Staying Safe in Downtown Los Angeles as a Traveler

Downtown Los Angeles Requires a Look Over Your Shoulder

The first images travelers think of when they hear the words “Los Angeles” usually include the Hollywood Sign, palm trees, and the beach, but Los Angeles is so much more than a sunny locale where the film industry meets the Pacific Ocean.

The city actually has a densely populated downtown with high rises galore. These towering buildings range from old office buildings turned into trendy condos to brand new skyscrapers that dominate the skyline above rows and rows of homeless encampments.

For every beautiful picture you see of southern California, there’s an equally unfortunate picture of someone living in a tent in a downtown encampment. The huge homeless population is an unfortunate byproduct of an expensive cost-of-living in the region. Like sky-high cost-of-living.

But I’m not here to tell you about all the woes of downtown Los Angeles and why you should avoid it in favor of visiting other well-known SoCal locales.

In fact, I think every Los Angeles vacation should include a few hours spent downtown, if only to see how much like Manhattan the area feels in some spots, as well as to visit iconic neighborhoods within downtown like Chinatown, Little Tokyo, and the street where the original “Fast and Furious” movie was filmed.

The picture you see above shows the little grouping of Los Angeles skyscrapers that make up downtown, and it looks quite small when you’re not right next to it. But trust me, downtown is a labyrinth of one-way boulevard, sketchy streets, and hole-in-the-wall restaurants that have no equal.

I’ve lived in southern California for almost 25 years (as the writing of this blog post), and I’m definitely comfortable downtown – and I actually love the area. However, if you’ve never visited before, do take the following paragraphs into consideration when planning your itinerary to California.

(note: some of the links here are to websites with which I am an affiliate, and your purchases help fund my website!)

What’s the Best Way to Get Around Safely in Downtown Los Angeles?

Take a look at where you live now and compare it to a busy downtown street where parking is scarce, delivery trucks run rampant all over the place, and it’s tough to get across a single intersection during rush hour.

Your personal experiences with downtown type traffic will help you decide how to get around downtown Los Angeles.

Downtown Los Angeles By Car

If you hail from a busy metropolitan area, you can definitely take a rental car downtown and see everything you want to see. However, if you’re from a suburban area or a rural place, the speed and density of the traffic in downtown Los Angeles may have you running for the Hollywood Hills and the Hollywood Sign (Hollywood is fiercely busy, too, just FYI!).

The biggest barrier you’ll face downtown is definitely parking. I’d say some of the best minutes you can spend before your trip are in looking at Google Maps for some parking lots, parking structures, and areas with paid parking.

Basically, if you’re driving a car, just assume that you’ll need quarters for parking meters and that you may need to pay a salty flat rate for parking ($10, $15, and $20 are common for private lots, but sometimes they’re convenient and worth the price). Also note that the parking meters in downtown Los Angeles, at least in my experience, do not recognize dimes and nickels (those are American 10 cent and 5 cent pieces).

You have to use quarters (25 cents), or the parking machines won’t register that you’ve put any money in them. Some parking meters and most of the parking structures will take credit cards, but never assume. Always bring lots of change with you. Try to get a roll of quarters from a bank (there’s $10 in each roll).

Downtown Los Angeles By Bicycle

Now, if you’re not confident about driving a car around downtown, you can also ride a bicycle and get around pretty easily. When I go downtown, I normally ride my road bike (I live outside downtown in a residential neighborhood, but it’s only about five miles to reach the edge of downtown on my bicycle).

If you’re a confident bicyclist, and you have no qualms about riding in traffic, I do recommend seeing downtown on a bicycle. There are only two real important things to remember. The first is that theft is a serious thing with bicycles.

You must absolutely and always lock your bike up whenever you go inside somewhere in Downtown Los Angeles. Even if you’re in a ritzy area of Santa Monica (near the coast), always lock that bike. Don’t use a cheap plastic lock either. Get yourself a giant chain to secure the bicycle.

The other piece of vital advice I can offer for bicycling around downtown Los Angeles is always avoiding Skid Row. Yes, this is the famous (infamous?) Skid Row that looks like a dystopian hellscape of tortured humanity. It is a sad and gut-wrenching blight on the soul of Los Angeles, and it’s the most dangerous place in the city.

However, the existence of Skid Row should not convince you to avoid the entirety of downtown. As long as you know its location, you can avoid those streets. You can ride your bike (or vehicle) to many delightful downtown places without coming into contact with Skid Row.

Downtown Los Angeles By Ride Share

As someone who’s done rideshare before, I’d say Uber or Lyft are each an excellent option for getting to and from downtown, particularly if you’re staying somewhere that’s more than a few miles away.

Popular tourist neighborhoods in Los Angeles like Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice, and the beach cities are at least a thirty-minute drive from downtown, and may take more time to reach when there’s traffic. But an Uber can get you there easily.

If you plan on visiting a few specific pre-planned spots in downtown Los Angeles, get a rideshare to your destination, and then call for another ride when it’s time to leave. Los Angeles has a giant population of rideshare drivers, and it’s almost always easy to get a ride from wherever to wherever.

Downtown Los Angeles By Public Transportation

The public transportation system of Los Angeles is absolutely terrible. I say this even though I love living here. Getting somewhere by bus is cheap, but it takes forever. The train system is nice in some places, but it definitely can’t get you everywhere you want to go.

If you’re keen on budget-friendly travel, getting to know the train schedule and bus system is one way to keep costs down. However, you might find yourself spending a lot of time twiddling your thumbs while waiting to get to your destination.

In my experience, public transportation is a good idea when you have a very specific place to go, and the transportation system has a direct route to get you there. For example, there’s a train line called the A Line that goes from north of downtown and all the way through DTLA to Long Beach, which is to the southwest.

If you’re staying in Pasadena where this line passes through (Pasadena is north of DTLA), you can get on this train and reach downtown really easily. However, if you’re staying in Hollywood (for example), it doesn’t make sense to head over to this line and take it downtown. It’s not the most convenient option unless you’re staying close to where the line runs.

Downtown Los Angeles by Foot

Overall, Los Angeles isn’t a hugely walkable city, unless you’re staying in a single neighborhood. If your only goal is to visit Downtown Los Angeles, you can definitely visit on foot and avoid messing with any other type of transportation.

If you’re staying anywhere outside DTLA, you’ll definitely need some type of transport other than your feet to reach it. However, once you’re in downtown, you can walk all over the place pretty easily – again, always avoiding Skid Row.

DTLA has a whole load of absolutely fantastic restaurants, so walking around might be the best way to burn off a few calories after eating your weight in sausage and French fries.

Carrying Money and Identification While Visiting Downtown

It’s usually best to avoid taking any unnecessary items with you when you visit downtown Los Angeles. If you’re visiting from outside the United States, you might have a passport, visa, or pile of cash you plan on using during your stay.

You don’t need any of these items while walking around downtown. No one is going to stop you and ask for your “papers.” Simply carrying a picture of your passport or visa is enough. You don’t need to risk losing the actual passport or visa. Just leave it in the place you’re staying; your items will almost always be safer when left behind.

If you’re nervous about leaving items in your hotel room, just find a creative place to leave those items. Even if you feel like you wouldn’t become a victim of a pick-pocket, a skilled thief can definitely relieve you of your documents, and you’ll have no idea anything happened. If you can’t stand the thought of living your items behind, consider a secure bag with features to prevent theft.

I treat going downtown like I would visiting any other busy downtown where crime is an issue. I would take just enough money to get me through the day, and that’s about it. If I’m riding downtown to Philippe’s, for example, I’ll just take $20 to cover my meal (I usually ride down early for breakfast when I go). I don’t take a pile of credit cards, and I don’t bother to bring my drivers license.

Similarly, if I visit the Grand Central Market for Thai (yep, I usually go to DTLA for food), I’ll usually take a single credit card with me, stuffed into the pocket of my tights (I always wear tights when I ride my bicycle). On the off-chance I’m visiting downtown in my car, I’ll still only take a few items with me. Drivers license and a credit card is usually all I have, unless I have an errand down there that requires I carry something else.

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