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Visiting LA, looking for tips
djmitchella
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
(crossposted to the california thread in d/d, sorry if you see this twice but I don't know how much overlap there is)
I'm going to be in LA for a few days next month, to see a concert at the Youtube theater (so in Inglewood). But I also want to wander around Griffith Park while I'm there, and see the Museum Of Jurassic Technology, and probably The Broad, and if I can make it work Venice Beach, and the stars on the walk of fame/look at the hollywood sign, or wander around downtown, it gets a bit fuzzy after the first three. (I'm also open to suggestions for things to see, though there's obviously a ton of those)
What's the best way to get around? Those places are not really close to one another -- google maps gives me transit directions, but also it seems like it'll take a while. The metro bike share system looks like it's actually faster than transit in some cases, and I like cycling (and am used to being in traffic, I got around Denver and Seattle that way), but I don't know how well it works in LA. Or should I just take the financial hit and use Uber? How much does uber cost in LA?
Also, what's a good neighborhood to stay in? Staying by the theater is one option, though "inglewood, always up to no good" but what does that mean in reality these days? And while there's a bunch of motels/hotels there because it's close to the airport, there doesn't seem to be much else going on; staying downtown / by the beach is super expensive, so is there another area I should be looking at that has a:things to do / places to eat, and b:is handy for transit / bike share?
I'm going to be in LA for a few days next month, to see a concert at the Youtube theater (so in Inglewood). But I also want to wander around Griffith Park while I'm there, and see the Museum Of Jurassic Technology, and probably The Broad, and if I can make it work Venice Beach, and the stars on the walk of fame/look at the hollywood sign, or wander around downtown, it gets a bit fuzzy after the first three. (I'm also open to suggestions for things to see, though there's obviously a ton of those)
What's the best way to get around? Those places are not really close to one another -- google maps gives me transit directions, but also it seems like it'll take a while. The metro bike share system looks like it's actually faster than transit in some cases, and I like cycling (and am used to being in traffic, I got around Denver and Seattle that way), but I don't know how well it works in LA. Or should I just take the financial hit and use Uber? How much does uber cost in LA?
Also, what's a good neighborhood to stay in? Staying by the theater is one option, though "inglewood, always up to no good" but what does that mean in reality these days? And while there's a bunch of motels/hotels there because it's close to the airport, there doesn't seem to be much else going on; staying downtown / by the beach is super expensive, so is there another area I should be looking at that has a:things to do / places to eat, and b:is handy for transit / bike share?
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There is no "best place to stay" in LA. Every area is different and far away from each other and at different price points. My best area is not your best area. Some people love downtown (less now than there used to be). I despise downtown. But I love the arts district a mile away.
Inglewood is not as bad as you might have heard. Some streets are, but I doubt you'd end up on them. There's nothing there I'd want to do though.
If you like cycling I'd suggest you get a bike and bike down the beach bike path (the strand). It's a long beautiful path and there aren't that many places like it. It's literally my favorite thing about LA and I do it every week.
You can absolutely get around LA on a bike if you're comfortable fighting for space with cars. It is something I'd only recommend to regular cyclists though. Most people would think it's scary.
Public transportation is not efficient, and some lines are outright disgusting to ride on at night. Your car will smell like piss, a homeless man will have a crack pipe out, and you'll just have to pray he doesn't want to fuck with you. HOWEVER, many people do rely on it for their daily lives and if you choose to use it, you will survive.
Renting a car is the best option in LA if you want to get around and not spend 4 hours a day in a shitty metro.
LA is a very difficult city for a tourist on a budget.
Final itinerary:
day 1: airport -> union station -> the broad, saw the infinity mirrored room / art, lunch at grand central market, bradbury building, dinner at Kinokuniya, saw La La Land at the rooftop cinema at ROW DTLA.
day 2: scootered a bunch; downtown -> french dip at philippes -> "the Toretto house" (yeah, it's just a house, but I re-watched the whole series recently so couldn't miss the chance to go see the real thing) -> Hollyhock House, found out that in person Frank Lloyd Wright buildings are way more impressive than I'd realised, so then scootered on up to Los Feliz and walked to Griffith Park via the Ennis house, through Griffith Park to the observatory. At this point (wednesday) it started to rain a bunch, but I was commited to the outside, so; on to the Mt.Hollywood tunnel, up to the top of Captain's Roost, through to the Bronson Caves (because of the wizard of speed and time; saw some filming going on there, too, which felt pretty hollywood-y). Walked down to the walk of fame via the Samuel Novarro house (another lloyd wright), lunch at Delicious Pizza (because of young mc / tone loc), then scooter ride back to downtown in a _lot_ of rain after sundown, which was pretty exciting, but fine. (though trying to use my phone to navigate was a pain because it kept on getting phantom touches because it was so wet). Then dinner at Shibuya because the nearest michelin starred restaurant to me otherwise is a 1,100km drive away so I figured I should go while I had the chance. (and the food was amazing, the "best X I have ever had in my life" for at least four separate things).
day 3: took the train to santa monica, rented metro e-bike and rode down to venice, saw the skatepark, giant binoculars, canals; rented non-electric metro bike and rode up to culver city (the electric bike was fine, the non-electric one is _heavy_ feeling, sheesh), saw the Museum of Jurassic Technology, dinner at Versailles, took metro to Inglewood downtown, walked to the Youtube theater for the Devo show, got rideshare back because I didn't feel like walking all the way through that giant set of parking lots again and the trains had started to run a lot less often.
day 4: up to the viewing platform at city hall (which still amazes me that it's free given how good the views are), saw the steps where (the recent) Perry Mason kept on happening, walked around the outside of the disney concert hall / the gardens up there, went down the angels flight railway, saw a strike by the california union of scientists, went to The Last Bookstore, MOCA, the central library, scootered over to olvera st / Avila Adobe.
So all in all, I kept fairly busy. A few photos: