Los Angeles neighborhoods - Best 4 out-the-front-door cycling

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by beeatnik

Most film/television production doesn't occur in Downtown Los Angeles between the hours of 8am and 6pm. I know the hours can be long and hard but if you get to drive home at 11pm on a Friday night you don't deal with the same abomination.

And The Valley is the City of Los Angeles. In fact, half the residents of the City of Los Angeles (2 mil plus) live in the communities which make up The Valley.

In any case, I like how Culver City has changed in the last 15 years. I like the Westside. The reality is that the worst traffic in California is in those areas (for a reason). IMO, as a former "Westsider," if you're not wealthy, it really impacts your quality of life.

I spent 15 of my 35 years in the biz in middle management. Office job. 7:00 to 5:30. LA Center Studios, Warner Brothers and Sony. I understand LA traffic. Yeah, the other 20 years were on location- production work. Was able to avoid lots of traffic. Working a minimum of 12 hours a day will help with that.

As for " The Valley" (s). Yes, they are a part of Los Angeles. A large part, but not the best that LA has to offer. That was my point.

We looked long and hard at moving to Culver City. It has tons to offer. We just liked The Marina and the building we moved into a bit more. Oh, my wife does work downtown, commutes daily. She is still here to talk about it. Not the end of the world. Just traffic.

[beeatnik]

Originally Posted by SoCalSteve

I spent 15 of my 35 years in the biz in middle management. Office job. 7:00 to 5:30. LA Center Studios, Warner Brothers and Sony. I understand LA traffic. Yeah, the other 20 years were on location- production work. Was able to avoid lots of traffic. Working a minimum of 12 hours a day will help with that.

As for " The Valley" (s). Yes, they are a part of Los Angeles. A large part, but not the best that LA has to offer. That was my point.

We looked long and hard at moving to Culver City. It has tons to offer. We just liked The Marina and the building we moved into a bit more. Oh, my wife does work downtown, commutes daily. She is still here to talk about it. Not the end of the world. Just traffic.

Steve, you're a true Angelino. You dis the Valley and are immune to traffic.

[campy man]

Originally Posted by christian

I would live in Monterey Hills, Highland Park, or Eagle Rock (or So Pasadena if money is less of an issue). From any of those places you have pretty easy riding north, and all are a good commute to downtown. I don't think Sierra Madre is that great for access to Angeles Forest. If that's your #1 priority, La Canada Flintridge or the San Rafael hills would be better.

You looking to rent or buy? How much/month?

For me, having lived on the Westside (26th/Montana) for a while, I would never choose that as a base for cycling.

+100 ... if you're going to commute to DTLA and looking for great riding on the weekends & evenings this is by far the best option.

I was born and raised in LA and been commuting/riding here for +25yrs. I have lived in Mid-Wilshire(K-Town), Larchmont, South Central, Culver City, Echo Park, Eagle Rock and now the East SFV near Griffith Park. Living in North East LA would be a piece of cake for commuting to DTLA with several routes available with decent roads. There are lots of nice roads with varied terrain heading toward the foothills of the San Gabriel Mtns.

There is plenty of great riding in the Santa Monica Mtns off of PCH and the Westside offers plenty to do but the auto traffic is a nightmare. While I agree OC has some outstanding roads and areas for riding I'm not sure the commute via rail is worth the lost time.

A lot depends on what you like to do when not riding and working.

Good luck!

[campy man]

Originally Posted by cinema

Eagle rock, highland park, echo park if you want to be close to dtla you can ride in in just a few minutes. Wouldn't even work up a sweat. Griffith park within ten-15 riding minutes. Angeles crest nearby except you'd have to ride thru south pas which is one of the more boring rides you can ever do. Close to lots of great trails in Altadena Angeles crest etc. even Elysian park has a fun hobo trail for weekday pick up rides. I wouldn't live any farther out for traffics sake. Don't live downtown, just don't if you can avoid it.

Winner winner chicken dinner ... this guy knows North East LA cycling

[RyanH]

Well, budget and tolerance for traffic are going to be the determining factors. I live in Downtown because my wife works in Vernon and I either work from home or am at a client site (I also hate traffic). Downtown has a lot of short comings but: I am a 45 minute ride from Santa Monica, an hour ride to the San Gabriel and 30 minutes from two of my favorite group rides. Since I don't waste time in traffic, I can usually get in a two hour weekday ride up to Griffith and back.

On the other hand, rent is skyrocketing with the average now somewhere in the $2500/mo range and condos starting at $400k with a $500+/mo HOA. So, ya back to budget.


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[ofcounsel]

Originally Posted by ModernMetalBikes

Happy Holidays fellow Paceliners. Work may be bringing me to downtown LA and I'm wondering where to live that would allow the dual benefits of 1) public transit to/from work and 2) good road cycling I can get to that's not far away from my front door.

I'm hearing Sierra Madre and Arcadia are good options with close access to Mt. Wilson.

Anyway, open to suggestions and thanks in advance.

Cheers!

Are you single? Married? Kids in tow?

[Ciavete]

Originally Posted by ofcounsel

Are you single? Married? Kids in tow?

Single, no kids.

Whoa, you all have given me great input. Thanks for the counsel; I'll put it all to good use.

First time I'll be looking for a new home with cycling options as a major priority. Just gotta keep riding!!

[Vera J. Hogue]

Happy Holidays to everyone!

[Vera J. Hogue]

I have a road bike, & i am always with my cycling

[danield]

I've lived and worked in quite a few different neighborhoods throughout the L.A. area the last 11 years. I currently work in Downtown L.A. Previously lived in Culver City, Los Feliz, Echo Park, Highland Park/So Pas, and Pasadena. Last summer my wife and I moved to Azusa, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains (i.e. the San Gabriel Valley) one town over from Glendora (recommended above) and about 25 miles from downtown. I will say that Azusa/Glendora has proven to be BY FAR the best balance of feasible commute to work and very accessible, spectacular cycling.

All of the iconic San Gabriel Mountain climbs start minutes from my door. Lots of cyclists and a good amount of young people (college students) around. Also amazing hiking and camping. The San Gabriel River bike path is a mile away, and takes you all the way to Seal Beach (though beware of the occasional junkie sleeping on the path and urban ranchero on horseback). I can get "hour of power" workouts in before or after work without ever having to ride in traffic.

The Gold Line (light rail) to downtown is opening in March, though currently I've been very well served by the Foothill Transit commuter buses. It takes me about 60 min commuting each way but I get a little work done on the bus or play video games . Taking public transit has been a huge comfort for me -- sitting in L.A. traffic (even for a shorter period of time) is just maddening and energy sapping.

Azusa/Glendora are pretty sleepy however -- one or two decent gastropubs but that's about it, so you're not going to get much of a nightlife fix. (Pasadena could be a better compromise on that front.)

All of the other neighborhoods I lived in were frankly unbearable for me as a cyclist because they are so dense, and so clogged with really crazy traffic. Getting to any decent rides meant 30-60 minutes of riding through dense urban traffic on poorly maintained urban roads. A lot of So Cal cyclists focus entirely on "beach riding" utilizing large sections of PCH and Santa Monica Mountains, which is puzzling given how crowded those roads are and how empty things are in the San Gabriel Valley.

If you have any more questions you can catch me (slowly) riding up to the snowline on Mt. Baldy this weekend...

[beeatnik]

danield knows what's up. and he's lived in the best hoods. westside, "eastside" "northeast LA," long beach, OC, Encino/Sherman Oaks and best of all, Pasadena.

[Hindmost]

Originally Posted by ModernMetalBikes

First time I'll be looking for a new home with cycling options as a major priority.

I did something similar years back. I was somewhat familiar with the general area in which I was looking. On weekends I went house-hunting by bike to assess the ridability.

[jpang922]

I live between WeHo and BH and can be climbing within 10 minutes out of my door in the Hollywood Hills. Coast is 10 miles to the west without having to deal with much traffic (bike lanes, back streets). San Gabriel Mountain rides are much further away with lots of trash miles within the city, but this is where you use the car.

[christian]

I really really really think it's spelled Angeleno. Angelino is a little pasta shaped like cherubs.

[denapista]

I live in South Pasadena and I pay $1300/mo for rent... Two Bedroom, wood flooring, crown moldings and a 2 car garage... South Pasadena is littered with rental properties in this price range. I'm 2 miles from the start of the Montrose ride, Chantry climb, Angeles Crest, etc... From South Pasadena, I can ride the train into DTLA if I worked there or if I wanted to train into a nice Little Tokyo dinner.. South Pasadena / Highland Park / Eagle Rock / Altadena / La Canada / Montrose... These are prime areas to live. They're far from the Westside (Santa Monica / Venice), but extremely close to all of the good cycling in the city. Dirt Trails (Wilson, Brown, Lukens, etc). Having a "All Road" bike around these parts would be the best weapon of choice.. You could ride out on dirt tires and ride road stretches, then come back home on the dirt. The 626 area in my 38 years of living here, is by far the best area to reside in Southern California.

I've thought about moving to mid city or west LA so many times, but there's something very nostalgic and "Homey" to Pasadena, South Pasadena. My street is littered with trees and parks and greenery. Living outside of the SGV, tosses you into the mix of So Cal transplants and lots of human traffic. Living in Echo Park or Silverlake is super close to cool, but very far from peace and quiet.

It all depends on what you're looking for in a neighborhood and your commute. On a clear freeway day, I can get to anywhere in So Cal in 25-30min. I sometimes do the Bike Effect weekend rides and I can make it to Bike Effect from my garage (South Pasadena) in 25min, no lie. 7am on a weekend, the freeway looks like an episode from The Walking Dead.

I frequently do 100mi rides from South Pasadena to the SM climbs (Piuma, Stunt, 7min hill, etc). The only downside to living this way, is the commute to the working cities (Century City, Westwood UCLA, Torrance, etc). Luckliy for me, I've always worked in DTLA and my commute is nothing more than 10min on surface streets (Huntington into DTLA). There are so many local climbs in the Pasadena hills that are pretty amazing. I'm exploring more above the rose bowl hills, and you can easily get 5000ft of climbing wiggling up and down the neighborhoods around the rose bowl and La Canada. Big Tujunga is by far one of the best loops for quite crushing. Some days I do Big T and I'll get passed by 1-3 cars for the entire climb. It's that quiet back there.

Base your location on your job commute. That's what it all comes down too in LA. If you're looking for the best area to live where you have the best access to the core of LA riding, then it's (Silverlake, Echo Park, Highland Park, La Canada, Montrose, Pasadena, Altadena and South Pasadena). All of these cities surround the base of most climbs and inner city fun loops (Hollywood sign climb, Griffith Park, Chevy Chase, Highway 2, Big Tujunga, etc). Getting to the base of GMR from my front door is 13mi of flat. To get to the westside, I wiggle thru Eagle Rock and Silverlake and take Fountain all the way across. My neighbor is the Art Director at Cedars Hospital and he commutes daily on a bike. Fountain all the way across...

Rent in South Pasadena is stupid cheap. My buddy has a 2bd condo for $850/mo. He lives two blocks from me and lives there with his wife and infant son. Rent is cheap here!