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With average gas prices topping $6 in Los Angeles, it can be painful to watch your fuel gauge creep toward “E” during a day out around town. It’s time to stop the car and walk. And where better to do that than in the most walkable city in California?
For more than a decade, West Hollywood has been designated a “Walker’s Paradise” by Walk Score, earning a 91 out of 100 on the popular walkability index that looks at distance to amenities, pedestrian friendliness, population density and road metrics. The small city within a city scores two points above the state’s second most walkable city, San Francisco. It’s also a full 22 points above Los Angeles, which has a middling score of 69.
There’s an unofficial saying: “So goes WeHo, so goes California, so goes the nation.”
But you don’t need a formula to know that West Hollywood’s well-maintained sidewalks dotted with cafes, shops and historic sites is a great place for walking. Take a stroll around the city and you can find out for yourself.
That’s what I did on a recent Friday afternoon, where I met locals like Kimberly Beauchaine out in the neighborhood — yes — walking. “We really don’t use our car here,” Beauchaine said, pushing her 18-month old in a stroller past the Pacific Design Center on Melrose Avenue. “It’s very walkable and very central.”
While West Hollywood is easy to navigate on foot, getting there without a car can be a challenge. The closest Metro stop is along the just-opened D-line on Wilshire Boulevard, a two-mile hike from the West Hollywood border. Fortunately, West Hollywood has ample public parking. I found a spot in a public lot on North San Vicente Boulevard, where I paid $12 for the whole day.
The hardest part about planning a fun day in West Hollywood might be choosing a place to start. According to Walk Score, there are about 339 restaurants, bars and coffee shops in the city and you can walk to an average of 13 of them in five minutes.
I asked Eric Parker, director of PR and communications for Visit West Hollywood, why there’s such an abundance of spots to eat and drink in the tiny city. He explained that West Hollywood serves not just residents who live within its borders but also the many folks who live in the residential neighborhood of the Hollywood Hills.
“They need a place to live their lives too,” he said. “Beverly Hills has become a little jam-packed with tourists, so West Hollywood has become the heart of L.A. in many ways.”
My journey began at the Butcher’s Daughter on Melrose Avenue, a cheerful and bright plant-forward cafe a few blocks from where I parked my car. The croissant I ordered was fine, but the atmosphere was lovely — open and airy with a communal wood table inside and green-and-white bistro chairs outside. Pedestrians of all ages strolled by on the wide, flat sidewalks, many with small dogs in tow. Trees along the street offered dappled shade, and there were several other cute restaurants nearby, many with outdoor spaces of their own.
Moving on from the Butcher’s Daughter I headed one block east to the corner of Melrose and San Vicente to take in the rolling lawns and massive green, red and blue glass buildings of the 14-acre Pacific Design Center, which first opened to the public in 1975 and currently houses nearly 100 showrooms. Across the street on San Vicente, I strolled past the excellent West Hollywood Library, the luxurious rooftop West Hollywood Public Pool, and the green expanse of West Hollywood Park, where young children were shrieking on the playground.
The vibe shifted as I continued north toward Santa Monica Boulevard. Here, the city’s identity as a gay haven is in full view. The crosswalks are painted with stripes and triangles celebrating the full range of queer identity, and although the many colorful bars were quiet on this early Friday afternoon, it was easy to imagine them filled with revelers after the sun set. On the weekends, a free bus runs down this street every 15 minutes, connecting the Troubadour to Formosa Cafe. The area felt fun and funky, but I was only passing through, determined to get to my next destination.
To be fair, walking in West Hollywood is not ideal for everyone. After having lived in Boston, New York and Santa Monica, Sean Patrick Doherty points out that the hills are real.
“It’s walkable if you are walking east to west,” said Doherty, who has lived in the city for two years. “If you have to venture north or south, you are destined to hit inclines that are not for every able body.”
At the same time, daily conveniences are generally within easy walking distance for many residents. “Most people in West Hollywood can walk to the gym, the grocery store and the laundromat,” he said. “There are enough things on each street that cater to your needs.”
Parker describes West Hollywood as a place where history is hidden in plain sight. I certainly felt that as I passed onto the quiet, shaded streets of Norma Triangle, a historic neighborhood in West Hollywood where Dorothy Parker and Christopher Isherwood once lived. The sidewalks here are more narrow but well maintained, and the streets are filled with locals walking dogs of all sizes. The homes and apartment buildings, many of which date to the mid-20th century, are beautifully landscaped and clearly tended to with care, but I was searching for one in particular — the Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, designed in 1927 by Frank Lloyd Wright’s eldest son, who also worked as an architect.
Join a walking group, visit a new neighborhood and feel the ground beneath your feet.
The house was not a disappointment. It’s not open to the public, so I was only able to see the exterior, but it was worth it. The desert landscaping on the corner lot is on point, and the building itself, a two-story space that makes use of the organic textile-block pattern popularized by Lloyd Wright’s father, has a unique interlocking design of stylized Joshua trees. I loved it. It’s also located in deep shade, which is very welcome on a hot day.
With that done, I made my way up to Sunset Boulevard, which is loud and unshaded and not nearly as pleasant a place to walk as some of West Hollywood’s more green and leafy streets. However, there are some cultural landmarks there that I felt should not be missed, along with a surge of oval-eyed delivery robots (seriously, so many). This is the famous Sunset Strip, where you’ll find the Roxy Theatre, the Whisky a Go Go and the Viper Room. All very cool, but this writer was most excited about getting to spend some time in Book Soup, the iconic bookstore with a real-life magazine stand outside that celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. Down a narrow alley right next door is the more esoteric Mystery Pier Books, which specializes in first editions and is beloved by celebrities.
I had ambitious plans to amble past more spots in West Hollywood. More than one friend suggested I go to Mamie on Santa Monica and Fairfax for Italian sandwiches (the focaccia is supposed to be amazing). I considered ending my day at the perfect patio at Chateau Marmont on the border of the Hollywood Hills. But, reader, I was tired, and walkability is not about exhausting yourself. It’s about enjoying your time car-free. So instead, I headed back toward where I started, walking past the high-end shops of Melrose Place before arriving at Zinque for a simple prosciutto and cornichon sandwich and an Arnold Palmer. At 4 p.m., a waiter came past my table to tell me happy hour had officially begun and asked if I’d like a drink.
There is more than one reason why it makes sense to live in a walkable community.
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