LA living/riding?

Lurvey · #1 10-20-2018, 09:03 AM

Got a job offer in Los Angeles yesterday.

I've lived in Minneapolis (past 2 years), Halifax (3 years) & Portland, all very bike-friendly cities. I've never owned a car. (I'd probably get one eventually in LA) but I'm not above public transit for the first bit. Looks like the coworking space I'd be working out of is right on the train line in Culver City. Looking at apartments in Silver Lake/Echo Park/Los Feliz.

I wonder if any of you guys could tell me a bit about living and riding there? From the cool internet blogs, the single track/gravel riding looks great, but how about around town? Is that even possible? I don't expect to be riding and commuting in the same way as Minneapolis. Is it really #lasucksforcycling?

Thanks, y'all!

Daniel

godfrey1112000 · #2 10-20-2018, 10:02 AM

If you work from home
Not a problem

If you don't own a car you won't have to sit in traffic

Resources amazon delivery is your friend
Via Whole Foods aka whole pay check

Increase your life insurance in riding locally

ravdg316 · #3 10-20-2018, 10:14 AM

Hey Daniel,

Feel free to pm me if you’re interested in a detailed answer to fit your situation. LA is fascinating because two people living in the same neighborhood could have entirely different opinions of the city, simply based on the choices they make regarding commuting. My parents 15 miles away from me lead a completely different, driving-dependent lifestyle than I do. I bike and walk everywhere, which my friends a four miles east of me can’t even fathom.

SoCalSteve · #4 10-20-2018, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by godfrey1112000

If you work from home
Not a problem

If you don't own a car you won't have to sit in traffic

Resources amazon delivery is your friend
Via Whole Foods aka whole pay check

Increase your life insurance in riding locally

Curious how you know so much about Los Angeles and why you are so negative?

Considering you live :Location: Leawood, KS- It is in Kansas City, July west tisbury October tucson

To the original poster, there have been many posts about riding-living in LA. Please use the search function.

But the readers digest version is this: the Westside people think riding on the Westside-beaches-canyons are great and the east siders think riding north east is best.

I’m sure many people will chime in.

OtayBW · #5 10-20-2018, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoCalSteve

Curious how you know so much about Los Angeles and why you are so negative?

Considering you live :Location: Leawood, KS- It is in Kansas City, July west tisbury October tucson

I didn't read much negativity into the post myself, but aside from that, this may be one reason (referring to a recent thread) why some folks choose not to publish their location.

cinema · #6 10-20-2018, 10:54 AM

I don't recommend anyone move to los angeles now. if you already have a great job offer that nets you more income after accounting for the increase in living expenses, and you don't mind deteriorating respiratory health and increased risk of dementia due to pollution, I guess you could.

I have commuted 40+ miles round trip for years here. I have been hit several times but nothing major. It's totally doable wherever you live. Easier if you live in and around the city. Never leave your bicycle outside. Where is your job located? Feel free to PM me if you have any really specific quesitons re location, route, riding etc. California and surrounding LA area is an excellent place to ride. The best really big city for riding IMO. Not cause of the traffic, but because literally 2-5 miles from many busy metropolitan areas there is incredible riding, whether you're talking about the 2, griffith, SM mountains, etc

welcome! (maybe)

onsight512 · #7 10-20-2018, 12:47 PM

For what it's worth, I think LA is pretty great, all around, for cycling. Most of my riding is commuting from Burbank to work, which is anywhere from Hollywood, to Culver City, to Santa Monica. There are great hills all over the place. I love it.

jtbadge · #8 10-20-2018, 12:59 PM

I recently moved from the midwest (KC, STL) to LA. I've found that motorists are generally much more friendly to cyclists. Probably a combination of traffic moving more slowly and more people out riding year round.

I ride road or cross almost exclusively. Plenty of bike-able streets, great hills to climb, and even dirt trails near the city. In fact, it's faster to go across parts of town (especially Hollywood or to downtown) on a bike than in a car. Any time I need to go to the east side, it's on a bike. Even to Santa Monica/Venice to see the ocean is easy on a bike.

MTB trails are all around, but are longer drives away, so I don't really get that many miles on my MTB.

I live in West Hollywood, and every neighborhood across town seems wildly different for resources, housing, etc., but you definitely don't need to rely on expensive and wasteful delivery services. My neighborhood has multiple grocery stores, Target, etc. and tons of restaurants/bars in walking distance, and with a little research you can find a similar setup. The neighborhoods you mentioned are full of cool stuff to do.

If you can afford to come out before you move, spend a few days checking out different areas to see what feels right.

nublar · #9 10-20-2018, 02:04 PM

Road: You must enjoy river trails, climbing mountains, or riding loops around the rosebowl, office park, etc. Riding on the low lying streets of LA County is not fun imo.

Mountain: Lot's of loose over hard as there is quite a bit of erosion. Quite a bit of fire roads and double track leading to some short and technical single track.

Gravel: You'll be riding on the same hilly fire roads and double track as above.

SoCalSteve · #10 10-20-2018, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nublar

Road: You must enjoy river trails, climbing mountains, or riding loops around the rosebowl, office park, etc. Riding on the low lying streets of LA County is not fun imo.

Mountain: Lot's of loose over hard as there is quite a bit of erosion. Quite a bit of fire roads and double track leading to some short and technical single track.

Gravel: You'll be riding on the same hilly fire roads and double track as above.

You left out beach paths, PCH, San Vicente, Mandaville, the Palisades and all the canyon roads in and around Malibu. Oh, let’s not forget Griffith Park, La Tuna, Angeles Crest, etc. ( I’d never leave you eastsiders out of it!).

Besides those, you just about covered it...

bigbill · #11 10-20-2018, 02:57 PM

I'm in Anaheim the end of next week for work. I'm going to check out the riding, it's a location I could transfer to in a few years. It would have to be a hell of a raise to afford it.

saab2000 · #12 10-20-2018, 04:01 PM

My company is opening a base at LAX soon to go with the one we have in Oakland. I’m following this too because I’ve had California on my mind a lot lately.

joosttx · #13 10-20-2018, 04:05 PM

Hey, the Leawood Country Club is very nice. With that said, I would not live in LA. There is too much traffic and I would feel in prisoned by too much traffic,

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoCalSteve

Curious how you know so much about Los Angeles and why you are so negative?

Considering you live :Location: Leawood, KS- It is in Kansas City, July west tisbury October tucson

To the original poster, there have been many posts about riding-living in LA. Please use the search function.

But the readers digest version is this: the Westside people think riding on the Westside-beaches-canyons are great and the east siders think riding north east is best.

I’m sure many people will chime in.

mtechnica · #14 10-20-2018, 04:15 PM

I moved to Riverside about a month ago, and I've made it out to a few rides in the area. It's been enjoyable so far, swamis loop and the canyons in Malibu were both enjoyable rides. It's late October and the weather is still great, I'm looking forward to being able to ride all through winter which would have been impossible before. Seems like the summer might be rough for riding at times. As for LA itself, I don't live there so I can't comment about riding in the city itself, however the traffic has been pretty bad whenever I've gone that direction no matter what day or time of day it is. Having said that I think the viability of a commute would highly depend on where you're at specifically and where you're going; it's a big area and all of LA isn't the same. I would think that it's generally possible though.

pasadena · #15 10-20-2018, 06:11 PM

It's not Portland, thats for sure. But, you can get around and slowly there are more bike lanes appearing.

I dont know about commuting from hipster central to culver city...the morning traffic is pretty crazy going through there. I'm sure some locals can give you the best routes.

An amazing amount of great riding all over LA but it helps to have a car, honestly.

From Echo Park/Los Feliz you will probably hit Griffith Park/Elysian Park and that's wonderful.

I've been living in LA for many years and still discovering new routes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lurvey

Got a job offer in Los Angeles yesterday.

I've lived in Minneapolis (past 2 years), Halifax (3 years) & Portland, all very bike-friendly cities. I've never owned a car. (I'd probably get one eventually in LA) but I'm not above public transit for the first bit. Looks like the coworking space I'd be working out of is right on the train line in Culver City. Looking at apartments in Silver Lake/Echo Park/Los Feliz.

I wonder if any of you guys could tell me a bit about living and riding there? From the cool internet blogs, the single track/gravel riding looks great, but how about around town? Is that even possible? I don't expect to be riding and commuting in the same way as Minneapolis. Is it really #lasucksforcycling?

Thanks, y'all!

Daniel