I’ve never had any problems on Hollywood Boulevard, even in the middle of the night. Occaisionally I’ll go see a midnight movie at the Hollywood Galaxy theatre, on Hollywood a couple of blocks east of La Brea. Being the cheap bastard that I am, I will park on the street a block or two away. This means I’ve walked a block or two along Hollywood Blvd. at 2 in the morning many times going back to my car after the movie, and I’ve never had any problems. Not even a close call or a “suspicious” moment.
Fifteen or twenty years ago I didn’t have my own printer, and a friend of mine was part of a writers group who had an office on Hollywood Blvd., a few blocks from Vine. He gave me a key and the ability to go in there and use their laser printer. I often went in the middle of the night. Again, I wasn’t walking up and down the entire length of Hollywood Blvd., but I would sometimes go a block or two at 1, 2 3 or 4 in the morning. Never any problems at all.
Of course, I am a white male; a female may not be so lucky, but I’m saying that more from what I see on TV and in the movies than from any real experience. I don’t look “tough” in any way, just a normal kinda guy.
I wouldn’t worry too much about safety; at least, not more than you would anywhere else on a relatively deserted major street in the middle of the night.
Oh. and if you’re not talking about “the middle of the night,” but only after dark but during normal evening hours, then I would say you are completely safe. There are lots of people around all up and down Hollywood Blvd. Unless you traipse too far off into the side streets, you will be around other people at all times.
I’m sure some sort of “crazy” person could accost you for no reason even amidst a throng of tourists and onlookers, but I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing (except in the movies).
If we get our transit strike settled, you’ll be able to travel easily between Universal City and Hollywood by subway.
Even after dark, I don’t think Hollywood’s particularly dangerous, at least along the boulevard. There’s a lot of action around…clubs, bars, the famous Musso & Frank grill, the Wax Museum, etc., and there tend to be a lot of pedestrians milling around. Also there are some shops that stay open late. In sum, it’s just like any big city: you should keep your eyes open and your wits about you, but you don’t need to cower indoors the minute the sun goes down.
There are usually multiple ways to get to any destination. To get to Garden Grove/Anaheim from LAX, I personally would take the 405S–>22W, but in my back pocket I would have the 105W–>605S–>91W cause sig alerts can be a bear to get stuck in. Put your radio onto am1110 or am980 for traffic reports every 10 minutes or so. Same advice for multiple freeway routes to Hollywood applies.
Keep the doors to your car locked, but you should do that anyway whether you are in a big city or in the hicks.
Have fun in LA/Orange County. If you have any questions about South LA County or Orange County, go ahead and email me.
Best advice I can give is to carry a cell phone (charged). If you break down or get in accident, you need it. With the bus/rail strike traffic seems congested almost 24/7. I think it’s the surface streets you may worry about. Just stick to main (large) ones if you are concerned about crime. I don’t think you’ll have a problem.
If you are an auto club member, they have tons of local maps.
Depending on your hotel, the manager or concierge can give added advice.
Never mind Tommy’s or Pink’s – their food is slop. A lot like Angelynne, they became famous for being famous, not for quality. Go to Cantor’s Deli, especially at 2AM. Get a pastrami on rye or a nice corned beef. Nothing like it.
One more thing. The 105, 605, 405, and parts of the 5 have High Occupancy Lanes (HOV) meaning if there are two or more of you in the car you get a special lane (next to the center divider) this usually travel faster than the rest of the freeway. These lanes are marked by a diamond shaped emblem on signs and painted on the pavement.
A couple of words of caution:
Only enter and exit these lanes where there is a dotted white line. Crossing the double yellow (or double double yellow- 4 yellow lines) can result in a $$$ ticket. One of my students from Arizona got one of these, cost him $400.
Since entry and exit from these lanes is limited pay attention to the signs, you will need to leave the HOV early so that you can get over to the exit.
Don’t drive in the diamond lane by yourself. This will cost you at least $273.
Ooh, I miss Tito’s! Now I’m hungry again, and I just ate five minutes ago. Thank you SO much, Johnny L.A.
I lived in LA from '92 to '96, and learned to drive there. I’ve found DC to be scarier to drive in, but I will have a lifelong grudge against the 405 nonetheless. Have a cell phone. I couldn’t afford one back then, being a broke just-graduated-from-high-school sort of person, when only people with money had them, but I’d hate to be driving around there without one.
Oh absolutely, they all have names. As noted, people here used to use the names more than the numbers, and when I spoke to relatives visiting from Chicago, I’d have to translate the numbers they said to the names I knew. Especially with the newer ones we now use the numbers more than the names, though they still do have names.
The Hollywood main drag is fairly safe at any hour provided, as others have said, you have your common sense about you. Anyone who’s lived in Mexico City probably need not worry. Especially on weekends, you’ll find a good amount of hustle and bustle way into the wee hours - harmless club- and party-goers and curious tourists dominate the streets.
I like to call that run-down-sorta-dirtiness “charm” and “character,” btw.
The names get dropped because they’re too confusing: the 5 goes from being the Golden State Freeway to the Santa Ana Freeway. Every freeway seems to have two or three names, depending where you are on it. But the numbers stay the same no matter where you are. Thus the numbers are far clearer (that, and as someone mentioned above, the numbers are easier to read on a map).
However, there are still official names for nearly every highway as it is a popular thing for state legislators to do.
But sometimes people can’t agree on what the proper name of the freeway should be. I-105, aka the 105, aka the Century Freeway is really the Glen Anderson Freeway. But no one calls it that.
I-605, is almost always called “The 605 Freeway” because nobody ever wanted to call it the San Gabriel River Valley Freeway.
The 91 Freeway changes names frequently. It is the Gardena/Redondo Beach/Riverside/Corona Freeway.
