Puhlease, sir...tell me about Laurel Canyon CA.

and funky looking places like this go for $2 Million - which seems to be against all that it should stand for.

The surviving CIA reports on MKULTRA will tell you all you need to know. That and Mackenzie Phillips' autobiography.

It’s so adorable that you think you could afford to live there.

Ugh. What a nightmare to live on Laurel Canyon Blvd.. You can't leave your house during certain hours because the traffic is so bad going into West Hollywood or the other direction, going into Studio City.

Been there. Done that.

Santa Cruz has traffic as bad or worse than the LA freeway … even freaking two-lane residential streets come to a standstill.

Due to the nature of it being built on a sound, Seattle has worse road conditions than either LA or SF!

R5 I went to college there. Highway 17 into San Jose was exactly like Laurel Canyon is. 'Cept Laurel Canyon is 1 lane each direction.

Elon Musk needs to bore a tunnel under Laurel Canyon!

[quote]It’s so adorable that you think you could afford to live there.—Bless your heart ❤️

I don't want to live there. But I could afford to. IDIOT!

You don't want Laurel Canyon. You want Benedict Canyon.

I like the look of the Country Store.

It's been there 100 years!

elderly rockers play at the Country Store.

THAT I'd give a miss.

I love driving through the canyons, but living there seems...complicated

Sorry to keep going on about the Country Store...but this looks like what I love about LA. The colorful signs. The peaceful table in the garden outside. HEAVEN!

R13: it looks no different than the artwork of any other East Coast college town except for the absence of cripplingly cold winters.

r13 that is nothing but an overpriced liquor store with outrageous prices for the rich people that live in the canyon.

friends grew up in topanga canyon next-door and loved it

I drove up Laurel Canyon on a trip to LA, just to see what all the fuss is about.

It's deeply unimpressive from the street, a narrow, winding, road with no place to park (cars were on the sidewalks), and houses jammed together as if the inhabitants couldn't afford much real estate in the neighborhood where they want to live. I suppose it might have been cooler in the sixties, when it wasn't as built up, a place where rock stars who had money but weren't mega-wealthy could find a big of seclusion to hold parties in. But now, feh.

Wasn't Ricky Schroder and the trashy bimbo he left his wife and children behind for in Topanga Canyon when he was arrested?

r16 Topanga Canyon is waaaaaay out in the valley. Not near laurel canyon. It's out near calabasas inland from malibu.

[quote]I suppose it might have been cooler in the sixties, when it wasn't as built up, a place where rock stars who had money but weren't mega-wealthy could find a big of seclusion to hold parties in.

Mama Cass lived there. She was the centre of the rock pop scene.

[quote] Mama Cass lived there. She was the centre of the rock pop scene.

And then she died.

Mama Cass was the center of gravity!

What’s there to tell? You wanna get to Studio City or Sherman Oaks from West Hollywood, while avoiding the 101 N? Take the canyon.

Don’t take it during heavy rains, because you can get trapped in a fucked up situation. If the BIG ONE hits while you’re on it, during heavy commute times, you might also be fucked.

For locals, remember when that one house just collapsed? It literally fell on itself. One day it was there, and the next day, it was all rubble. I’ve never seen anything like it.

The little country store is nice, and the little restaurant is too. Also, great AA meeting in the little restaurant on Saturday mornings. Not sure if it’s still held there.

As already mentioned, horrendous traffic on Laurel Cyn, and during rainstorms, like the one we're having today, it becomes pointless to leave the house.

[quote][R13]: it looks no different than the artwork of any other East Coast college town except for the absence of cripplingly cold winters.

[quote][R13] that is nothing but an overpriced liquor store with outrageous prices for the rich people that live in the canyon.

Some of you are such downers sometimes. But I guess you could call it "keeping it real" - I can't decide.

[quote]As already mentioned, horrendous traffic on Laurel Cyn, and during rainstorms, like the one we're having today, it becomes pointless to leave the house.

Aren't you glad to have the rain? I thought you had a ten year drought.

Which canyon did the ladies live in?

r11 omg RIP weho jesus!!!

So true OP. One of the defining characteristics of LA - potentially beautiful oases but throughly entrapped by traffic and absence of walkability. If you have enough money, you can afford to live in an interesting place - but the oppressive environment ends up being isolating and stressful.

One could make the sacrifice - but the big issue right now is it has gotten soooo insanely expensive that the trade-offs are just not worth it. So the reality is more like a crappy condo in trashy, ugly Hollywood - which at least provides some element of walkability and public transport. But for the almost the same money, I’ll take NYC and it’s vibrant, historic, prettier and more functional streetscape.

r26 Living in that area is utter hell. We've all been through it. The nightlife is fun, but everything is just.... difficult. It's like 30 minutes to the nearest freeway because you drive 25 mph in Hollywood!

^r25

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R26, The drought ended early this year after several weeks of torrential downpour. I love the rain, but if you live in the Canyon, it becomes a nightmare to get down to Sunset.

People don't realized how junkie the houses are up there and above sunset plaza. It is a mishmash of new construction and small 60's teardowns that have that "prefab" construction. I was a professional dogwalker for a hot minute and I would walk around those neighborhoods and couldn't believe how unimpressive and rundown the houses were. Like everything in Hollywood, it's all a facade.

R27, Laurel Canyon is both the name of the main thoroughfare that stretches from the San Fernando Valley to West Hollywood, and the neighborhood up in the Hollywood Hills. I believe "Ladies of the Canyon" refers to the neighborhood of Laurel Canyon rather than the street.

The main arteries are Lookout Mountain Ave (where Joni lived), Wonderland Ave (where drug-related gangland murders took place), Kirkwood, Willow Glen, and Mount Olympus.

It was the heart of the music business in the 1970s.

Meh. It all started going to sh*t the minute Graham and I called it quits and moved out.

That's happened to me a lot. Whether it's men, music, or something else, it seems like it all goes to sh*t the minute I lose interest in it or move on in life.

I've been in Topanga's Canyon many times.

[quote]The main arteries are Lookout Mountain Ave (where Joni lived), Wonderland Ave (where drug-related gangland murders took place), Kirkwood, Willow Glen, and Mount Olympus.

I LOVE the names of the streets in Los Angeles.

Where's Hyperion?

R39, There is a Hyperion Avenue that marks the border between between Los Feliz and Silver Lake, and connects Atwater Village to East Hollywood and Little Armenia.

There is also the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey.

Thanks, R40.

Mama Cass wasn’t the center of the scene. Her boyfriend, Pic Dawson was the center. He was a massive drug dealer & his father was in the State Dept so there was never a fear that he’d be imprisoned. Voytek Frykowski wanted a piece of the drug dealing action & it cost him his life.

[quote] So true OP. One of the defining characteristics of LA - potentially beautiful oases but throughly entrapped by traffic and absence of walkability. If you have enough money, you can afford to live in an interesting place - but the oppressive environment ends up being isolating and stressful.

Except for everything being criminally overpriced, it's the opposite of what's wrong with NYC.

OP, are you a young girl?

There is a documentary on the Canyon on Netflix.

Jeff Stryker lives there.

Has anyone seen the Clint Eastwood movie BREEZY? It's quite a nice May-December romance where the main characters meet over a dog. Kay Lenz lives in a hippie commune and William Holden has this awesome 1970s house in the hills. What were the locations?

From Jim Morrison to Jennifer Aniston...

Breezy....

Breezy locations in Laurel Canyon.

I’m curious to hear more from LA residents about their experience. Just spent a week there and the traffic and crappy architecture and absence of decent, useful public transport made me loathe it.

I have been going for 25 years - but this time, it just seemed like a nice trip to the beach wasn’t worth the hassle of living there. It used to be a cheaper alternative with the ability to live in a nice house for the price of a NYC apartment. Now I just don’t see the appeal anymore.

It's a great movie starring Christian Bale and Frances McDormand.

My friend in West Hollywood says that I'm a conspiracy theorist because I read this book, with enthusiasm. I fell in love with Dave McGowan. He's long dead, but his storytelling is unmatched.

laurel canyon is a parking lot jammed with cars from 7 30 am to 9 30 am and from 300 pm to 6 30. I lived in the general area for 5 years and the trick was at Laurel and Mullholland to take mullholland east and go down on outpost drive which would cut out all the traffic. I was lucky tho as I worked in the valley but lived in LA and a much bigger chunk works in LA and lives in the Valley and traffic was always way worse going the other way. I also loved the laurel canyon general store. A big sur/topanga funky vibe.

PS.....Frykowski wasnt a drug dealer, He barely spoke english and lived every day of his life like it was his last. His girlfriend was abagail Folger of Folgers coffee fortune. She financed his drug buys. He just gave away anything drug wise he had that he wasnt using. Pic Dawson was a nothing loser. The reason Frykowski lost his life as well as sharon tate and the others was Charlie Manson hated anybody who had made it in the entertainment world as he failed. He had limited contact with success and he knew Terry Melchor. Terry Melchor rented sharons house after he vacated. Manson KNEW he wasnt there anymore. He had his losers hit that house because he knew the layout and he knew it was a tad isolated compared to most LA houses. It was the house they chose.............not the victims. They knew somebody successful lived there and it would make the front pages and Manson got even in a way in his fucked up head for a short period with all the people that had rejected him in his life. That is until he was caught and spent the rest of his life in the state pen. If you use your logic, why did Manson kill leo and rosemary la bianca the next night? Were they drug dealers too? They were middle aged and belonged to the California club. An old boys society private exclusive private club in LA founded in 1888. Believe me they dont let drug dealers in to this club. Rosemary was a successful business owner and made over 2 million dollars in a short time in the years before her death in futures trading and the stock market. Leno was second generation grocery store chain owner. Manson Knew their house too. Unfortunately. He had been next door before and knew their house was slightly isolated as well.

^^^ Don't go hijacking this thread, ya little piggie! I'm not fooling.

R54, what are your thoughts on this?

Beachwood seems like better value for money.

If you can't afford Laurel Canyon, there's always Canyon Country!

It is easy to see how dangerous it would be in a wildfire. Why pay $2,000,000 for the chance to burn to death?

Ask them how to get to laurel canyon

The great rock-jazz band Spirit wrote a song The Great Canyon Fire In General to commemorate one of the many fires in the canyons. It was probably in Topanga Canyon, since the group was living together in Topanga in the early years.

R57, Living in Beachwood Canyon:

Would you believe R56 is stoned?

So this girl Laurel has been fucked so many times they named a canyon after her? Good grief!

I lived in a guest house near Wonderland and Lookout Mountain for exactly one year because I couldn't wait to move out. The narrow streets and entitled, insane drivers causing constant delays. Daily school starts and dismissals, frequent tree trimming, rain, trees knocked down into the road - all reasons to block the streets. Laurel Canyon is practically a freeway option to the 405, gridlocked all day Saturday. It takes about 20 minutes or more to even get to a freeway from the valley side or the nightmarish Hollywood side.

Creepy people in the windows in the middle of the night. Hauntings are no joke. In addition to the Wonderland murders, there is seedy, shady criminal activity all day and night. Dead bodies are often found dumped on the side of the canyons since there is little police presence and few witnesses.

Corners are a bitch.

[quote]Creepy people in the windows in the middle of the night. Hauntings are no joke.

What? Tell us more please.

Mama Cass actually lived in a room in the basement of the Laurel Canyon Store

[quote] Some of you are such downers sometimes.

Bottle of gin in one hand, smartphone in the other, caftan, earrings, Edith Piaf on vinyl (such fidelity!) in the background, tears streaming down, then “Post” is clicked ....

What is it like to drive laurel canyon? Are there winding streets where there is no guard rail? Or is it those tiny streets that only accommodate one car at a time?

R70, Laurel Canyon is a wide, mostly two land road that winds through the Hollywood Hills. No guard rails.

When it reaches the San Fernando Valley at Studio City, it becomes a wide, congested boulevard that reaches all the way up to Sylmar in the northeast SFV.

Boy, you can see how DRY it was when that footage was shot, R71. NOT pretty.

It seems like it is always brown and dry in SoCal. Maybe a month or two reprieve. But I’m always grateful to come back east and see so much green.

R71 No sidewalks. No place to walk. It looks like people are confined to their homes unless they drive somewhere. I'd go nuts.

[quote][R71] No sidewalks. No place to walk. It looks like people are confined to their homes unless they drive somewhere. I'd go nuts.

Right and the driving in LA is very tense and aggressive. So HAVING to drive every time you go out is very unpleasant. NOT leisurely.

Here's another drive on Laurel Canyon, from Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood to Victory Blvd in North Hollywood. As you approach Studio City, you get wide boulevards and sidewalks.

Love its history and all those hills-

But-That place would be a virtual death trap in a flash fire.

(And those hilly roads would make me tinkle in my panties)

Back in the '70s I had a friend who lived off one of the side roads from Laurel Canyon Blvd., way up, almost at the top of the mountain. I used to stay there a couple of times a year, and believe me, I thought it was paradise in those days. Totally laid back, always sunny and relaxed. But I drove up there few years ago - my friend is long deceased - to see the house, and the traffic on the main road was terrifying. I don't think I would want to deal with that every day, even if I could afford it (which I definitely can't).

I’m with R74 / R75 - would be a horrible way of life - for me. I’d take 1BR apartment in a convenient walkable location.