# LA neighborhoods **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2009, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827 "2009-04-03T09:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/61 "2009-04-06T16:58:35Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > If you want to get to know one particular neighborhood, walking can be fine. Some neighborhoods in L.A. are very nice to walk in. Some have already been mentioned. Another is Studio City, in the southeast corner of the Valley. I disagree that Studio City as a whole is walkable. Perhaps if you live within a couple of blocks of Ventura Blvd. If you live up in the hills then walking is not a very viable proposition. Studio City is generally bounded by Mulholland Dr on the south, the 101 freeway on the north and east, and Ethel Dr on the west (appx 1/2 mile west of Coldwater Cyn). The elevation change from top to bottom is about 800 feet. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/62 "2009-04-06T18:28:54Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > I disagree that Studio City as a whole is walkable. Perhaps if you live within a couple of blocks of Ventura Blvd. > > If you live up in the hills then walking is not a very viable proposition. Studio City is generally bounded by Mulholland Dr on the south, the 101 freeway on the north and east, and Ethel Dr on the west (appx 1/2 mile west of Coldwater Cyn). The elevation change from top to bottom is about 800 feet. Well, I was thinking of where my parents live – it is within a couple of blocks of Ventura Blvd, also within a couple of blocks of Laurel Canyon. In the flat part of Studio City. It’s easily walkable and plenty to do within walking distance. And the residential streets are very nice. I think there must be 30 restaurants within walking distance of my parents’ house. Ed ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/63 "2009-04-06T20:37:06Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Hell no. [Watts](http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Watts&state=CA) is in the true hood, which IME starts a few miles south of downtown L.A. (what was formerly called South Central, but they have moved away from that name due to negative connotations) and continues all the way to Long Beach. Compton, a fairly notorious “bad” part of L.A. is also in this area. Watts and South Central are different. Watts is actually located in South Los Angeles, and South Central wanted to rebrand itself as South LA since the name sounded better than South Central. The problem is it’s inaccurate; South Central is in the southern part of Central LA, and South LA is in South LA. For non-residents, renting a car is the best way to see the city, or surrounding suburbs if you’re interested. The bus/subway is also fine. Public transportation is good when you’re trying to get around in the city proper. Now getting from LA to, say, Norwalk is a bit more of a hassle. But what the hell is in Norwalk? I disagree with the statement that it’s fairly easy to park in LA. Hell, I got rid of my car because parking made my life hell. Not having a car was the best thing to happen to me. My neighborhood was completely walkable, and if I ever needed to leave, I could be wherever I wanted to go, sans car, in 15 minutes tops. But it is also worth adding that I lived in Los Angeles proper the entire time, and never bothered with the suburbs or the valley or any of that business. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/64 "2009-04-06T21:07:53Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Watts and South Central are different. Watts is actually located in South Los Angeles, and South Central wanted to rebrand itself as South LA since the name sounded better than South Central. The problem is it’s inaccurate; South Central is in the southern part of Central LA, and South LA is in South LA. > > For non-residents, renting a car is the best way to see the city, or surrounding suburbs if you’re interested. The bus/subway is also fine. Public transportation is good when you’re trying to get around in the city proper. Now getting from LA to, say, Norwalk is a bit more of a hassle. But what the hell is in Norwalk? I disagree with the statement that it’s fairly easy to park in LA. Hell, I got rid of my car because parking made my life hell. Not having a car was the best thing to happen to me. My neighborhood was completely walkable, and if I ever needed to leave, I could be wherever I wanted to go, sans car, in 15 minutes tops. But it is also worth adding that I lived in Los Angeles proper the entire time, and never bothered with the suburbs or the valley or any of that business. Out of curiosity, where in LA did you live? I can only think of a handfull of neighborhoods where that would be possible, so I can probably guess, but always wonder what people mean when they say things like “Los Angeles proper.” ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/65 "2009-04-06T21:09:27Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Because I’m not really seeing offhand what would be so challenging about walking a mile or so in a large urban area. I’ve lived in NYC, Baltimore, Boston, Syracuse, Denver and several other large cities, in all of which “You must have a car to get around, even for short distances, even in good weather–YOU MUST HAVE A CAR” makes no sense at all. Why is this true of LA? I’ve been to NYC, Boston, Syracuse, and Denver (and a few others), lived in Seattle and Austin, and visited in a few different areas of LA: Santa Monica, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, a couple places in the Valley, and whatever you’d call where the convention center is. In my limited experience, LA really is very unfriendly to pedestrians in ways I never would have thought of elsewhere: where there are sidewalks, they may not be located or maintained well. Crosswalks are a much bigger pain in the butt when there are eight or ten lanes to cross. Drivers don’t look out for you – they don’t expect to see pedestrians. Depending on the weather, it’s \*hot \*to walk. Everything is incredibly spread out, and the scale is simply different, especially compared to NYC or Boston. Doors are in the wrong place. Facades aren’t oriented to the sidewalks. There are huge parking lots everywhere. What looks like a “block” on a map turns out to be half a mile long. Obviously there are areas with lots of small shops or restaurants that are designed for pedestrians, but they’re the exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/66 "2009-04-06T21:30:29Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Out of curiosity, where in LA did you live? I can only think of a handfull of neighborhoods where that would be possible, so I can probably guess, but always wonder what people mean when they say things like “Los Angeles proper.” My parents live in South Central, which is where I grew up, and is much easier to park in than the rest of the city (lots of houses, very few apartments), but is sort of far from everything but downtown. Still, it was easy enough to get around on public trans. After school, when I moved back home and got my first and only Los Angeles apartment, I lived in Hancock Park/K-Town. Man, I miss Korean BBQ and kimchi. A lot. By Los Angeles proper I mean the city itself, not a suburb. As in, my mail is sent to Los Angeles, CA and my zip code begins with 900 and my area code is 213. Although much of Los Angeles proper does not have the 213 area code (my parents’ house included), my apartment did. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/67 "2009-04-06T21:35:52Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > My parents live in South Central, which is where I grew up, and is much easier to park in than the rest of the city (lots of houses, very few apartments), but is sort of far from everything but downtown. Still, it was easy enough to get around on public trans. After school, when I moved back home and got my first and only Los Angeles apartment, I lived in Hancock Park/K-Town. Man, I miss Korean BBQ and kimchi. A lot. By Los Angeles proper I mean the city itself, not a suburb. As in, my mail is sent to Los Angeles, CA and my zip code begins with 900 and my area code is 213. Although much of Los Angeles proper does not have the 213 area code (my parents’ house included), my apartment did. I was figuring either K-Town, Westwood, Hollywood or Los Feliz. I used to hang out in K-Town a lot, and almost got an apartment there instead of the one we took in the Valley when we were moving out of our place in Hollywood. Of course now that we are in the Valley we never make it to K-Town anymore. No good reason for that either, it’s no further than the Westside. Anyway, thanks. Like I said it was mostly curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/68 "2009-04-06T22:09:11Z")
I lived in Glendale for a few years and while I agree that it is not a happening place it is not particularly an "un"happening place either. It’s a place like most others, accept it has a huge Armenian community. And it is not a long drive from everywhere. Los Feliz, downtown, Pasadena are all fairly reasonable drives. I could pretty much walk around Los Feliz when I lived there between Vermont and Hillhurst. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/69 "2009-04-06T22:37:00Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > And where exactly did you discern that OP is concerned about touring a small geographic section of LA? Because nothing in the actual OP asks anything about touring LA at all. What I see in the OP are general questions about the topography and location of various neighborhoods and cities. > > Perhaps you are confusing OP with **pseudotriton ruber ruber** , who purports to be doing research on a detective “hoofing” it around LA, which is without a doubt a farcical proposition. Yes, my bad, I meant **prr** , who is the person the subsequent posts are addressing. 🙂 Which must be some corallary of Gaudere’s Law… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/70 "2009-04-06T22:48:54Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > A\Perhaps you are confusing OP with **pseudotriton ruber ruber** , who purports to be doing research on a detective “hoofing” it around LA, which is without a doubt a farcical proposition. Well the confusion is obvious, but where did the detective hoofing it come from? And the implicit assertion that s/he is disingenuous about going to LA to interview some people? > [@Pyper](#): > > Ha ha ha ha!..erm, sorry. > > Glendale has [Porto’s Bakery](http://www.portosbakery.com/home.htm) and that’s about it. It’s a long drive in traffic from anything interesting. I can get there in about ten to twenty minutes–then I spend half an hour trying to find a place to park. > [@suranyi](#): > > If you want to get to know one particular neighborhood, walking can be fine… > > However, if you want to be able to go from one neighborhood to another – that is, you don’t want to feel trapped in a single neighborhood for your entire stay – then you need a car. This is true, but simply having a car is not enough to know the city. One could learn a lot about the place using public transit–but it’s not practical for many people who have limited time. > [@NAF1138](#): > > Exactly this. As others have said, individual neighborhoods are walkable. The Fairfax District, Westwood, Los Feliz (pronounced feel-is, I don’t know why), large sections of Hollywood, Culver City, parts of Santa Monica, Venice, much of Pasadena. All are walkable and all have lots of good stuff to see walking around and exploring. But Pasadena is about 30 miles away from Santa Monica and has some serious mountain ranges and other stuff in between. Santa Monica to Downtown is just as far (Downtown has all the good architecture). > > And so, while someone might want to see, say, the Huntington Library, the Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, The Farmers Market, The Chinese Theater, The Getty Center, and take an arcitectural tour of Downtown (a good trip to LA I would say, and all doable in a long weekend) if you don’t have a car or a willingness to spend hours on a bus or hundreds of dollars in cab fare, you can only do one or two of those things. And then you leave LA thinking that it is a cultural wasteland with nothing to offer the world, when the reality is, you just couldn’t get to enough of it. > > LA is big. REALLY REALLY big, and public transport here sucks. You really should rent a car. As I said above, if you have the time, you can see a lot of great places without a car. But the average visitor doesn’t really know where to go or how to get there. > [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > What part are y’all getting about the fact that the OP isn’t interested in touring LA per se, but rather is interested in spending a lot of time in a very small geographic section? > > You don’t need a car. That’s just a typical Californian’s response to everything. Well, I use my car as little as possible. But for someone who’s in town for a short period of time, it might be advisable to use a car in order to get as much as possible for his/her visit. > [@NAF1138](#): > > Beverly Hills is about 5 miles away from where he planned to be in West Hollywood, and while it is walkable, there isn’t a whole lot to see or do in those 5 miles. It’s a long walk with a lot of nothing between the destination points. Hah! That’s so correct! I think in some parts they don’t even have a sidewalk. > [@suranyi](#): > > Well, I was thinking of where my parents live – it is within a couple of blocks of Ventura Blvd, also within a couple of blocks of Laurel Canyon. In the flat part of Studio City. It’s easily walkable and plenty to do within walking distance. And the residential streets are very nice. > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Now getting from LA to, say, Norwalk is a bit more of a hassle. But what the hell is in Norwalk? I’d like to know that, too. > [@NAF1138](#): > > Out of curiosity, where in LA did you live? I can only think of a handfull of neighborhoods where that would be possible, so I can probably guess, but always wonder what people mean when they say things like “Los Angeles proper.” It means within the city limits. But you can get by living in many neighborhoods without a car. > [@emmaliminal](#): > > In my limited experience, LA really is very unfriendly to pedestrians in ways I never would have thought of elsewhere… This is generally true, but in several parts of the city the sheer volume of pedestrians gives them ipso facto authority. Have you ever been to 7th and Alvarado? > [@emmaliminal](#): > > Obviously there are areas with lots of small shops or restaurants that are designed for pedestrians, but they’re the exceptions. While they’re still exceptions, generally all over LA County places are trying to change that. Whether they’ll succeed is another question. > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > After school, when I moved back home and got my first and only Los Angeles apartment, I lived in Hancock Park/K-Town. Man, I miss Korean BBQ and kimchi. I would too. It’s a lunch staple because of where I work. > [@NAF1138](#): > > Of course now that we are in the Valley we never make it to K-Town anymore. No good reason for that either, it’s no further than the Westside. Yeah. It’s either the 405 or the 101. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/71 "2009-04-07T00:27:36Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Well the confusion is obvious, but where did the detective hoofing it come from? And the implicit assertion that s/he is disingenuous about going to LA to interview some people? You mean the **inference** you took about coming to LA for interviews? You may be confused. A detective hoofing it around LA is what’s farcical. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de053/32.png) [@Blue\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mars)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/72 "2009-04-07T05:35:41Z")
This is an excellent thread! However, since I grew up in Glendale, I wanted to put in a good word for my home turf. It’s not a complete suburb and there are a few perks to living there. It’s a predominantly Armenian area, which means good cafes and great bakeries. The bookstores on the downtown strip are pretty nice and the local landmark is this ancient theater - more than 80 years old! There’s only one bar in Glendale that I’ve actually been in - a dive rock venue called The Scene - but there are fun places in the adjacent neighborhoods too. The mall and the Americana have occupied a large section of downtown, but hopefully the area will retain its character despite that. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/73 "2009-04-07T08:54:12Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > One thing to understand is that the city of Los Angeles has a honking big mountain range running right through the middle of it. On the ocean side of the mountains you have “The Basin” and on the opposite side you have “The Valley”. This isn’t just a trivial little set of hills. It’s really rugged terrain and large stretches of it are uninhabited. > . And the stretches that are inhabited are relatively remote, so that you’d never imagine you were in the middle of a huge city. On the other hand, there are certainly way more houses than you would see in a truly remote region. On the other hand, one of the several canyons that run through the mountain range was saved from tract development almost as the bulldozers were poised to roll, and became part of the National Park System. If you are planning a trip here be sure to check out [Franklin Canyon Park](http://www.lamountains.com/planning_franklin.html), a shady and relatively verdant strip of road along a quiet slice of terrain. It’s not Yellowstone, don’t make a special trip just to see it, but it’s definitely worth a look if you are going to be here. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/74 "2009-04-07T09:01:23Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > One thing to understand is that the city of Los Angeles has a honking big mountain range running right through the middle of it. On the ocean side of the mountains you have “The Basin” and on the opposite side you have “The Valley”. This isn’t just a trivial little set of hills. It’s really rugged terrain and large stretches of it are uninhabited. > > Downtown is in the Basin, as are a lot of the ritziest neighborhoods – the Sunset Strip, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Bel Air, Holmby Hills, Malibu etc. So there’s a general feeling that the center of gravity for the city is on the ocean side of the mountains. The Valley often complains that it’s not being treated like an equal part of L.A., and there was actually a movement a few years ago for the Valley to split off into an independent city. Unfortunately in many respects it isn’t. Nearly all the major cultural assets are on the basin side of the hill, but whether that’s due to disinterest and apathy on the part of the residents, or on the part of “IMBYism” (the opposite of NIMBYism) on the part of the patronage class isn’t clear. It may be a little of both. Had the SFV separation vote succeeded, it would have been just about the biggest city in America without an art museum. From the press I get the notion that the old-line Anglo population of the area are the ones who especially want to keep their area less dense and less urban, so the critical mass of population may not be reachable for things like museums. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/75 "2009-04-07T16:15:00Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Had the SFV separation vote succeeded, it would have been just about the biggest city in America without an art museum. From the press I get the notion that the old-line Anglo population of the area are the ones who especially want to keep their area less dense and less urban, so the critical mass of population may not be reachable for things like museums. The Valley was a bunch of farms that converted to real estate to make more money and get more water from Owens. I would never begrudge the Valley separate cityhood, but other than the friends I know who live there, I’d have little reason to go there. Besides the movie industry (Disney, Warner Bros., porn, etc.) there’s no real reason to locate culture in the Valley other than the fact that the real estate is cheaper, or that you have a community at Sherman and Balboa, or NoHo. If I were a millionaire who wanted to create a museum, the Valley wouldn’t be on the top of my list for locations. Many people live in the Valley because of the cheaper rents, but work in the basin. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/76 "2009-04-07T16:18:42Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Watts and South Central are different. Watts is actually located in South Los Angeles, and South Central wanted to rebrand itself as South LA since the name sounded better than South Central. The problem is it’s inaccurate; South Central is in the southern part of Central LA, and South LA is in South LA. I know that. My comment was that the “hood” starts in South Central, continuing through Watts, all the way down to Long Beach. Not until you get to downtown LBC does it start to turn into a nice place. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/77 "2009-04-07T17:39:39Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Not until you get to downtown LBC does it start to turn into a nice place. You don’t have to get to downtown Long Beach for it to get nice. Just look south of the 405. Ranchos Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills Estates, Torrance are all nice places, and they’re closer to downtown LA than Long Beach is. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/78 "2009-04-07T19:24:22Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > You don’t have to get to downtown Long Beach for it to get nice. Just look south of the 405. Ranchos Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills Estates, Torrance are all nice places, and they’re closer to downtown LA than Long Beach is. Well, they’re beach communities. Go straight south from L.A. to Long Beach and you’ll see what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/79 "2009-04-07T19:39:43Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Man, now I’m confused. I figured since my address is Van Nuys, CA and not Los Angeles, CA, and since there’s a Van Nuys police force, a Van Nuys courthouse, etc. that this was a city. Guess I don’t even know where I live. These two addresses mail to the same place though. XXXX Something Ave, Van Nuys, CA, 91405 XXXX Something Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 91405 But, yeah Van Nuys is a city in L.A. County. And please don’t mention the hell that is the Van Nuys courthouse 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/80 "2009-04-07T19:52:46Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > But, yeah Van Nuys is a city in L.A. County. Van Nuys is not a city in LA County. Van Nuys is a district or neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles. Van Nuys does not have its own police force, LAPD is just that, Los Angeles Police Department. If you call 911 and need an ambulance, guess who is going to show up? Los Angeles Fire Department. And the local utility? Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. Sure, there is a police division in Van Nuys, which also happens to be the Valley Bureau headquarters, but by that logic we’d also have a City of Devonshire, City of Mission, City of West Valley, and so on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827.md?page=5)