airjop

We will be staying in the Hollywood area and we are wondering which areas (all of LA) we should avoid, both during the day and at night. What areas are safe? We are coming from Miami, FL so we are used to mayor cities. How easy is it to drive around at night. Does anyone know of a good web site with useful info.

rb_travelerxATyahoo

airjop - you'd be more likely to get responses if you used a more descriptive title than the pitiful "Safe Areas". No one can tell from the title where you mean. "LA Areas that are Unsafe?" would be much more descriptive of the info you seek. You've been posting here for almost a year .. didn't you realize that anything you click on the "start a new subject" screen is only for the search engines, and that all US topics go into one big US forum? You need a subject that grabs readers' attention.

rjw_lgb_ca

"All of LA" encompasses a vast area-- including Orange County, over 4,800 square miles. Bigger than a few states (and several countries). Kinda hard to talk about "unsafe" areas, especially when in your travels to areas of touristic interest you'll probably NEVER venture into the unsafe areas.

The streets of southern California are generally laid out in grid patterns and well-marked. MUCH more so than in other major metropolitan areas. Traffic is going to be relatively heavy at the times you'll probably be driving, since it just always is. Having drivin in Miami, I'll say that drivers here are MUCH better.

A good website for southern California? How about fodors.com? The info is pretty good. Also try la.com.

here_today_gone2Maui

If you are driving around and the area starts to look dicey, then maybe you shouldn't be there. Seriously, rjw is right when he says it is doubtful you will visiting notoriously unsafe areas. Use common sense as you would anywhere.

Besides la.com, these might be helpful:
lacvb.com
downtownla.com
laweekly.com
pasadenaweekly.com

clarkgriswold

I'd say don't drive east of Hollywood, you can run into some pretty dismal areas. Take the subway if you decide to go to downtown Los Angeles.

here_today_gone2Maui

East of Hollywood is Silver Lake (one of LA's funkiest areas, but hardly a place to avoid), Griffith Park, Glendale, Eagle Rock, Los Feliz, South Pasadena, Highland Park, San Marino, Alhambra. L.A. has industrial and working class areas all over. You will see more of this if you drive surface streets, whether you are going east, north, south or west of Hollywood. If this scares you, then stay on the freeway, but by not venturing east of Hollywood will you'll miss an awful lot!