What are the safest neighborhoods in Los Angeles?

The valley is relatively safe because it's mostly families. Within that, I would say, Burbank, Toluca Lake and Sherman Oaks. Also, Santa Monica north of Wilshire is quite safe. But, it's a big city so crime is pretty much everywhere.

I really think the South Bay wins on this hands down -- whatever map of crime you look at, the South Bay is WAY down from other areas, and our crimes tend to be petty things like someone stealing a laptop from an unlocked car or else more sophisticated things like identity theft, which would be common in a higher priced area like ours. Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, many parts of Torrance, and all of the Palos Verdes peninsula (Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates) are all terrific places to live where people feel safe leaving doors unlocked (though this is never a good idea!) We used to have virtually NO crime here, but the bad economy has brought a very slight increase. You can see more info on my website at http://www.fabuloussouthbay.com/crime-and-safety-in-the-south-bay/.

Manhattan Beach is known for being the safest of the beach cities. The Manhattan Beach Village is a gated community within Manhattan Beach that offers condos, townhouses, and single family estate homes. There is great security here along with pools, tennis courts, and a golf course nearby.

Yeah, Burbank, Toluca Lake, Sherman Oaks -- these are safe. The valley as a whole, is not "safe," and while it's not bad, there are lots of Latino gangs throughout most of it. Glendale is right next to Burbank, and it's just as safe, if you do well enough keeping out of the way of the idiot drivers who seem to live there. Santa Monica is also amazingly safe south of Wilshire, all the way to Venice. Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Westwood, and Beverly Hills are so insular and exclusive, you wouldn't believe you can drive twenty minutes to see bullet holes in street signs.

There's a lot of places that are perfectly safe in LA. But if you want to live in a city, you need to realize that there will be crime, unless you can afford to live in a place like the palisades.