I currently live and bike commute in NYC, but I may be moving to LA soon for work. I know LA is not the friendliest place for bikes, but either is NYC, and I ride here every day. I am curious if anyone has lived both places and could offer a comparison. I would also be interested to know what it is like to not have a car in LA. Thanks.

Do you know where you're moving to, or where you'll be working at? It really depends on that.

I probably have one of the best commutes on this board but it's a pretty rare to experience that in L.A.

No, not yet, its not for a specific job at the moment.

LA = best bicycle weather in the world
NYC = weather is ok but highly variable
LA = good and bad routes, good and bad drivers
NYC = good and bad routes, good and bad drivers
LA = suburban sprawl that spans 100+ miles in all directions
NYC = contained on an island

Conclusion = LA better provided that you live within 10 miles of work

Well, contained on three islands and also the mainland. With a limited number of bridges connecting them all, some of which are suitable for bike commuting and some of which are not. It does get a bit complicated (although my Queens-to-Manhattan commute is pretty easy).

Just had to make that one little correction up there. I had a car when I lived out there, so I can't tell you what it's like being carless in LA. But if you can manage to live and work somewhere on the west side of LA (or the 405 for that matter), then you should be able to get by just fine. For a while I lived in Venice and worked in Santa Monica--if I'd been biking then I would've been much better off. Not to mention you can actually see BLUE sky from there if you look in the right direction.

Thanks for all the replies. The great weather will definitely be a plus. Sounds like its a mixed bag, just like new york.

Just remember that we're talking about 456 square miles, most of which is geared towards freeway driving with no real (easy) public transportation system in place.

It takes many people years to actually get some idea of the size. In my experience getting around here is completely different from NYC.

Depending on the location of your job and your salary, living close to work may be incredibly expensive. OTOH, if your job is in a rough part of town, you probably won't want to live close.


LA is highly variable. To be clear, saying "LA" can mean a lot of different places from truly downtown LA to Sanbernardino to Santa Monica to Irvine. All of these places are different, with many different areas in between. You can be riding next to 2 million dollar homes one minute, then 3 miles down the road you are in the midst of poverty (where the houses only cost $450K ). There are many areas in LA that I would not want to ride a bike through.