Neighborhood surrounding USC in LA

[Anonymous]

Is it as dangerous as i have heard?

[Anonymous]

I’ve lived in Los Angeles for menu years (decades). The area around USC has completely gentrified. So has downtown to some degree which is nearby but far enough away.

The kids know how to navigate it safely and well visit it and you will see what I mean. I would not be concerned.

UCLA is in an extraordinarily upscale neighborhood. People oftentimes compare the two schools and it’s not a fair comparison because UCLA is in such a nice neighborhood that it’s an outlier.

[Anonymous]

Yes! I'm an alum and can tell you from first-hand experience that it's very rough. With that said, the school has a great security team.

[Anonymous]

No

[Anonymous]

Not sure if you live in the DMV, but to try to give you an analogy:

I would say USC is located in the equivalent of like Gallaudet or Catholic University in the district. Downtown LA has gentrified quite a bit and is now a fairly lively place vs. it used to kind of be a ghost town 20 years ago. USC is not directly adjacent to downtown LA...there are some rough areas in between and you want to have good street smarts.

I would say UCLA is located in the equivalent of Bethesda. Westwood is a nice area and UMC. Now, directly north of UCLA (like it starts across the street from UCLA at the end of campus) is Bel Air which of course is an incredibly high end area of $20MM+ homes, but it is residential with private estates...students are not venturing into the area unless they snag an invite to the Playboy Mansion (is it even still the Playboy Mansion?) which I think is within a 1/2 mile of UCLA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived in Los Angeles for menu years (decades). The area around USC has completely gentrified. So has downtown to some degree which is nearby but far enough away.

The kids know how to navigate it safely and well visit it and you will see what I mean. I would not be concerned.

UCLA is in an extraordinarily upscale neighborhood. People oftentimes compare the two schools and it’s not a fair comparison because UCLA is in such a nice neighborhood that it’s an outlier.

It’s true that UCLA is near some very expensive residential neighborhoods but Westwood village (the shopping area) is at least one third empty buildings and Westwood boulevard south of Wilshire is sketchy. Like all of Los Angeles, there are a lot of homeless, some of whom are aggressive. Having visited both this summer, I think USC actually feels safer because it’s campus is more compact and therefore easier to keep non students out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived in Los Angeles for menu years (decades). The area around USC has completely gentrified. So has downtown to some degree which is nearby but far enough away.

The kids know how to navigate it safely and well visit it and you will see what I mean. I would not be concerned.

UCLA is in an extraordinarily upscale neighborhood. People oftentimes compare the two schools and it’s not a fair comparison because UCLA is in such a nice neighborhood that it’s an outlier.

It’s true that UCLA is near some very expensive residential neighborhoods but Westwood village (the shopping area) is at least one third empty buildings and Westwood boulevard south of Wilshire is sketchy. Like all of Los Angeles, there are a lot of homeless, some of whom are aggressive. Having visited both this summer, I think USC actually feels safer because it’s campus is more compact and therefore easier to keep non students out.

Wanted to add that I lived in Westwood for a few years, not basing the above solely on a recent visit.

[Anonymous]

Many users here are clearly not basing their responses on facts. Please check the stats for yourself via USC's own site: https://dps.usc.edu/alerts/log/

The 60-day log shows a high number of incidents (158 pages worth). And, keep in mind, this list is not all inclusive -- LAPD has additional crime stats. Highly recommend that you check with the local LAPD Community Liaison for a full picture.

USC is a fine school but the surrounding area is absolutely not fully gentrified and has suffered greatly as homeless numbers in the region spiked.

[Anonymous]

Having grown up right next to UCLA and attended both for undergrad and grad I agree with the other PP's that it is better but still in a rough part of town. The 110 corridor from the 10 to the 105 runs right through some of the roughest parts of town, they don't call it University of South Central for nothing. As a PP said security is very good and I wouldn't think twice about it if my kid was there and had a little common sense and street smarts. Oh and for the record the Playboy Mansion is in Holmby Hills not Bel Air.

[Anonymous]

There has been a little bit of gentrification around USC (one residential/retail complex went up that provides some off-campus student housing), but there's a reason USC is fully gated with a security perimeter. They are mostly trying to keep the neighbors out (especially from on-campus parties, where there have historically been problems).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having grown up right next to UCLA and attended both for undergrad and grad I agree with the other PP's that it is better but still in a rough part of town. The 110 corridor from the 10 to the 105 runs right through some of the roughest parts of town, they don't call it University of South Central for nothing. As a PP said security is very good and I wouldn't think twice about it if my kid was there and had a little common sense and street smarts. Oh and for the record the Playboy Mansion is in Holmby Hills not Bel Air.

Westwood is not a rough part of town...that is really a silly characterization. SFHs are worth $2MM+ just in Westwood proper for a basic house...obviously much more in Holmby Hills and Bel Air.

[Anonymous]

All I know is that any packages I send to my kid, will be routed for a pickup - they will not leave packages at the doorstep if not home

[Anonymous]

It is rough. My neighbors daughter goes there and lives one block off campus. Her house was broken into twice, a neighbor had a car stolen from their driveway, her phone was stole from a lecture hall she was studying in (surrounded by other students) when she got up to talk to someone. It’s much less safe than other city school like ucla,nyu, fordham, bu, tufts etc. it would not deter me from attending though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having grown up right next to UCLA and attended both for undergrad and grad I agree with the other PP's that it is better but still in a rough part of town. The 110 corridor from the 10 to the 105 runs right through some of the roughest parts of town, they don't call it University of South Central for nothing. As a PP said security is very good and I wouldn't think twice about it if my kid was there and had a little common sense and street smarts. Oh and for the record the Playboy Mansion is in Holmby Hills not Bel Air.

Westwood is not a rough part of town...that is really a silly characterization. SFHs are worth $2MM+ just in Westwood proper for a basic house...obviously much more in Holmby Hills and Bel Air.

The residential areas east, west, and north of campus are very nice once you get past student housing. The commercial areas south of campus, not so nice. Westwood village is a ghost town and it just gets worse the further south you go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having grown up right next to UCLA and attended both for undergrad and grad I agree with the other PP's that it is better but still in a rough part of town. The 110 corridor from the 10 to the 105 runs right through some of the roughest parts of town, they don't call it University of South Central for nothing. As a PP said security is very good and I wouldn't think twice about it if my kid was there and had a little common sense and street smarts. Oh and for the record the Playboy Mansion is in Holmby Hills not Bel Air.

Westwood is not a rough part of town...that is really a silly characterization. SFHs are worth $2MM+ just in Westwood proper for a basic house...obviously much more in Holmby Hills and Bel Air.

I didn't say UCLAwas in a rough part of town. I was referring to the subject...USC. UCLA is not in the 110 corridor nor is it referred to as University of South Central. 🙄