The Westside, sandwiched between Hollywood and the city's coastal communities, includes some of Los Angeles's most prestigious neighborhoods, virtually all with names you're sure to recognize:
Beverly Hills Politically distinct from the rest of Los Angeles, this famous enclave is best known for its palm tree-lined streets of palatial homes, famous residents (Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening) and high-priced shops. But it's not all glitz and glamour; the healthy mix of filthy rich, wannabes, and tourists that peoples downtown Beverly Hills creates a unique -- and often snobby-surreal -- atmosphere.
West Hollywood is a key-shaped community whose epicenter is the intersection of Santa Monica and La Cienega boulevards. Nestled between Beverly Hills and Hollywood, this politically independent -- and blissfully fast-food free -- town is home to some of the area's best restaurants, clubs, shops, and art galleries. WeHo, as it's come to be known, is also the center of L.A.'s gay community -- you'll know you've arrived when you see the billboards. Encompassing about 2 square miles, it's a pedestrian-friendly place with plenty of metered parking. Highlights include the 1 1/2 miles of Sunset Boulevard known as Sunset Strip, the chic Sunset Plaza retail strip, and the liveliest stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard.
Bel Air and Holmby Hills, located in the hills north of Westwood and west of Beverly Hills, are old-money residential areas featured prominently on most maps to the stars' homes. Among its famous residents are Ron and Nancy Reagan.
Brentwood is best known as the famous backdrop to the O. J. Simpson melodrama. If Starbucks ever designed a neighborhood, this is what it would look like -- a quiet, relatively upscale mix of homes, restaurants, and strip malls. The Getty Center looms over Brentwood from its hilltop perch next to I-405.
Westwood, an urban village founded in 1929 and home to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), used to be a hot destination for a night on the town, but lost much of its appeal in the past decade due to overcrowding and even some minor street violence. Although Westwood is unlikely to regain its old charm, the vibrant new culinary scene has brought new life to the village. Combined with the high concentration of movie theaters, it's now the premiere L.A. destination for dinner and a flick.
Century City is a compact, busy, and rather bland high-rise area sandwiched between West Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. It was once the back lot of 20th Century Fox studios. The primary draws here are the Shubert Theatre and the Century City Marketplace, a pleasant (though ugly) open-air mall. Century City's three main thoroughfares are Century Park East, Avenue of the Stars, and Century Park West.
West Los Angeles is a label that generally applies to everything that isn't one of the other Westside neighborhoods. It's basically the area south of Santa Monica Boulevard, north of Venice Boulevard, east of Santa Monica and Venice, and west and south of Century City.
