Admit it, you’re here because you want to see how walkable your favorite (or least favorite, I suppose) L.A. neighborhood is.
You want bragging rights, you want your biases confirmed, you want a totally unscientific, more than a little opinionated ranking of Los Angeles neighborhoods by walkability. And we’re here to give it to you. Why unscientific? For starters because those kinds of number-crunching rankings already exist in urban planning master’s degree projects and on apartment-rental websites such as walkscore.
com . And let’s face it, while data tells a story, it doesn’t tell the whole story. That’s why I put together this list: to highlight the things that make walking in a neighborhood, and in our dear city, especially unique.
Those include celebrity adjacency (Will I see someone famous?), L.A.-ness (Is there an instantly-recognizable palm-tree dotted backdrop?), pedestrian density (If I saw someone walking here, would I immediately suspect something’s amok?).
I also consulted many a friend and colleague — folks who’ve actually lived in these neighborhoods. Finally, as an Angeleno who’s lived here for 27 years and likes to explore the city on foot after a few drinks (or a puff or two of the herb), I took a few — how shall I put it? — personal liberties. In short, this is my highly particular list.
Perhaps you have one of your own? Be forewarned: This is not an exhaustive overview (L.A. is big! And many neighborhoods are mostly residential.
) bu.
