Looking for advice: Trip to L.A.

[Smurfim]

Hello people!

I'm from Germany and I am planning a trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles in June. Now...I know that San Fran is a pretty safe city, but I know Los Angeles is the total opposite. I'm pretty much afraid of gang activities, that I get robbed or even killed... I know this might be a bit paranoid but you hear a lot of stuff about L.A.

I've been to the US before, to Boston, New York, Philly and Washington and I felt safe all the time. But L.A....hmm..

So what kind of advice could you guys give me regarding my trip? Should I stay directly in L.A. or somewhere else? What should I pay attention to (e.g. clothing style, gang colors) etc.?

Any tips or good advice is appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

Nils

Edited January 6, 2008 by Smurfim

[MissMelsWell]

Hello people!

I'm from Germany and I am planning a trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles in June. Now...I know that San Fran is a pretty safe city, but I know Los Angeles is the total opposite. I'm pretty much afraid of gang activities, that I get robbed or even killed... I know this might be a bit paranoid but you hear a lot of stuff about L.A.

I've been to the US before, to Boston, New York, Philly and Washington and I felt safe all the time. But L.A....hmm..

So what kind of advice could you guys give me regarding my trip? Should I stay directly in L.A. or somewhere else? What should I pay attention to (e.g. clothing style, gang colors) etc.?

Any tips or good advice is appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

Nils

I wouldn't worry too much about it... LA is a fairly safe city... Washington DC and Philly scare me 10 times more than LA does.

And, staying directly in LA is a bit of a misnomer... the city is one huge mass of urban and suburban sprawl... you'll need a car for sure. What do you plan to do there other than see Hollyweird, Disneyland and maybe Beverly Hills? If that's all you're doing, stay in that area and you'll be fine. (although Disneyland is in Anaheim it's quite a ways from Beverly Hills and Hollywood). The areas you hear about in LA that are bad are the South Central areas of LA... trust me, if you're doing tourist activities, you'll never get close to South Central.

Most American cities are compact and concentrated, like you experienced in DC and Boston... LA is quite different, they have a lot of room and space to build, so everything is very spread out and anything but compact. It's really unlike most other US cities.

Of course, my suggestion would be skip LA all together and go a little further south and kick back in San Diego... now that's a fun city with lots to do, and it's beautiful (San Diego beaches are to die for).

Edited January 6, 2008 by MissMelsWell