A very subjective rating of Los Angeles neighborhoods by walkability

Admit it, you’re right here since you wish 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 a bit of opinionated rating of Los Angeles neighborhoods by walkability. And we’re right here to present it to you.

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 resembling walkscore.com. And let’s face it, whereas information tells a story, it doesn’t inform the entire story.

That’s why I put collectively this listing: to spotlight the issues that make strolling in a neighborhood, and in our pricey metropolis, particularly distinctive. These embrace 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 buddy and colleague — of us who’ve really lived in these neighborhoods.

Lastly, as an Angeleno who’s lived right here for 27 years and likes to discover town on foot after a number of drinks (or a puff or two of the herb), I took a number of — how shall I put it? — private liberties. In brief, that is my extremely specific listing. Maybe you’ve gotten considered one of your individual?

Be forewarned: This isn’t an exhaustive overview (L.A. is large! And lots of neighborhoods are principally residential.) however one which touches on the 4 least- and most-walkable neighborhoods (on the high and backside of the listing, respectively), together with some handpicked in-betweens you’re in all probability acquainted with.

18. Bel-Air
It’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 protected 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 now 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 received’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 hassle on the lookout for the unique “Recent Prince” home both. That’s really in Brentwood.

17. Pacific Palisades
Nobody walks to — or from — wherever within the Palisades. And, if anyone appears to be like like they’re strolling, it’s in all probability as a result of they’ve simply parked the automobile 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) the complete time. And what good is a stretch of shoreline when you can’t stroll there with out taking your life in your arms? Even so, the neighborhood has loads of idyllic, Californian backdrops and its justifiable share of superstar residents. You might 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.

16. Hollywood Hills
A rabbit warren of steep, slim, 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 houses — 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 possibly can 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 critical rat drawback in them there hills. And the very last thing I wish to fear about if I’m attempting to outrun a rapacious rodent is dodging site visitors.)

15. Elysian Park
Notably 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 procuring and eating choices, not a lot (the seasonal Dodger Canine however).

14. Beverly Hills
A dense focus of high-profile locations to go and issues to do within the Golden Triangle definitely make this swanky slice of Better 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 generally known as “the flats” are principally residential, so neither actually lend themselves to sturdy pedestrian site visitors. The one factor that retains it from rating worse on the listing is that you just’d be hard-pressed to discover a higher backdrop for the socials than the outlets of Rodeo Drive. Living proof: I just lately watched a a younger influencer-type stick her smartphone to the entrance window of the Gucci boutique— actually, utilizing some kind of suction cup cellphone case — so she may step again and beam her whereabouts to TikTok.

13. Larchmont/Hancock Park
It pains me to present considered one of my favourite neighborhoods in the complete metropolis a sub-par rank however the pleasant meander that’s two bustling blocks of Larchmont Boulevard isn’t sufficient to offset the short transition into full residential territory only a block in both path. However if you’re strolling that one beautiful thoroughfare, be looking out for Kiernan Shipka, who likes to seize her espresso at Go Get Em Tiger, or Emma Roberts, who shares up on periodicals on the newstand there. The farmers market, held on Wednesdays and Sundays, isn’t unhealthy both.

12. Downtown L.A.
I’ve a principle: Downtown L.A. ranks close to the highest of a number 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 an awesome place for folks to dwell 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 will simply sprint out on foot to seize a French dip sandwich or take within the symphony can be a spot crammed with sufficient darkish alleys, vacant storefronts and litter-strewn sidewalks to make the on-foot really feel on guard after darkish.

11. Koreatown
This can be a neighborhood that ticks all of the bins for walkability — it’s densely full of procuring and eating choices (like lots of scrumptious eating choices), it’s simply navigable on foot, and parking is so scarce, having a automobile is extra a legal responsibility than an asset. Nevertheless it’s densely populated too, and that mixture of pedestrian site visitors and the automobiles zooming alongside the principle arteries of Wilshire and Olympic boulevards and Third Road, take a bit of bloom off the rose.

10. Beverly Grove/Fairfax
The Grove procuring heart, the Unique Farmers Market, LACMA and the Academy Museum mix to present this a part of Mid-Metropolis a stable rating. The largest 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 “City Gentle” 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 to amble by the grassy greenspace across the La Brea Tar Pits (tremendous enjoyable if you’re a bit of baked, BTW) the place gooey asphalt will 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.

9. Hollywood
Out of necessity — and alternative — there’s a direct correlation between vacationer reputation and walkability in L.A. neighborhoods. That places Hollywood within the high half of this listing — however simply barely. It’s pedestrian-heavy and mass-transit-accessible with one thing to eat, purchase or take a photograph of at almost each flip. Although A-list celebs are often in brief 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 might be, you’ll by no means be capable to 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 — sort of like New York’s Instances Sq. with balmier climate. Loads of the outlets site visitors in cheesy souvenirs and a lot 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.

8. Culver Metropolis
In the event you don’t instantly consider Culver Metropolis as walkable, it’s in all probability since you’ve solely pushed by it on the way in which to someplace else. Along with myriad eating and procuring choices which might be thickest the place Washington, Culver and Venice boulevards intersect, there are additionally a number of items of walk-by Hollywood historical past. One is the wedge-shaped Culver Lodge — the place the actors who performed the Munchkins stayed through the filming of “The Wizard of Oz,” and the Washington Boulevard entrance to Culver Studios, which will be seen within the opening titles of “Gone With the Wind.” A cliché photograph op? Maybe. However frankly, I don’t give a rattling.

7. Highland Park
There’s a purpose 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 kids’s playground with a rattlesnake slide, however it’s additionally on the sting of a bustling business stretch the place you’ll find gourmand bagels, lengua tacos at low costs and pleasant trinkets for almost each individual in your life. The circulation of pedestrian site visitors is powerful day and evening each right here and on Figueroa Road (the place it’s also possible to entry the Metro A Line). In the event 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 elements).

6. Echo Park
The crown jewel of this neighborhood — and the massive pedestrian draw — is Echo Park Lake, the place strolling one loop will get you a couple of mile nearer to your step objective (and it’s particularly lovely throughout lotus season). However that’s not all that makes this 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 suppose that bordering the not-so-walkable Elysian Park (see above) would negatively influence Echo Park’s walkability, however a number of of my colleagues guarantee me it’s really the alternative — utilizing it as a sort of pedestrian base camp for a 20-minute stroll to Dodger Stadium (gondola plans be damned). The one factor that does minimize into the walkability (or a minimum of a number of the enjoyment of strolling) round these elements are the steepness of a number of the streets as they rise towards the hills north of Sundown.

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 a lot for pedestrians to peruse, together with Mohawk Normal Retailer and Taiwanese noodle store Pine & Crane, a twice-weekly farmers market and among the finest Erewhons to people-watch in. Bonus: There’s additionally the Silver Lake Reservoir — for that sort of strolling — and a few critical 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 Thirties.

4. Los Feliz
What offers this neighborhood the walkability edge over its seemingly comparable 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 number of the finest hen wings within the metropolis, the so-hip-it-hurts Dresden Room bar and lounge for martinis and a few dwell music) and outlets (Skylight Books for the printed phrase). Hold your eyes peeled since you may 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 further 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.

3. Santa Monica
Thank the ten million vacationers that trek to the pier right here for serving to make 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 further factors for the pedestrian bridges over the bustling Pacific Coast Freeway that assist of us get safely from the shops-and-restaurants a part of city to the seashore. Professional tip: Depart the pier and its quick environment to the out-of-towners and channel your pedestrian vitality on the less-trafficked, native elements of city. (There are a lot — 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 a bit of farther afield for a knee-wobbling mai tai on the Galley. Whenever you depart you’ll be completely satisfied you arrived on foot.

2. Venice
One other 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 automobile, 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 most interesting: pigeon-training, python-handling carnies, distributors who can write your identify on a grain of rice or stability 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 “The place’s Waldo?” e book — 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 path, because of a large swath of sandy seashore and the mighty Pacific on one facet and quaint, artsy neighborhoods with mural-covered partitions and funky yarn artwork bushes on the opposite. One other brief 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 automobile.

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 Information, 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 evening, 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. Having 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.