Is LA really that dangerous?

Hello Goku! Thank you for the e mail. You could plan a day trip to beautiful Palm Springs, which is about two and a half hours from Los Angeles. Great scenery, great restaurants, great shopping. You also could travel to the mountains i.e. Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead, Crestline, which only takes a couple of hours. Nothing but beauty up there. Your could also visit Santa Barbara, which is on the ocean and about an hour and a half drive. Beautiful town! The choices are endless. Please e mail me if you need more info. Cheers, bwl4

I feel los angeles in very safe for certain ethnicities.... if you don't go walking through the projects at nite, you probably won't find any trouble.... I have family that stay in the glassel park/hollenbeck neighborhood and in inglewood... if your of african american descent, I advise you stay out of the east la, or other area's of the cities know for latin gangs and vice versa for mexicans.... los angeles county has been sweeping a violent race war under rug for the past 15 years... this war is for real folks, the root of the conflict have started in the state prisons and leaked out to prison gangs.... but if your going to anaheim or the OC, or hollywood, you have nothing to worry about....

I for one don't understand the reputation. Los Angeles definitely has gritty parts, but tourists aren't really going to be going there, and even if you did, you shouldn't really have any problems. Yes, we have gang activity but we all know that gangs mainly just attack each other and maintain stupid rivalries.

I did a ton of research on Texas, because I was thinking of moving back. And I found out that all of the major cities in Texas (Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston) have much worse crime than Los Angeles. Property crime is higher and robbery is much higher because guns are EXTREMELY common in Texas.

Los Angeles was rated as the second safest major city, I think NYC was actually number one. These cities have gotten bad reps but they are actually very safe!

Oh and as far as the race war, yes there are parts where it's bad but I wouldn't say that you can ONLY go to O.C. ! There are only a few select areas where this racially motivated "hits" happen and they are usually the areas where the 2 races mix (like Long Beach). I don't think that every single Mexican that visits South Central is going to be in danger of his life, nor every single Black that visits East L.A. I actually see alot of blacks in East L.A. If a Mexican gang member visits Compton, well yeah ! But otherwise just normal people (hispanic or not) going about your business should be fine. If you happened to have business down there. lol

And I'm not just some naive white O.C. or valley girl saying this either, lol, my husband is Mexican and we go freely anywhere in L.A.

find a black guy that can walk through hazard park in hollenbeck then find a mexican guy who could walk through the baldwin village (the jungle)... then take your valley girl self for a walk through imperial gardens with your boyfreind... let me know if its safe to freely walk about in those streets? you really need your hood pass validated when going through those neighboorhoods... as far and generalizing and sayin s. central isn't that bad, I agree... the universities are located in s.los... but there are certain pockets you want to stay away from... especially when you look like a naive white o.c. girl, cause really you'll be out there lookin like lunch to one of those hungry 14 year old kids with no hope and no future..

I can't wait to head back to LA to visit :) Not looking forward to all the airport crap that you gotta do, these days. *sigh*.

Yes, certain parts of Los Angeles are very dangerous. Avoid relocating to 8th Street /Alverado by Mac Arthur Park it is bad at night. Avoid walking after 11pm-6am alone or be alert. I have encountered a few run ins with criminals but so long as your alert and prepared they will not harm you. I myself carry a taser, and mace along with a screw driver just in case. I know this sounds bad but it is seriously dangerous, just be prepared on these streets since a lot of the criminals pretend to be waiting for a bus at well lit areas in groups of two/three and tend to blend in. Some of them look like teenagers waiting for the bus with back packs, so If you aren't street smart then seriously avoid walking around these streets alone, take a few people with you and definitely make sure you are vigilant.