LA Valley Vacation

amother

Dodgerblue

Thu, Jan 31 2019, 10:56 pm

chagru wrote:

. Is it humid?

The Valley is high 90s to low 100s in the summer. It is not dry like the desert, but not humid like NY. The humidity levels are probably around 30-40%. I don't know why LA is mistakenly classified as a great place for weather. Summers are brutal, winters can be hit with el ninos, horrible Santa Ana winds which are bad enough let alone when you add fire to the picture, noteworthy earthquakes every few decades, pollution, etc. San Diego has nice weather.

tichellady

Thu, Jan 31 2019, 11:01 pm

amother wrote:

I disagree. August and September are usually hot but not humid, and the rest of the year is usually lovely. It’s rarely too hot at the beach

The San Fernando valley is a big area, north Hollywood is less hot than northridge, the further north you go, the hotter

amother

Dodgerblue

Thu, Jan 31 2019, 11:03 pm

tichellady wrote:

It's not humid, but it is not a desert. There is not 5% humidity. NY at 90 degrees and humid is more pleasant than the Valley at 104 degrees; however, the dessert at 110 is more tolerable than both. It's rarely too hot at the beach but often too cold.

chagru

Fri, Feb 01 2019, 1:25 am

amother wrote:

That area is super expensive. You're going to have to give up something in terms of your expectations. You can go to Tarzana, and you'll be within decent driving distance of kosher restaurants, and you will have shuls, but they won't be "heimish". It's an awesome community, but it's Israeli and Persian, mostly. VNMO listings are much more in line of what you're thinking of per night.

I've never heard of Tarzana, how far is it from the pico/la brea area?

monkeys

Fri, Feb 01 2019, 2:29 am

What is most important to you for this vacation and how long will you be staying? Are you bringing kids? Are you looking to tour? Just to relax in nice weather? Will you go to beaches? The zoo? Sea world? Would you want to drive to places like Malibu and Oxnard? I would factor all that in when deciding where to stay. Many people like to stay at the hotels on the Pico side of town. There’s also an air b&b rental right in the frum Pico neighborhood but there won’t be a pool.

San Diego may be a better choice for you. The weather is more pleasant and there’s kosher food at the La Jolla Ralph’s and a bbq dinner at the Beth Jacob during the summer months. I really would not recommend going to the valley for the summer. It’s HOT!!!

chagru

Fri, Feb 01 2019, 6:01 am

monkeys wrote:

Ok here's the run down, we are from Europe, and We would like to go with the kids to LA. We have 8 kids ranging in age from 3-18 and would like to tour around a bit. We don't go to the beaches, but would go to Oxnard and sea world Malibu and around. The reason I'm talking about pico/ la brea is cause I want to be where all the restaurants are, and I would like to be in an area where If my big boys don't want to come with they can go find a minyan and shul themselves. It's quite important for me, or my older kids will not be happy. From my part I'm fine anywhere, it's more to ensure the kids are ok. I'm glad you've told me about The Valley, it's very useful. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer. Do you have any details about the rental in pico? Is ot kosher?

amother

Dodgerblue

Fri, Feb 01 2019, 7:02 am

chagru wrote:

Tarzana has a lot of restaurants?

A few. My favorite LA restaurants are:

Meshuga for Sushi in the Pico Area
Pizza Nosh in Agoura (Ventura County)
Tierra Sur (Oxnard in Ventura County)
La Gondola (Pico Area)
Mexikosher (Pico Area)
Fish Grill (La Brea, but there is another location)
Orange Delight (Sherman Oaks I think)

amother

Dodgerblue

Fri, Feb 01 2019, 9:03 am

chagru wrote:

I know sea work in SD, just saying works make day trip there, not base myself there. Going to continue looking before I decide to stay in Valley, put off if it's so much hotter. What area is Encino?

Encino borders Tarzana in the Valley. Honestly, I don't know why there would be an issue staying in the Valley in an air conditioned home. You just aren't going to have Heimish ppl.

Amarante

Fri, Feb 01 2019, 10:21 am

Los Angeles is considered to have a Mediterranean climate. It is a pretty dry climate even though it is not completely arid.

The hottest months in Los Angeles tend to be late August/September and October because of weather patterns but except when there is a real heat wave during those months, the heat is more bearable than New Jersey and New York because of the low humidity.

Also because of the climate, Los Angeles cools down a LOT at night which is not something that happens in NY during the summer. Many people don't even run their A/C units at night.

The Valley is MUCH hotter than what is called the West Side of Los Angles or the area south of the Santa Monica mountains. This is because the climate on the West Side is cooled by the ocean while the Valley doesn't have the benefits of the ocean cooling. The ocean is responsible for what is called June Gloom in Los Angeles when there is heavy fog in the morning because the ocean and the air are meeting. June is actually fairly cool.

Of course Santa Monica which is by the ocean has the best summer climate as well.

As to where you want to stay, you need a car wherever you stay and driving from the Valley to other places isn't terrible if you can avoid the height of the rush hour.

From what you describe you need to bite the bullet and stay in the Pico/La Brea area because all the other areas would require a car to get anywhere so everyone would be trapped together.

Also, although people think of LA as a car city, if you are in Pico/La Brea there is actually pretty good public transportation or at worst, an Uber isn't that expensive if your older boys want to go someplace on their own.

amother

Seagreen

Fri, Feb 01 2019, 10:23 am

We went with a bunch of teenage boys (two actually but they are felt lol) and were super happy we rented by pico- it was not a gorgeous area etc but

Minyanim were fun and a non issue
Food was a non issue.
So the day we drove out further we didn’t have to make a half hour detour to drive to food first, can go by foot for breakfast or dinner after a long day trip etc. kids can go out on Friday themselves.

Not having a pool is sad but could u really find a reasonable rental in the valley with a pool? That’s a hard call. We have a pool at home so it wasn’t important to us.

We spent 10 days in la and then took a road trip down highway one, don’t know how much tome you have but I would highly recommend it especially since you’re not a beach/ surfing crowd and there is only so much touring to do and the distances can get big.

San Diego is pretty boring, beautiful but boring for teens I would definitely not base myself there.

chagru

Fri, Feb 01 2019, 10:50 am

Amarante wrote:

wow l! thank you so much for all this info

chagru

Fri, Feb 01 2019, 10:53 am

amother wrote:

you get pretty much what I'm after! Now I'm thinking if I shouod give up the pool for the area. We don't have a pool at home, and pools are a really big part of the holidays. What's there to do up highway 1? I don't know anything about the surrounding areas

Amarante

Fri, Feb 01 2019, 11:04 am

Highway One is chiefly for the scenery as it runs next to the ocean so you get ocean views.

A day trip would be to go north on Highway 1 - you could stop and fool around in the ocean and then eat at the famous kosher restaurant in Oxnard. Combining that with a stop in Santa Monica and a stroll along the famous Venice Boardwalk makes logistical sense. Some people rent bicycles and bike along the ocean as there is a bike path that you can take for either long or short bike rides.

But there really isn't a reason to do south on Highway 1 as it's less scenic than north of Santa Monica.

If your older kids want to do Universal Studios they could Uber there and the rest of the family could do other age appropriate stuff.