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I live a mile and a half from the boulevard and have to say that it's getting nicer all the time. The new in-migration in the city is westsiders moving to the valley, where you get a lot more house for your three-quarters of a million dollars. As a consequence, a number of very good restaurants have opened and the shops are getting more upscale as well. Some very cool bars are turning up, too, although I generally prefer the English pub I can walk to. There are sections--Studio City and Sherman Oaks (my neck of the woods) that actually have an active sidewalk life nights and weekends.

Fortunately, I bought my house four years ago. I'd never be able to afford my neighborhood now.

it's getting nicer all the time

Ditto that. The envy is just dripping from the non-locals. What the article doesn't mention, and is rarely remarked by many, is that traditionally 'nice' areas are going through tremendous upgrades.

Places like Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, etc just 10 yrs ago where very nice communities. However, in the last decade, the building activity, civic improvements and overall wealth increase have almost made them almost unrecognizable (for the better).

The truth is, LA has always been the leading edge. It foretells the future of the country: a segmented society, with the middle class squeezed out into the hinterland while the rich and working poor (illegals) remain in the cities.

The best thing going for LA is the limited number of freeway underpasses separating these two communities: the west/east 405 and south 101/north 10. The middle-ages had walls - now we have huge raised transportation corridors.

I've long considered Studio City to have more in common with BH than with places like Van Nuys and Chatsworth. Very nice, oak studded hills with funky, non-look-alike homes. And only an easy pop over the hills of BH is what you're after ...