JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM: L.A. BASICS

You will definitely need a rental car. This is a mobile society.

You will probably want to see the attractions (Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm if you have kids). Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood -- can do this on the way to or from Universal Studios. Others can provide other suggestions!

Shopping is all over, upscale like in Beverly Hills and then there are the malls all over town.

The fabric store out here is JoAnn's -- they are nationwide. There are several in L.A county and beyond. There is a fabric store called M&L Fabrics that's in Orange County (actually down by Disneyland) that you might want to check out. It is huge.

 

I was just toying with MapQuest to see what things are around the Convention Center and it looked like there were plenty of places to eat on Figueroa and thereabouts. My general question is, what is the best way to get to/from the LACC to the various places to eat? All are within walking distance, but I gather that there are problems walking in this area of town.

Here are some specifics:

I started with the address of the LACC: 1201 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles CA and put it into MapQuest. I get a map with the LACC in the middle and I adjust that so that to center the area North and East of the LACC is because that's where the hotels are.

I can then use the 'Find Nearby' search box to get addresses of things nearby. I searched on things like 'restaurant', 'sandwich', 'fast food', 'pancake', 'ice cream', 'market', etc. to find things that are close and they show up on the map and are listed with addresses and how far they are from the LACC address.

Now, I'm at the Mayfair Hotel, so there is shuttle service to/from the LACC, but what if I want to go to:

- Denny's at 888 S Figueroa St?

- IHOP at 800 S Flower St?

- California Pizza Kitchen at 735 S Figueroa St?

- The various places to eat on the 700-800 blocks of Figueroa?

- The various places to eat a few blocks to the south east of the LACC on 11th street?

- And what if I want to go to the coffee shop next door to the Mayfair Hotel (1256 West 7th Street)? What's that area like?

Since there are apparently so many businesses in that area it cannot be complete wasteland and I'll obviously find something to eat, but should I plan for it looking like an episode of 'Angel' sometimes?

 

All the restaurants you're talking about are in the central area of downtown, near all the hotels, the highrises, etcetera, etcetera. 7th & Figueroa for instance = shopping center and food court. I mentioned some of those restaurants in my posts on the various hotels, actually.

 

So, what is the neighborhood like as far as walking to/from the 8-900 Figueroa area and the LACC? During the day? At night?

 

Hi all.
I have some questions about LA.
- It´s dangerous to use cameras in the streets of LA ( Hollywood, Downtown... )?
- What about security at night in the city? It´s dangerous to walk at night in downtown?
- Anyone can tell me a place to see the Hollywood Sign and take a good photography ( I need a street or something to tell to the taxi driver )?
- Any Hooters near Wilshire Grand Hotel ? ^__^
- Can we take the metro to go to Venice and Santa Monica ? How long is the ride?
- Anyone can tell me an agency where we can take some Tour ( movie stars homes... ).


Thanks!
We will go from Spain and we are a little scared ^__^.

 

Walking around downtown is usually pretty safe. During the day there will be lots of people about so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Be smart and you'll be fine. I'd actually be more concerned about cars than anything. Make sure you're using the crosswalks! L.A. drivers can be pretty scary and you don't want to get hurt or cause an accident.

It's always a good idea to walk in groups, but this is especially true at night. Do your best to avoid walking alone, stick to the main streets, and don't use your cellphone or iPod or anything while you're walking (you'll be less likely to notice trouble if you're distracted, and cellphones are BIG distractions.) If you're just walking around downtown, alert (no stumbling around drunk! ) and in a group, you should be fine.

Has the Metro site been posted in here yet? It has a nice trip planning feature that can help you figure out what trains/busses to take if you put the address information in.

 

Interesting tips I read, but I would like to add these ones...

California drivers..
Don't forget our "California Stop Sign..." (Roll over about 5 miles p/hour... the sign is only an inconvenience...)

Gas prices...today I paid $ 2.71 for 87 gas at Arco Gas Station...you may choose other Gas Station to pay higher prices...

Bus transportation in L.A... "What is a bus? How does it looks like?"
Forget the bus schedules...they are only Guidelines anyways....

Taxi in L.A. - You may as well take an extra wallet...you may need it.
(just rent a car, that's my suggestion...)

We are good drivers here in California...just seems that some of us forget to use the turn signals, speak too much on the cell phone while driving...tailgate...oh, well...

Sith happens!

Have a safe trip...

 

I am traveling by myself and will be useing the bus.Is it safe transportation?Does it go straight up to the entrance of the convention center?What about at night?I am staying 8 miles from center in hollywood at holiday inn how far from the motel to catch a bus?

 

As there are several Holiday Inns in the area, the best thing to do is to use this link that's been posted several times to find your route to the convention center: bus routes.

 

Hey, I'm from Pennsylvania, and the farthest west I've ever been is Chicago . . . and I was wondering what the air's like out in LA? Chicago's was pretty bad, compared to what I'm used to (Apparently, in Illinois, the smoking laws are somewhat relaxed.) And I just want a heads up, not being so acusstomed to urban atmosphere (literally).

 

If you're talking about smoking, there is no smoking allowed in any public spaces in Los Angeles. (There are still some designated areas outdoors that you can go to, but that's it). The convention center is a completely smoke-free site.

 

Well, that's a relief. Thanks.

 

As I was looking for restaurants and downtown information, I came across a coupon book specifically for downtown LA. I tried to breeze through the threads to see if anyone had posted it before but I didn't see it. Plus the website itself, downtownla.com had lots of information about the area.

(stupid links!)

It is dated 2006, but maybe they'll have a more current one. Looks to have lots of 2 for 1 coupons for museums and things like that.

 

I do not know if everyone has these kinda books in their area, but you can buy them at:

www.entertainmentbook.com


That particular book has many discounted meal prices in it. Alot of Buy 1 get 1 free's and %'off. They do have one listed for LA, but I am not sure what the price is for that area. In this area the book is $15.

There are also coupons in that book for area excursions, like Medieval Times and things like that, helped me!!!

 

Gas prices...today I paid $ 2.71 for 87 gas at Arco Gas Station...you may choose other Gas Station to pay higher prices...

Damn, I will make sure and fill up when I am there. It hasn't been that low in over a month here in vegas.

 

That price was posted a month ago. Cheapest I've seen in my travels is $3.06.

 

Just curious about the different public transportation that I've read about on the internet.

I've seen LA has a bus, subway and a train system ... I fully understand about the bus system (as we have those in Houston) but my main questions are:

- DASH ... what is this?
- Color (blue, green, purple, red, orange, gold) Lines ... are these the subway?
- Speaking about the subway, why have a subway in an earthquake effected area? Are these safe?
- What is the cheapest method of public transportation?
- Am I missing anything else?

 

DASH buses are the buses that service the downtown corridors. They also run in other areas like the San Fernando Valley, San Pedro, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Echo Park, etcetera, etcetera. It's 25 cents to ride these buses.

The subway lines are Blue, Green, Purple, Red and Gold. The Orange line is a special bus transitway.

They wouldn't have built it and spent billions of dollars otherwise.

Cheapest method of public transportation? It depends on where you're going to/coming from. If you're just riding around downtown, the DASH buses are the cheapest - 25 cents, subway next - around $1.25 one way.

 

Thanks ValedaKor.

I figured the bus and/or subways would be the cheapist way to get around town. More than likely I'm only going to go to CIV & the tourist spots (sunset strip & hollywood mostly), besides the Dodgers game where I'll probably take a cab and get there early, to avoid traffic.

 

Los Angeles has a well-know homeless problem in their downtown area, but I don't particularly care for giving money to panhandlers, preferring to donate to the local homeless shelters instead. What are the local homeless shelters in the LA area (do they have web pages?) and what kind of contributions do they take?

 

I went to a Dodger game the first time I went to LA and let me tell you it is a traffic nightmare trying to get to and into the stadium. I left early because I had a plane to catch so I couldn't tell you about getting out, but I presume it would be just as nasty.

 

This is the one with the most presence downtown:

Los Angeles Mission

They have a link for online donations.

 

As a single traveler, I'd like to know how many 'buy 1 get 1' coupons are in this sort of book as compared to percent-offs. I obviously can't eat two meals at one sitting and that's no real savings for me.

 

Question:

How late into the night does the metro rail system run?

Also, does it run on the weekends? We are staying all the way out in Manhattan Beach and do not wish to navigate that distance on the roadways each day.

I went to their website but could not find any concrete times posted.

Thanks for any guidance you can provide.

 

You cannot take the subway from Manhattan Beach; it is not on the subway route.

Just FYI, last trains from downtown are around the 12:30 AM/12:45 AM time frame.