I know the area. Actually one of my buds moved into one of those lofts on Broadway and 10th LOL.
Look, for a single dude, you can hit the bars at night..only if you go in packs. And there’s a reason why single white women always have attack dogs with them: to fend off the homeless blacks that come out at night after 10 PM. Heck, even the jews in that area near pershing square warn me that this it becomes a ghost town at night. When you are 6 blocks away from Skid Row, anything can happen. Then again, I;ve been to the dive bars around the area and the parking is a rip off. So the lesson is don’t go walking alone at night unless you own a pit bull or Rottie. I will admit, it’s a hip place during the day,,during the day.
I saw beautiful views, very few homeless, good number of decent restaurants/bars open at night. It's funny how the low-scale places like McDonald's and El Pollo Loco close immediately at 5 or 6, but the high end Bistros and Cafes stay open till two.
I ended up moving out because I couldn't get anyone to come visit. Everyone I know lives in a suburb where you don't have to park to visit a friend. That's not the case in downtown L.A.
The only shots I heard fired were for an episode of Boston Legal.