For longtime Los Angeles residents: Safest area of greater LA?

Question

For those that have long lived in LA and know all of the city and surrounding suburbs and environs well, what would be your opinion, from ongoing info you've seen/heard, on the safest neighborhood or suburb to live in in greater Los Angeles? Safest as in lowest crime overall, and low or no gang activity. :-)

Now here's another qualifier I forgot to mention up there: inexpensiveness. LOL! In other words, the safest CHEAP place to live in LA (i.e. apts at $800 or less). I know that there's probably a huge discretion between safe and cheap; probably have to have less of one to have more of the other! But, I'm still checking anyway. :-)

Hope to hear fromyou soon. Thanks, Los-Angelians. :-) LOL

PS Considering that "cheapness" may not be an option, what are the safest areas, regardless of real estate, and living costs, in LA?

Answer 1

Well, I would suggest you to stay away from Compton, South La, Central La, anything near Chinatown & korea town is getting bad, Long Beach is getting bad too, Highland Park, North Hollywood, Boyle Heights.

For the price you are looking for I really can't say where its a good location. But decent places to live are Pasadena, West Covina, Temple City, Culver City, Alhambra, Burbank, Glendale.
I lived in several in these neighborhoods, and still do business in all of them. I really wish you luck to find something that you like and for the price you are looking for.
Once you find something you can call that city's police or sheriff dept and ask them "what is the crime rate is" and they will be more than happy to tell you. (& I have done this before)
Remember that "there is no safe address", even if you live in Beverly Hills crime may happen anyplace any where. Good Luck, Liz

Answer 2

I agree that once you think you have some ideas, check with the local police. I live in a pretty nice area near the LA Harbor, but everyone thinks the entire area is bad. We're right next to Palos Verdes, and we have a nice neighborhood.

I have former roommates in Duarte and it seems pretty OK. My mom retired in La Verne and it's pretty nice too. But I've seen RANDOM crime in many places.

Search for something like los angeles crime map on the internet - that's what we heard about at our neighborhood watch meetings. You can put in a street address, or maybe intersections, and it will give you recent stats.

Remember, some stats are talking about things as small as taking sunglasses out of a parked car that had it's windows down.

Use Realtor.com to look up house prices

NOTE - As VioletPearl mentioned, Rolling Hills/Palos Verdes have virtually no crime. We live in the "L.A." community right next to that called South Shores, and we have slightly cheaper prices with the same view!

If fact, some of my neighbors saw the little private plane go into the ocean last weekend, mentioned in the news, not far from the Pt. Vicente light house. You can probably find that on mapquest or something.

Answer 3

I live in Los Angeles, a block from Beverly Hills.

My neighborhood is both very safe and very city. I run the neighborhood at 5:00am, and I don't feel the need to carry a weapon.

While I don't see any gang activity (though I don't think I would know it if I saw it), I don't see any drug dealers, kids hanging on the corners or in the streets (probably afraid they would get hit by a car).

In this neighborhood, a 1 bedroom will run you at least $1,000. Trying to buy something is useless (a 2 bedroom condo is $750,000).

$800 a month will put you in a nasty place. Check Craig's List Los Angeles and do a search.

Answer 4

Skylark's info the last time you asked this question was spot on. That part of Fig is on the edge of the business district. I work at Ernst & Young just a few blocks up, and the 200 block isn't that great, but it's close by. She was right that the whole area is a ghost town on the weekend. Check the classified ads for the college to get more ideas as to where to live. See the place in person before committing to anything.

Answer 5

Palos Verdes is about 15 miles south of Los Angeles Airport but a world away - ask Donald Trump. Rancho Palos Verdes/Rolling hills have apartments/condos and with so many CA Distinguished schools, no gangs and probably 0 crime.

Answer 6

Good luck! In the greater Los Angeles area, there is no such thing as safe and cheap! Especially that cheap. Maybe El Segundo, or portions of Torrance. Lawndale and Hawthorne are probably not as safe as they were when I lived there. It's been quite a while since I lived there, so I can't say for sure. Things change.

Answer 7

Thousand oaks, Newberry Park, Agoura hills, Oak Park Simi Valley, Woodland hills, Calabasas,

Answer 8

Mission Viejo, CA was recently rated as the best place to live in the United States by Money Magazine.

Answer 9

As I recall, Thousand Oaks as stated above was on the list of safest cities in the US...


and by the way, it's Los Angelenos...Or simply, "Angelenos"...
http://merriamwebster.com/dictionary/angelenos

Answer 10

Irvine is the safest. There's no such thing as cheap, there is cheaper. I'd say live out in Banning or Moreno Valley if you want something resembling cheap.