Expert: Steve Summers - 2/10/2003

Question
I was thinking about comming to calif for my vac but i hear so many bad things about carjacking and the crime that goes on out there what area should i avoid if i do come i want to see venice beach and do some sufin as well as have alot of fun .i don't want to do the touriest thing should i stay in the sf valley

Answer
Here's a list of things you should do:

-Stop watching those movies that portray LA as a town full of wacked-out, carjacking, crack-smoking, drug-dealing gangsters. Movie makers don't like to show the regular folks in LA, because, well, they're not that exciting. Most people here are the same as there are everywhere. There are a lot of nice folks, and there are some jerks. Movies only show the low-lifes, so people think it's SO dangerous here, when it's not.

-DO show some caution when visiting. Do you have a "dangerous" part of your town? Same here. Just be alert, and be careful wherever you go. You mentioned the SFV as a place to stay, but there are also bad parts of the Valley as well. It's easy to stay out of those undesirable places, since they are usually out of the way.

-Venice Beach is a very interesting place to visit, since you see a wide variety of people there. But there is much better surfing further south at Huntington Beach, or further north in Malibu.

-If it were me, I'd stay in Orange County near Anaheim. There are a lot of hotels there, and you can find one in your price range.

-You probably want to stay out of the following areas: Pacoima (SFV), Van Nuys (SFV), South Central LA, East LA, Hollywood (the tourist areas are OK), and some areas of Santa Ana.

Hope this helps,

Steve