L.A.? To go or not to go?
 

I was looking to travel to L.A. in October. However I haven't had any good feedback about it. No one I have spoken to has recommended it. I wont have a car so I will need advice on getting from one place to another as it is so big. Tell me, is it worth travelling here to see this city?

Rachel,<BR><BR>NO!<BR><BR>Native

I think L.A. is a fascinating city but I can't imagine being there without a car. If you can get a car, I'd definitely advise you to go...otherwise, I'd try someplace else.

I agree. LA has a lot of things to see and do. But I think a car is absolutely necessary. If you cannot rent or take a car, I would not go. Try San Francisco, New York, DC, Chicago, or Boston if you can't have a car.

I would definetly go but a car is a must.

Without a car there is simply no way to enjoy LA.<BR>It's just way too spread out and public transit barely shows up on the radar screen from a tourism standpoint.

The first time I went to California I spent about a week in San Francisco and about a week in Los Angeles (actually in West Hollywood). You can't believe the reactions I got when I told people that I actually enjoyed LA more than San Francisco. It seems that most people I talked with who hated LA had been there for a convention or on business and never left the downtown area. I've hardly explored that area at all, although once did an all day self-guided walking tour of it out of the AAA tourbook -- OK, but not much. Since that original trip, I have been to both cities many more times and stayed a month in each one year. Since that time I now like to go to LA for a month, but am usually happy with a week in San Francisco. LA has little to do with downtown. It's all about the dozens of communities around it. I enjoy Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, even Hollywood, and lots of the surrounding other areas. On the other hand, it really is a car city. It is very hard to fully enjoy or appreciate without a car. If you are unwilling to get a car, I'd say forget it, or you will end up like all those people who went there on a convention and ended up hating LA.

Rachel,<BR>You need a car to explore all that LA has to offer and it is a lot.<BR><BR>Patrick, next time you're in town, try an LA Conservancy walking tour of downtown (the Art Deco tour and the theatre tour are the two most popular). Downtown is starting to come alive. Lots of art galleries in Chung King Alley on the outskirts of Chinatown, old buildings being renovated into condos--it's an interesting scene. Hollywood now has a new theatre , the Kodak, a mall, and many smaller bars and clubs. I was over there the other evening and families, couples, regular folks were out strolling, having dinner, going to shows..a whole new look to it.<BR><BR>M.

Thanks for the tip about downtown. That walking tour we did must have been at least 10 or 12 years ago and there wasn't much to it. I agree about Hollywood. This summer we happened to see three different plays right along Hollywood Blvd. (very much into the little 99 seat Equity waver theatres) and found that area to be alive and bustling. I just read the post about someone staying at that new Renaissance Hotel there. We enjoyed a fun dinner at old Micelli's and also a nice lunch at Musso and Franks, two places we had always missed because we used to avoid that area.