# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/81 "2009-04-07T19:56:49Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > 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. [No it’s not.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Nuys) > [@](#): > > Van Nuys …is a **district** in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. (bolding mine) You may be confusing USPO addresses with geographical or political boundaries. The USPO addresses do not necessarily coincide with other boundaries. I live in one town but my official USPO town is another. ETA: In contrast, Beverly Hills and Burbank, just to name two examples, are wholly separate cities, each entirely surrounded by Los Angeles City. Hollywood is a district, Santa Monica is a city, etc. ---
**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, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/82 "2009-04-07T19:58:37Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Well, they’re beach communities. Go straight south from L.A. to Long Beach and you’ll see what I mean. Taking the 110 or even Figueroa south from downtown, you’ll pass through Lomita and San Pedro and the entire harbor before you make it to Long Beach. I do go straight south from LA to Torrance and RPV and PVE twice a month, I also know that taking the 405 will get you through nice communities long before Long Beach as well. It’s mostly ghetto, but it ain’t _all_ ghetto. South of Sepulveda it starts getting real ritzy, real quick. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/83 "2009-04-07T22:01:43Z")
> [@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. Well, then there’s Forest Lawn. > **[Forest Lawn Glendale Cemetery](http://forestlawn.com/parks/glendale/)** > > Discover Forest Lawn Glendale, a historic cemetery and memorial park in Los Angeles offering burial, cremation, and funeral services in a serene setting. Learn more today. I have a number of relatives there. Saw one of them off 4 weeks ago. ---
**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 8, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/84 "2009-04-08T00:15:12Z")
> [@Rufus\_Xavier](#): > > Actually, the Tate murders took place off of Benedict Canyon, which is several miles west of Laurel Canyon, and the LaBianca murders took place in Los Feliz, which is several miles east of Laurel Canyon. You might be thinking of the Wonderland murders, which porn star John Holmes was suspected of being involved in. That incident took place in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood. I stand corrected. > [@Hedda\_Rosa](#): > > The perspective of a non-LA resident on walking vs renting a car…People looked at me funny. From their cars as they drove past me. I walk in many places, and it’s not that people look at me funny; it’s that they don’t look at me at all. > [@Hedda\_Rosa](#): > > As someone used to MUNI, which may be slow but goes absolutely everywhere, the public transportation situation in LA is appalling. In some places yes, in others, it’s not so bad. As someone who lived six years on BART and MUNI, I’d agree if you wanted to go everywhere in the city. > [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > 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. I missed the detective thing. Are you assuming that it’s a lie? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/85 "2009-04-08T03:35:18Z")
> [@](#): > > DSYoungEsq > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by Antinor01 > > Most of the neighborhoods in the Valley are actually part of LA. Burbank, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, San Fernando and Pasadena are the only ones that are truly their own city. > > I think you would be hard-pressed to consider Pasadena a part of the Valley. If you do, you’d certainly have to include Glendale, which also is an incorporated city. Pasadena is in the **San Gabriel Valley** , which is separate from, and to the east of, **_The_ Valley** (the **San Fernando Valley** ). Glendale more or less sits on the hills that separate the two valleys. I guess the San Fernando is _ **The** _ valley to Angelinos because most of it is officially part of L.A. city, whereas the San Gabriel valley, though quite well populated, is mostly small independent cities and unincorporated (but often still quite urban) bits of L.A. county. Nevertheless, it is all reasonably considered as part of the L.A. metro area. Most of the cites are not very interesting, but Pasadena itself has a lively nightlife in its Old Town district, and contains not only the Rose Bowl, but the California Institute of Technology (small but very elite) and (sort of) the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. ```auto I should imagine the detective people are talking about was doing his "hoofing" around *downtown* L.A. That is not too unreasonable. Downtown is relatively compact. ``` ---
**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 8, 2009, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/86 "2009-04-08T04:28:29Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Pretty much, although it’s unlikely that kids from Reseda and Encino would attend the same high school. > > The community of Sepulveda, one of the poorest areas of the Valley, changed its name to “North Hills” to make it sound more glamorous. Never mind that it’s in the dead center of the Valley (so it’s not really “north” of anything) and there certainly ain’t no bloody hills there, either! But there are hills in West Hills, a decidedly upscale area in the far west of the SFV, roughly north of Malibu but separated from it by that range of mountains that keeps getting mentioned here. I didn’t know about the name change, but around here “Hills” gives just about any name extra panache, which no doubt influenced the decision. ---
**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 8, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/87 "2009-04-08T04:29:43Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > 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. Still, as I mentioned, people still use and understand the names, and you can address mail that way. ---
**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 8, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/88 "2009-04-08T04:45:52Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > OK, but if I’m flying out to LA to interview people in West Hollywood, I can find a hotel wihtin a mile of the area I’ll mostly be in. Getting to and from the airport, I can get a cab, no? If there’s anything like public transportation to and from the airport, I’ll take that, but if not those are pretty common cab rides in most cities. And if I want to go to Beverly Hills, I can call a cab from my hotel, right? > . West Hollywood is one of the enclaves, now an incorporated city but formerly an unincorporated piece of L.A. County. It’s also one of the more pedestrian friendly areas. I could readily imagine a detective hoofing it around Santa Monica or Sunset Boulevard doing whatever it is they do do–ask merchants, bartenders, restaurant workers, etc. if they’ve seen or heard anything, I suppose. Beverly Hills is adjacent on the west border of West Hollywood, so it’s a reasonable drive, taxi ride, or even bus ride, but know that the boulevard gets insanely congested going east on weekday afternoons, so any car or bus may not be faster than walking. The detective could get from the airport to West Hollywood mostly on trains, but it would be a long trip, and the last few miles would be by bus: Green Line from LAX to 103rd St., Blue Line to Union Station downtown, and then Red Line to Hollywood-ish, Santa Monica and Vermont. From there he’d have to take the bus. Among other places within Hollywood, there’s a station at Hollywood and Vine. ---
**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 8, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/89 "2009-04-08T05:44:41Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I should imagine the detective people are talking about was doing his “hoofing” around _downtown_ L.A. That is not too unreasonable. Downtown is relatively compact. And almost entirely devoid of life after about 5pm. I know I know, they are trying to revitalize, but Downtown is just the business district these days. Once the businesses are closed it just the small handful of residents and the homeless. I can’t think of a less interesting area to spend a large amount aimless time in. Not a bad place to spend a short amount of time in though, if you have an actual reason to be there. And PRR, just a heads up, public transit from the airport to West Hollywood will likely take you a few hours. A cab or shuttle ride from LAX will be about $35 and take a lot less time than that. If you really want to do public transit fly in to Burbank, you can take a bus to the red line subway and go straight into the stop at Hollywood and Highland and catch another bus down to wherever you’re staying (or walk, it’s likely not too far from there). ---
**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 10, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/90 "2009-04-10T03:54:29Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > The detective could get from the airport to West Hollywood mostly on trains, but it would be a long trip, and the last few miles would be by bus: Green Line from LAX to 103rd St., Blue Line to Union Station downtown, and then Red Line to Hollywood-ish, Santa Monica and Vermont. But the Highland stop would get him closer to Laurel. Still, he should get off at Santa Monica in order to eat at El Gran Burrito. ---
**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 15, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827/91 "2009-04-15T22:13:34Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I could pretty much walk around Los Feliz when I lived there between Vermont and Hillhurst. Agreed. That’s where I live now. But I still consider it East Hollywood. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/la-neighborhoods/491827.md?page=4)