West Olympic Blvd, Sawtelle

West LA is often used as a general term to describe Westside or all of the neighborhood on the Pacific side of the City of Los Angeles. However, the LA Times and other authoritative sources designate it as a neighborhood just east of Sawtelle (and the 405), south of Westwood, west of Century City, and north of Rancho Park (the neighborhood, not the actual park that is confusingly located inside the borders of West LA). This is the section that I am discussing in this review. The actual residents of this area are likely to consider themselves as living in Westwood, Ranch Park, Sawtelle or maybe even “no where.” Regardless of what you call it, this small area/neighborhood, is a nice quiet residential neighborhood. The smaller, older homes are well kept and the palm-lined major avenues lead to quiet, shady streets where upper middle class folks live alongside the occasional UCLA student or professor.

There is a bit of a states theme that runs through the longitudinal grid of the streets, with Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee striping the neighborhood. The major arteries are Olympic (which many consider the border between Westwood and Rancho Park) and Westwood. All of the other uglier store lined streets are to the edges of the neighborhood (Pico on the South, Santa Monica in the north Sepulveda to the west and Beverly Glen forming the border to Century City).

The architecture of the homes in the area is varied and interesting with an unusual mix of Ranch, Prairie and Mission Styles with some more difficult to describe mixes.

Most residents are white, though there are a large number of Iranian immigrants in the area. There is also a fair number of British citizens who live here for reasons I cannot explain. This mix gives the neighborhood a much needed international tinge. This is a firmly upper-middle class neighborhood with good schools and without a single murder in three years. It is like a quiet oasis in a desert of noise and bustle.