405 might be better. Making a wild assed guess here that you are trying to get to the Dinseyland area I would do the 105 East, 605 North, 5 South off at Harbor Blvd.
Return trip
(Hollywood) 5 North to 101 North exit as necessary. Now staying on the 101 will get you to Universal City, there is a beter way.
(Univeresal City) 5 North to 134 West exit at Lankersheim Blvd. Left turn and about two miles to Universal City.
I could give some more customized directions if I knew approx times that you will be making these drives (it makes a difference)
Feel free to e mail me if you wish.

16

Johnny L.A. wrote:

When did y’all stop sayin’ “Santa Monica freeway” “Ventura freeway” etc. ?

17

I’m not sure when the change occurred, but I think that in the last 10 years, traffic reporters started using the numbers more frequently and that spurred the change.

18

lol jimpatro, the freeways have actual names?! I’ve been down here for 2 years, and I don’t know any of the names.

19

Hollywood Freeway, Golden State, Ronald Regan, San Diego Freeway, Simi Valley Freeway, Ventura Freeway, Pasadena, the list goes on…
And as a lifelong resident of Hollywood and its environs, currently residing 5 minutes north of Universal City, in North Hollywood, allow me to assure you, Loco, that while Hollywood certainly has it’s scruffy bits, it’s nothing to be unduly afraid of. Graumans (which is actually Mann’s, but we ignore that) is actually quite safe while it’s open, which is until midnight or so. Hollywood blvd. is a trip at night, pretty busy, well-lit, and touristy, I would feel perfectly safe walking it with another person.

And I sure hope your need to go from LAX to Garden Grove and back to Universal City is not on any kind of tight timetable, because it’s a pretty sure bet that that will take you most of a day to do, just because of traffic.

20

The big benefit is that you don’t have to memorize the association between names and freeways – anyone can look at a map and see where the 10 and the 405 and the 91 are, but finding “the Foothill Freeway,” “the Santa Ana,” and “PCH” is a major hassle.

(As long as we’re exchanging SoCal props, I’m in the south bay these days, but previously spent 25+ years in the mid-Wilshire area, just ten minutes south of Hollywood.)