LA is all about the neighborhood you live in. LA neighborhoods are basically self-contained cities. if you choose the right one, you don't need a car. e.g.: sa

LA is all about the neighborhood you live in. LA neighborhoods are basically self-contained cities. if you choose the right one, you don't need a car. e.g.: santa monica, venice, west hollywood, downtown, silverlake, dt culver city, dt pasadena, etc, etc, etc. these are dense urban areas with top notch city housing within walking distance (10 minutes) of everything. it's city-expensive but not like NY or SF (with exceptions, like santa monica). most people in LA commute clear across the entire county, which is why they need a car. most of these people are middle class, they could move if they wanted to, but they don't want to. today, with uber and other services, the only reason you would "need" a car in LA is to commute, unless you make terrible living choices. also the expo line (downtown-west side light rail) will be done in a year.