West Philly hood to LA hood?

[westisthebest]

What neighborhood in LA is most like West Philly?

[MariusPontmercy]

What neighborhood in LA is most like West Philly?

Probably none. I don't know where you'd find West Philly architecture replicated in California outside of San Francisco.

[Swinefeld]

Totally different origins create different outcomes.

West Philly = streetcar suburb
LA = car culture

Apples and oranges.

For the record, there is "some" Victorian-era architecture in LA, but it doesn't even look the same as West Philly.

[ShoshTrvls]

What neighborhood in LA is most like West Philly?

In what way? The area around USC has some similarities - a nice, wealthy college enclave surrounded by a far less than nice nice area.

[2happy4u]

when you say "HOOD" you mean what ghetto is like west philly? South Central LA, Oakland.

[torts]

I think Bel Air is a lot like West Philly. But that's just "IMHO."

[monkeyajb]

I've lived in West Philly for many years, and I lived in LA (Burbank) for 2 years in the late 90's. I have traveled a lot to LA over the years as well, so I'll take a stab at a meaningful answer.

My first thought is there aren't any similar neighborhoods between the two. I can't think of a single comparison. The closest would be some parts of the San Fernando Valley (The Valley) and some parts of the NE, but it is a real stretch.

If you are looking for something environmentally/infrastructure similar to West Philly, you won't find it anywhere. Dense neighborhoods don't exist like that in Southern California.

If you are looking for something with the same mindset, something community oriented and with a similar demographic, you can come close in some areas. (These comparisons are a few years old, so...) The areas east of Hollywood like Silverlake, Los Feliz, some parts of Echo Park, have a younger population and younger feel. These are neighborhoods commonly referred to as hipster neighborhoods. The same can be said for some areas in the valley like North Hollywood or even Burbank.

If you go northeast, above Pasadena, there are some areas in Altadena that are much more like West Philly in terms of community activism, "hippies", whatever funny label you want to stick on people who shop at coop's and protest Subway.

There is a really great neighborhood vibe in some areas around Venice. There is a corridor around Abbott Kinney that for a block or two could trick you into a Baltimore Ave. (or better, South Passyunk) vibe for a moment.

[Dave]

If you are looking for something environmentally/infrastructure similar to West Philly, you won't find it anywhere. Dense neighborhoods don't exist like that in Southern California.

Actually, I believe LA's metropolitan area is one of the most, if not the most densely populated in the country. The city itself has just over 8k residents per square mile vs. 11-12k for Philadelphia and under 5k for most American cities. As an interesting aside, at around 17k per square mile, San Francisco is, I believe, the second most densely populated large city in the country, trailing only New York.

Anyway, I think that, rather than "dense", the word you're probably looking for is "walkable," or maybe "human scale". It's all about the design principles used when the neighborhoods went up. A huge swath of Philly was built before cars existed, and much of the rest was built before they became ubiquitous, so they weren't catered to nearly as much as in cities that were built up after car ownership really took off.

As far as culture, the Northeast is completely different from SoCal, which is different from the Pacific Northwest, which is different from the Midwest, which is different from the South, etc. I've only visited California, though, and never been to LA, so I'm not the right person to attempt any comparisons between it and Philly.

[lemko]

when you say "HOOD" you mean what ghetto is like west philly? South Central LA, Oakland.

I was in Oakland a few years ago. The part I was in looked mostly like Tacony.

[seand]

If you are looking for something environmentally/infrastructure similar to West Philly, you won't find it anywhere. Dense neighborhoods don't exist like that in Southern California.

If you are looking for something with the same mindset, something community oriented and with a similar demographic, you can come close in some areas. (These comparisons are a few years old, so...) The areas east of Hollywood like Silverlake, Los Feliz, some parts of Echo Park, have a younger population and younger feel. These are neighborhoods commonly referred to as hipster neighborhoods. The same can be said for some areas in the valley like North Hollywood or even Burbank.

If you go northeast, above Pasadena, there are some areas in Altadena that are much more like West Philly in terms of community activism, "hippies", whatever funny label you want to stick on people who shop at coop's and protest Subway.

There is a really great neighborhood vibe in some areas around Venice. There is a corridor around Abbott Kinney that for a block or two could trick you into a Baltimore Ave. (or better, South Passyunk) vibe for a moment.

Its been years since I spent much time in Southern California but I would venture to say these are not bad answers to what I think the question is.

In terms of the other topic people are touching on, rougher neighborhoods in Southern California, I too would say that those are drastically different because of the car culture. Poorer neighborhoods in most of Southern California all are more spread out with yards and less transit. Shopping is still centered around minimalls with parking lots in even the worst neighborhoods. In many ways living in a marginal neighborhood in SoCal can feel way more isolated because you often isolated by miles from more prosperous neighborhoods.

That said, even the South Central people know from movies and old school gangster rap is not the South Central of today, from what I understand. A huge influx of Mexican and Central American immigrants have shifted many historically African American somewhat slummy areas into a very different demographic feel.

[lewblum]

Based on my visits to LA (most recent being in April), I would probably choose Downtown, koreatown, silver lake or Los Feliz

Downtown is becoming LAs little slice of Manhattan.
Koreatown is really diverse with subway access
Los Feliz and silver lake kinda remind me of collingswood but hipper. But it as poor transit options

I like LA a lot. Best of luck with your move.

[seand]

Koreatown does seem to be a more affordable but centrally located and urbanist option. At least that was my impression from my ex-brother-in-law and boyfriend's crib.