My best friend is a long time Westside resident and I too have spent my fair share living in that neck of the woods. We have never questioned the parameters of what was deemed West LA. It was a basic understanding and an unspoken truth that we shared with our fellow neighbors. From our post work-out free for alls at the Souplantation in the Brent-hood to our sheer glee followed by our utter despair when they opened and then ultimately closed the first/last Chili's to grace Westwood Village (fine, I totally own it - I love nothing more than Chili's queso dip and a Blue Pacifico margarita to wash it down), we knew the mean streets of the Westside inside out...or so we thought.
Enter two boyfriends from polar opposite sections of Los Angeles: the Valley and Echo Park. They approached the Westside with trepidation and fear in their eyes. My (now ex) boyfriend was an east side/downtown guy to the core. He looked at the tree lined streets with bewilderment. Was he still in LA? Had he mysteriously landed on the set of "Desperate Housewives" and was now on Wysteria Lane? Where were the hipsters, the skinny jeans, the American Apparel store for God's sake (this was years ago when AA made it's way east to west and was uber hipster before it's overpriced cotton V-necks became a staple in all of our wardrobes - Robertson Blvd it was not back in the day)?
My best friend's boyfriend now Fiance is true and proud Valley. Simply utter the word Westside and he's going to give you a 10 minute diatribe about the horrendous traffic he mysteriously seems to instantly encounter the moment he passes the threshold of Mulholland and Beverly Glen....at 10pm no less! This (and for some reason the topic of Jenna Jameson - don't ask) always leads to a dinner debate with someone leaving the table not talking to the other. No matter how much evidence you provide him to the contrary, he views the Westside as a grid locked wasteland of pretension and high prices.
Two boyfriends each with two different perspectives on why West LA is not for them. Sometimes you just have to agree to disagree. That is until they started talking about Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, even east of Fairfax being the Westside. Whoa there! Did you just tell everyone that Crescent Heights and Olympic is WLA and that you are now a Westsider? Were we in the wrong? I can maybe give you Beverly Hills, but only as a favor. The rest is just plain crazy talk! This lead to whole new discussion - what constitutes West LA? I'll go first - my idea of West LA is everything west of Century Park East going to the ocean with the northern cap being Pacific Palisades, but not including Malibu which is an entity unto it's own. To the south, the stopping point would be the Marina and to the south east, Culver City. Excluded from the Westside is definitely Westchester, Playa Del Rey, Ladera Heights, and El Segundo - to me these areas are more South Bay "adjacent".
"Who cares", "what's your point", you ask. On the heels of having that damn Westside equals traffic argument for tenth time last week came an article in the LA Times yesterday proclaiming that the Westside boundaries have been an argument amongst Angelenos for the ages. What was fun about it was that it gives you the option to draw your own parameters on the map and leave your own opinions. The comments alone are worth a read. As I mentioned yesterday it's a slow week in real estate as we begin heading towards the fourth of July holiday, so I thought this might be a fun debate. What's your definition of the Westside? Check out the article below from the LA Times and click here to leave a comment/draw your own map:
MAPPING L.A. > Debates - LA Times - 6.24.10
Where does the Westside start?
Is it a fixed place, with its own borders, customs and society, or only a state of mind? The Westsideis a familar concept to any Angeleno. We all know the basics. The Beach. The Pier. The 310 area code. The 405 Freeway. But when it comes down to details, could we actually draw it on a map? How far east does it run? Does it include Malibu? How about West Hollywood?
With no official definition, there's no official answer. That's why we're opening up this debate to ask readers how they define the Westside. We'll share our best guess, and then ask you to share your thoughts, and your maps, with everyone below.
*Not Official LA Times Map - Article Map is Interactive - Click Link
The map above shows how The Times' Mapping L.A. project frames the region's 23 neighborhoods. Mullholland Drive's sinuous path along the crest of the Santa Monica Mountains marks the northern edge. The city's official boundary rounds off the northwestern corner and curves down the coast, stopping short of Westchester and LAX. Culver City, Pico-Robertson and Beverly Hills carve out the difficult eastern boundary, with West Hollywood, La Cienega Boulevard and Mid-City separating the central city.
"You gotta stop it somewhere," said Doug Smith, the Times staffer responsible for drawing the boundaries. "Not everybody can live on the Westside."
Where readers draw the line
No lines can capture the geographic diversity and demographic energy of Los Angeles. The Times staffer responsible for shaping the boundaries acknowledges the map isn't perfect. That's why readers are invited to submit their own definition. Using the tool at the bottom of this page you can submit your own map, or just post your thoughts on what defines the region.
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