7.6 out of 10

Century City

Ranked 18th best neighborhood in Los Angeles
34.0543438165154 -118.417316877922
Great for
  • Internet Access
  • Public Transport
  • Pest Free
  • Childcare
  • Gym & Fitness
Not great for
  • Parking
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Who lives here?
  • Singles
  • Professionals
  • Retirees
  • Families with kids
  • Trendy & Stylish

Reviews

5/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 4/5
  • Safe & Sound 4/5
  • Clean & Green 3/5
  • Pest Free 5/5
  • Peace & Quiet 3/5
  • Eating Out 5/5
  • Nightlife 4/5
  • Parks & Recreation 4/5
  • Shopping Options 5/5
  • Gym & Fitness 5/5
  • Internet Access 5/5
  • Lack of Traffic 1/5
  • Parking 2/5
  • Cost of Living 5/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 5/5
  • Public Transport 5/5
  • Schools 5/5
  • Childcare 5/5
2yrs+

"Walk to work in Century City"

The Best City within the City of Los Angeles is not downtown. It’s Century City. The obvious fact is that it is a truly planned and well-designed community. The land area was sold from 20th Century Fox studio and developed by Alcoa. Built to the most modern Earthquake standards it became the City built with a plan.
This is the urban lifestyle. The fact that anyone can go to the mountains or to the beach is great for all people living in LA. But walking to work and being one of the few fortunate people to live there is a savings of years of hours of driving. It makes sense to the people who live there with the skyline of a beautiful city. Think of this; compare trying to live near downtown LA. We have one of the most unique things of all, a great City providing a community of workplace with valuable properties surrounding it.
I have friends who live there. The dwellings are fantastic, valuable for resale and slow turnover. Neighbors do know each other, they have lived there for a long time.
Pros
  • Walk to work
  • State of the art city
  • Plenty of money in the city for the city
Cons
  • Expensive homes
  • Traffic
  • Very commercial
4/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 4/5
  • Safe & Sound 3/5
  • Clean & Green 3/5
  • Pest Free 5/5
  • Peace & Quiet 2/5
  • Eating Out 5/5
  • Nightlife 5/5
  • Parks & Recreation 3/5
  • Shopping Options 5/5
  • Gym & Fitness 4/5
  • Internet Access 5/5
  • Lack of Traffic 2/5
  • Parking 2/5
  • Cost of Living 2/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 4/5
  • Public Transport 4/5
  • Medical Facilities 4/5
  • Schools 4/5
  • Childcare 4/5
2yrs+

"Westside's Financial Engine"

Most people don’t really think of Century City so much as a place to live than as a place to go to shop or see movies. The Century City Malls are fantastic and packed whenever the holidays roll around. The movie theaters are great as well with the Century City Theater being a huge seven story screened giant perfect for seeing epic movies of the kind Hollywood specialized in making during the post war period. I saw Lawrence of Arabia here when it was reissued about twenty years ago and now can never bear to watch it on the small screen again. (Some movies really are mean for the BIG screen.)

In the shadow of the downtown commercial high rises, however, there are slightly sloping streets with smaller older homes, with well-trimmed lawns and quaint decorations. Demographics show that many of the residents of this area have been here quite a while and you can see it in their wind chimes and idiosyncratic ranch homes. These are relatively quite streets where people spend their afternoons tending their gardens and enjoying the retired life.

There is also a fair number of newer residents here—many from Iran and some from other places like Canada. Overall the mix makes for good quite neighborhoods on the western end that resemble West LA.

On the middle and eastern end of Century City, however, you will mostly find office buildings, hotels and stores. This is a busy, bustling commercial center. It is also home to Twentieth Century Fox film studios.
Pros
  • Strong Financial District
  • Good Restaurants
  • The mall
Cons
  • Few Residential Spaces
  • Very Busy
  • Traffic
Recommended for
  • Singles
  • Retirees
  • Trendy & Stylish
3/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 3/5
  • Safe & Sound 3/5
  • Clean & Green 3/5
  • Pest Free 3/5
  • Peace & Quiet 3/5
  • Eating Out 5/5
  • Nightlife 5/5
  • Parks & Recreation 1/5
  • Shopping Options 5/5
  • Gym & Fitness 4/5
  • Internet Access 4/5
  • Lack of Traffic 3/5
  • Cost of Living 2/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 3/5
  • Public Transport 2/5
  • Medical Facilities 4/5
  • Schools 1/5
2yrs+

"A good place to work or party or visit, not to live"

Century City is not really a city. It is a mainly commercial area developed just west of Beverly Hills. It used to be one of 20th Century Fox’s backlots. In 1961, the studio sold the parcel, which is only 180 acres, to a developer who eventually built a number of high rises, including office space, a shopping mall, the Century City Plaza Hotel and the ABC Entertainment Center. These were some of LA’s first “skyscrapers.”

The ABC Entertainment Center contained ABC’s television network operations. It also boasted the Schubert Theater, which, despite its unfriendly seating, was the place to see many performances from the late 1970’s until its demolition in 2002. The space is now occupied by a new glass building where the famous Creative Artists Agency calls home.

The shopping mall in Century City opened to the public in 1964. At the time, it was small and the only major retailer was the Broadway. It has been renovated several times, each time bringing more space and more choices, including a Bullock’s and a market (the “Marketplace”) instead of a food court. The AMC movie complex added in 1987 contained 14 theaters, making it one of the largest in the country. This was probably the high point for the mall. As department stores went under in the 1990’s, Broadway and Bullock’s were both casualties. Bought by the Westfield Group in 2002, the mall was redone once again, and has acquired more trendy and expensive shops. The current name is the Westfield Century City, and it is still a very popular place to shop for residents of surrounding areas.

The people who live in Century City live in condominiums or apartments. There are no single homes.

According to the LA Department of City Planning estimates in 2008, there are just under 6000 people living in Century City, less than 700 of them being school age.

While Century City is part of the LA Unified School District, there are no schools within the area. High School students used to go to Hamilton High School to the south; they now go to University High School to the West. Century City is immediately adjacent to Beverly Hills and residents facing east can Beverly Hills High School out the window. However, BHHS generally does not allow Century City residents to attend.

During the day there are almost 50,000 people working in Century City. The office space is consider prime and is used by a wide range of businesses.

The hotel, still called the Century Plaza Hotel, it is now a Hyatt Regency, although it changed hands in 2008. The new owners were prevented from demolishing it since it is now on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of the most endangered historic places in America. After a million dollar renovation of the guest rooms, as well as areas for business meetings and parties, the hotel markets itself as a luxury destination with an award-winning restaurant and popular bar. Because of its location, the Century Plaza Hotel is a good base to explore all of Los Angeles.
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Singles
3/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 3/5
  • Safe & Sound 3/5
  • Clean & Green 3/5
  • Peace & Quiet 2/5
  • Eating Out 2/5
  • Nightlife 1/5
  • Shopping Options 4/5
  • Gym & Fitness 4/5
  • Lack of Traffic 2/5
  • Cost of Living 3/5
2yrs+

"More of a commercial area"

I wouldn't really consider Century City as a place to live or hang out. I know that there are residential spots within Century City; but, if you really wanted to live in this area, I would say Westwood is the better bet. Century City isn't by the beach, it isn't by any parks, it isn't really by anything except for traffic and big buildings. Century City is also, unfortunately, right in the midst of where a lot of big streets all come together: Santa Monica Blvd, Pico, Olympic, Beverly Glen. So, this area is always really congested -- especially at Wilshire.
As far as I know, Century City has always been the home of business offices associated with entertainment. It used to be the backyard of Fox Studios and now CAA has their mothership right in the heart of it (hilariously referred to as The Death Star). There are a lot of "skyscrapers" here and they are filled with mostly law firms, entertainment law firms, entertainment management companies, etc.
The one shining star about Century City is the mall. It's probably my favorite mall in Los Angeles. It doesn't have the best shops by any stretch of the imagination, but it's outdoor and it just has a good energy to it. The movie theatre in the mall is pretty spectacular, too, though it's always crowded. It is really nice to go mill about outdoors, catch a movie and then a drink at Houston's while you're waiting for the traffic to die down. But, honestly, that mall is the only reason I ever go to the Century.
Pros
  • The mall
Cons
  • Very commercial
  • Traffic

Travelling to Century City?

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