an1940

I'm at Mariposa and 4th, and I walk on Mariposa between 3rd and Wilshire constantly, day and night. The block is always interesting: there's always kids running around causing trouble, people smoking weed on the stoops, broken furniture and TVs on the curb, in the middle of tons of quaint 1940s buildings, food trucks, and really scenic views of DTLA and K-town.

I live on the 4th floor, and I have a view of downtown LA from the window of my 900 sq. ft. apartment, which is gorgeous with exposed brick and hardwood, for $1170/month, utilities included. The building is mostly Latino singles and families, with a cool hipster population attracted for the price.

I love this street because it feels urban, gritty and real -- it's not whitewashed like Culver City (where I used to live) or West LA. I don't ever feel unsafe living on this block -- there's always kids, families, and people on the street. But it often feels like the hood -- for instance, if you walk up to 3rd street and then walk over to Vermont, you're going to pass strip clubs, cash for gold joints, dollar stores, smoke shops, etc. If you can't hang, then don't live here. But there's a really interesting creative class of folks who work in animation, music, film, TV that live in this neighborhood, ride on buses / trains, and love it.

Another reviewer was talking about being freaked out by 2nd and Mariposa... well... all of Koreatown gets really sketchy north of 3rd. Like Vermont / Santa Monica or Vermont / Beverly train stops? Sketchy. East of Vermont towards Macarthur Park? Sketchy. Just pay attention to context and the neighborhood is fine.