West of the 101 (south of the Cahuenga Pass)?
West of Western Ave?
West of the 405?
Something else?
I grew up in Woodland Hills, and “west side” always meant “west of the 405.” Someone recently told me they think Hollywood is the west side… why is this term used so loosely!? Is it up to interpretation, or is there a concrete designation?
Everything west of LA Cienega
it's the 310/323 boundary so it makes sense
I always have to go with La Cienega. So much is tribalistic, or just real estate speak. Personally I think La Cienega is a little too far east (West Hollywood isn't WLA but Kaiser Cadillac is their WLA office so that's fine.
Yes! Came here to say that
La Cienega has always been my mental marker. True, there are some areas whose own names may supersede the moniker “Westside,” but that doesn’t mean they’re not a part of it.
So, Beverly Hills and WeHo are considered the West side? Not sure about that.
I have always considered both part of the Westside, one could make a claim about WeHo being Central LA and that could be up for debate but Beverly Hills is the epithome of the Westside and all of the stereotypes that go along with it
West of La Cienega.
This was always the dividing line I’ve used
It's the only one that captures all the neighborhoods that feel like the westside and are referred to as such. The 405 thing is that a lot of westsiders refuse to travel east of the 405, which is a running joke more than anything else.
Yeah, I actually live in Palms and I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t consider that the Westside. Moving here from Central LA (Koreatown) really felt like moving to a new part of the city, with its own feel and geography.
another westside neighborhood includes westwood and imagine not considering that the west side just cuz it’s just a little east of the 405 haha
I don't think it's a joke. It's understandable given how insufferable traffic is. Westsiders are essentially trapped during rush hour
Entertainment folks consider westside anything west of the 405. Locals from east of DTLA consider anything west of DTLA westside.
The irony of the whole gentrification “eastside” debate is that Echo Park gangs considered themselves westside.
Echo Park is Westside real Angelenos know Eastside startsonce you go east of the train station in Downtown.
Chicano gangs use the la river as the west east dividing line, and black gangs use main st instead.
This absolutely.
I only recently heard about the west of the 405 thing and was floored. I’ve also noticed folks’ definition of “west side” change when they move west, which I find funny.
I saw a shirt last year that said "AWOL. Always West of Lincoln."
But I'm one of those aforementioned entertainment folks who will choose "west side is west of the 405" as a hard truth.
I was gonna say, where I live in Venice, for many the Westside is west of Lincoln. (I have one of those shirts lol)
West side is west of 405 from Marina Del Ray north to the top of Santa Monica. If west side referred to west of downtown then it would include BH, Baldwin Hills and Culver City, which is not commonly west side.
South of west side starting in el Segundo and stopping in Palos Verdes is the South Bay.
Beverly Hills and Culver City are commonly considered Westside. Exhibit A: The Los Angeles West Side yellow pages. https://images.app.goo.gl/aeUwn47wNaAeEwtC6
I always figured it was, specifically, west of the LA River, or maybe west of the 101. But then people told me it was the 405, and I was really confused, cause I always thought WeHo was west side
I consider west of WeHo west side. I don't really consider WeHo to be on a side.
I was an entertainment guy and considered weho like mid city basically but definitely not westside because it’s like 45 min to the ocean in normal traffic.
Yup!
Downtowner here. K town is the west side for me. lol… I still go but that’s as far west as I go willingly.
not me i know geography
Hollywood is neither geographically nor culturally on the west side.
Yeah I don't understand people's logic in considering Hollywood the east side... Have they never explored the city?
It's cultural erasure of the actual Eastside (east of the L.A. River).
Century city and west.
Not Beverly Hills or hollywood but once you get west of that…
This is the definition I use… century city and west.
While I realize it has evolved since its origination, Western Ave was literally named that because it was the western border of Los Angeles. That is why many folks still consider Hollywood, west of the 101, etc to be “West Side”
Western Avenue was actually never the western border of Los Angeles. It was the westernmost major thoroughfare, but 1st Avenue (now called Arlington Avenue) was the western border before the neighborhoods to the west got annexed into the City.
“The street derives its name from its history as the westernmost border of Los Angeles city limits in the 19th century, before annexations in the early 20th century expanded the city westward and onwards.[1]”. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Avenue_(Los_Angeles)
Not everything on Wikipedia is accurate. Study an annexation map of Los Angeles and you'll find that Western Avenue does not line up with the one-time western boundary of the City of Los Angeles after 1896. It was named after the Western Addition that was annexed by the City of Los Angeles that year.
West of La Cienega
Not a popular take, but I think it's west of Beverly Glen. There's a noticeable vibe change there, and you still get Westwood and palms on the Westside
West side to me is where UCLA is, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Venice, Malibu, BH, Culver City, and yes WeHo too.
....searches 90's rap....brb....
Strictly speaking, Westside is south of the Santa Monica mtns and west of the 405. But after 3 decades here, usually people include Westwood, Century City and Culver.
Some might include South Bay, but we South Bay people don't. To us, we are defined by being South of the Westside.
Nah , South Bay not the west side, South Bay is South Bay
This - Redondo, Hermosa and this area south of LAX is considered South Bay. Maybe people from Anaheim might consider it West because of the proximity to Ocean.
West of La Cienega blvd, south of the Getty, north of Culver City.
I grew up in Santa Monica, for reference.
West of la ciénega. It's not the technical definition but it's my personal definition. I rarely need to go any further west than that. (not counting work)
West of Western
I grew up in Hollywood, I always thought of the westside as west of LaCienega.
West of the 405
Source: born and raised on the westside. And still live here.
So Westwood isn’t the westside?
Need to rename it Weastwood now
😂
Westwood is where the 405 traffic starts. So yeah. Westwood is essentially Westworld
I'd consider it westside. The 405 isn't a hard cut off. Fox hills, ladera heights, Inglewood, majority of Culver City, palms, I'd say are westside.
This is just my opinion. Everybody has one. There's no textbook definition.
Yeah. I also consider palms and Culver City the westside
Westside Pavilion isn’t/wasn’t on the west side?
Eh I consider Cheviot Hills the Westside
Palms here, same. We’re westside.
Hmm no, Westside goes further east than that IMO.
I second this. Anything east of the 405, I call by the neighborhood name (i.e. Miracle Mile, Hollywood, DTLA).
So that means that Lake Balboa, which is technically Van Nuys, is on the westside... Westside = parts of Van Nuys ;-)
If you can get to the beach in 10-15 mins, you're on the Westside.
Source: Angeleno born and raised.
I can get to Santa Monica in 15min from echo park if I leave before 10am on the weekend
You're the one zooming by me on the 10 freeway. 🚗🚓 I should have mentioned in 10-15 mins during rush hour.
I can do the same thing on a week day but coming from Santa Monica in the late mornings. I tell people this all the time but they don't believe me.
I like this.
Where a homie can love another homie and it ain't nothing but a G thang. Lil Rolo, Baby Stymie, Tweetie, Big Chonchis, Kruzer, and Phillip. ✌️
For me, anything west of Doheney is West Los Angeles
Same here, and I may have originally picked it up from an episode of You’re the Worst but it’s my truth now
The Entire Western Seaboard
I live near La Brea and Wilshire. My aunt is constantly calling it the Westside. I may have to resort to physical violence.
west of the 405 and south of sunset is what i’d be thinking
I’ve lived here for 30 years. West side used to always mean west of the 405. These days my personal mental boundary is Robertson but that’s just a me thing since I try my hardest to never go farther west than Robertson haha.
W of 405 N of LAX
Everything west of La brea ave
I always thought it was West of LaCienega.
The strange thing about LA is no one considers DTLA as a defining part of the area. If east LA is just east of DTLA then the west side must start just west of DTLA.
That erases a third, central area that’s neither west nor east.
DTLA became a place where people worked but generally didn't live around the 50s. Combine that with the massive expansion of the suburbs and you have that definition moving to other places and basically being spread out.
Cause LA is multipolar
Silver lake, Hollywood, all that are WEST side regardless of what people who live in Culver City or whatever think
Boyle Heights, east LA, etc are east side
DTLA is the divider. This is the way
All of that is central los angeles. Neither west side nor east side.
DTLA is the divider
In many cities, downtown would be the divider.
In Los Angeles, using downtown as the divider means 95% of the city's neighborhoods are on the Westside.
lol no
This is how I see it too! As someone who grew up closer to East L.A, I tend to avoid the west side “bubble” 😅
Not really. East of the 110 is East LA. Everything from there to Koreatown is essentially the east side. Hancock Park to Fairfax is Hollywood Fairfax to Robertson or La Cienega is West Hollywood. From there to Century City is Beverly Hills. Century City, is the start of the west side, unless you count Beverly Hills as the start of the west side which. It can be.
Finally someone that knows the truth!
The Eastsider paper covers neighborhoods like Silverlake, Echo Park etc. you can’t blame that on Culver City
This....
Anything west of the Harbor Freeway is West Side....anything east of Downtown is East LA...
It amazes me how many people misuse the phrase "East LA." East of downtown but within city limits is Eastside. East LA is unincorporated LA County.
But y'all knew that already, didn't you.
West of the 405!
To me the west side is after century city.
West of the 405. West Valley is west of 405 along the 101.
Locals have our westside and transplants have their stupid bubble which like anything east of Barrington is probably too far for them(I've literally heard this from the weirdos who never leave SM/Venice).
You'll never have a united consensus for that reason
Let’s not act like that attitude doesn’t go in the other direction too, there are bubbles everywhere
There’s West LA and then there’s westside/eastside. Technically DTLA should be the dividing line for the latter imo. But colloquially people seem to use various north-south major streets like La Cienega, Fairfax, La Brea.
Los Feliz and Silverlake residents get huffy at the suggestion that they’re not eastside.
well, you’re sorta forgetting Central LA, which is between La Cienega and the LA river. Los Feliz and Silverlake are in “central LA”, as is Hollywood, Koreatown, Mid City etc.
There’s West LA and then there’s westside/eastside.
I think you're the only one whom pointed this out and there is a distinction.
... a distinction almost no one makes. But it's an important one.
Anything past La Brea is a cultural Cleveland by the sea.
West of the 405, so even places like Torrance still count.
West side is everything from the coast to Century City.
When I hear someone say West LA/Westside I think WeHo, Santa Monica, Venice etc. In my experience unless you live in The Valley, most people seem to forget it even exists.
West of Mid-City, basically.
The other side of the Santa Monica Mountains. West LA etc.
I grew up in Cheviot Hills..a long time ago, that was always described as the West LA, is that now different than the “westside”?
I mean, Cheviot Hills is not part of the neighborhood called West Los Angeles, but I certainly consider it a Westside neighborhood.
I used to think west of the 405 too but its probably more like north of the 10 and west of La Cienega Blvd. + west of the 405 and north of LAX if you asked me today.
It means I don’t want to date you
i never realized that so many people consider the west side to be the west of the 405 only. apparently westwood isn’t the west side to them
I grew up in Venice, I now live three blocks east of the 405. I consider myself to live in east LA.
Anything west of the 405
I probably have a different concept of "West Side" than many people. I don't think it starts at the 405, I think it starts at Robertson or maybe a few blocks further east. The Times seems to agree with me.
But this brings up something I've been pondering for years. Is it just me, or is it absolutely bizarre that almost all Los Angeles neighborhoods are west of downtown?
My hometown (Cleveland) has an east side, west side and south side but no north side. But that makes sense. Downtown Cleveland sits just east of the confluence of Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River, and is a major Great Lakes shipping port . To me, it's understandable why downtown is right on the lake.
It's not as clear to me why downtown Los Angeles sits so close to the eastern border of the city. There are only a handful of East Side suburbs (El Sereno, University Hills/CSULA, Glassell Park, Echo Park, Boyle Heights, Hermon, and a few others whose names escape me at the moment). "Central Los Angeles" is a neighborhood that is, what, 10-15 minutes west of downtown on surface streets? I don't understand why.
Downtown was originally designed to be in Century city
310 area code, so pretty much west of La Cienega.
The Westside (west of the 405) and West LA (including around West Hollywood and Beverly Hills) are different just as the Eastside and East LA are different. I grew up in West LA but not the Westside.
I always considered Western to be the demarcation line where the West Side started. That being said, that's just my own personal definition and not based on anything beyond that.
West of La Cienega, South of Mulholland Drive/Malibu, North of LAX.
West Valley does not count.
The actual answer is west of La Cienega, but for me it actually is west of western (I know you were joking and so am I… partially)
Unless it’s for work or a social obligation I never willingly go west of western.
West of the 405 colloquially, west of the 110 technically.
Driving on the 10 heading west, just past Robertson is where the temperature all of a sudden drops and you can feel the air change. Welcome to the Westside
I'm an LA native and west of LA Cienega was always the dividing line for me.
West
West of the river
I consider the Westside, the part of Los Angeles west of the 405 and east of Santa Monica/Venice. And maybe a little south and north of Westwood/UCLA, north of the 10. Anything beyond that is clearly not westside.
Beverly Hills, Westwood and Century City are clearly the westside.
I consider BH, Ww, CC, their own area. When I go to those parts of town, I say I am going to BH, Ww, CC, explicitly, not the west side.
When I go to Brentwood and the Palisades I consider them to be their own area. If I am going there I say I am going to Brentwood or the Palisades not the westside.
I consider Brentwood, Brentwood, and Palisades, Palisades too.
Why “clearly”?
I’m a transplant, but the west side/West LA to me as well as to my partner, who’s a native Angeleno and my extended family who are from LA, has always meant west of the 405.
The east side has always referred to east of DTLA or east of the LA River (no matter how many fellow transplants try to make it happen, the east side is NOT Silver Lake/Echo Park/Los Feliz)
The person who said West of the 101 is on drugs or trying to make you have apoplexy — it’s West of the 405, always has been.
I'm born and raised in East LA. Everyone I know including myself considered anything west of dtla IE. the 101 the west side and anything east of the river east LA.
It's all perspective. DTLA for anyone that lives in the Eastside is our focal point whereas if you're further west the beach or mid City,UCLA etc are your focal points so your perspective of west and east are changed.
I cringe when people say they live in East LA and it's Hollywood or silverlake lol like what?
Thank you my brother in Christ! Silverlake , Echo Park and Hollywood are not East Los!
I lived in that area for awhile, near where the Original Tommys is....definitely not East LA...
I think even the gangs there have West Side, instead of East Side in their names....LOL
I think it's a class thing too. People don't want to consider that Koreatown, Hollywood, and other working class areas could possibly be part of their special west side club
No way. It starts further east.
West of the 405 is the only correct answer
West of the 405, North of the 90, South of the Getty, East of Malibu. Every other answer is wrong.
I prefer AWOL myself. (Always west of Lincoln)
A definition of the westside that doesn't include West Los Angeles, Westwood, Century City, and Cheviot Hills is just silly.
To me it’s always meant West of the 405. But you can make a case for Westwood and Culver City (which straddles both sides of the 405). Century City, Beverly Hills and WeHo are not on the Westside, nor is anything else west of DTLA and east of the 405.
I'm from the valley so not an authority on the matter, but have always understood this (inclusion of Westwood and Culver City, but not Beverly hills) to be the definition.
The "Westside pavilion" was east of the 405.
I grew up on the west side. I still live there. The west side would be anything west of the 405.
Generally west of 405. Maybe 1-2 miles east depending on the neighborhood or at least a city within range of the oceans cooler temps.
Silver lake, LF are NELA
My doctor says West of LaBrea, my realtor says west of 405, my Venice friends say West of Lincoln, my Pasadena friends say West of Silverlake.
Woodland Hills is West Valley, but people on the other side of the hill don’t usually know that Valley-side it really is a 405 delineation. West of the 101 around Highland/Cahuenga is another delineation.
It’s arbitrary and mostly used by people chasing clout or a notion of exclusivity, or practical purposes for figuring out if you’re going to brave the commute.
Just wait until people try to explain Silicon Beach vs Del Rey vs Playa del Rey vs Playa Vista vs MDR or Ladera Heights vs Inglewood vs Leimert Park.
WTF is West of the 101 lol
I generally use it to mean west of La Brea
West of the 405. Anyone who thinks Hollywood is Westside must be new to LA.
Only the sliver of WeHo west of La Cienega.
Either new, or so tribalistic that they need to act like everything west of them is "westside".
True. I have a friend that calls Silverlake and Los Feliz Westside because she is familiar with the Eastside. However, she is also a transplant despite being here 28 years. No one from LA would call that Westside.
West of LaBrea but I don’t cross Western if I can help it
West side is definitely west of the 405, maybe including Westwood and Century City. Not BH.
West of La Cienega is the “real” definition but colloquially most people mean west of the 405
Says who? 40 years in this city and have never heard of La Cienga as a demarcation line.
The LA Times
Great! Please hook me up with the citation
you can literally just Google this. i believe in you.
I don't prove other people's assertions. I don't expect others to research my assertions. If I say it, I back it up.
I’m not expecting you to “research my assertion”, im expecting you to be able to type 5 keywords into google. If you were actually interested in finding the answer to this question you would have already done so.
Potato Potato
West of the 405, north of LAX, south of Mulholland
“West Side!” Means you are white, and probably drunk at a house party. The year is 2005.
“I’m headed to the west side” means you’re about to depart from the comfort of the valley, sit in traffic on the 405 for an hour, to arrive somewhere in West Los Angeles.
To transplants it means Santa Monica and venice lol
Anything West of the 110 Freeway. I’ve always considered “Westside”. Lived in Los Angeles all my life.
Do you agree with the Westside West/L.A. difference? That's what it comes down to for me. These are two different things and people are getting them confused.
What the Hell is Westside West?
Wack city. Extremely uptight liberals. Bad food.
No White Lighters.
Grew up in LA-I agree west side is west of the 405. I also remember west of La Brea as being next “big go to” boundary.
west of the 405 but over the hill so not anyplace is the valley.
I always think it depends on what you consider the center. If you’re Hollywood centric, Silverlake is East Side, WeHo and west is Westside. If you’re from the Westside, the 405 is the border. Obviously Downtown LA centric, moves the line east
Fairfax. West of that I get the heebie jeebies. It's not a sexual orientation thing, it's a phony attitude thing. 30 year ago I moved from Fountain and Crescent Heights to East Hollywood. Never looked back
It’s a story.
Like from Ice Cube POV??
Being that I live in downtown LA the “west side” to me means that I’m swiping left
santa monica
West of the Strand
West of La Brea, West of La Cienega
lol Hollywood is not the westside
West of Fairfax
West of La Cienega
West of the 405. That’s not debatable
obviously, it's very debatable, we're all debating it
All of Cali is westside eastside is New York.
I know Reddit search stinks, but please use the search function. This gets asked all the time.
Just ignore it , every question gets asked 1000 times, I’ve seen “I’m coming to La what should I do “ 49900 times. Possibly the people who answered that 4 years ago now have new things to add ?
Ikr, it’s an ask sub…
Wouldn’t it have been easier to ignore this post and scroll past than take the time to start a grumbling thread?
The Westside according to the LA Times mapping project.
Further discussion here.