and i want to know what the public transportation scene is like. is it at all bike-friendly? i'd hate to have to buy a car to get around...

any info would be swell...

Sorry, but everything typical of the United States exists in exaggerated form inf LA. That includes worship of the automobile and scorn for public transit as some kind of weird communist experiment. People are fixated on cars here; some even wear tee shirts with imbecile slogans like "You are what you drive" stenciled on them. In some places people actually assume that they have a right to park motor vehicles on the sidewalk, of course making them impassible for people in wheelchairs or even people who use canes or crutches. Some bicycle riders share in the idocy; it is by no means uncommon to see 200 pound adult men riding bikes on sidewalks at full speed; either they assume that no one walks in LA or if they do they have to take their chances since anyone on wheels is a superior being.
Some progress has been made in the last 13 years; several subway lines have been built on which you can take bikes during non-rush hour times and some of the non-MTA systems (including, I believe, Long Beach Transit and Orange County Transit) have bicycle racks on buses.
The ironic thing is that as late as the 1950's LA had and excellent electric transit system consiting of the red cars and yellow cars; one could take a trolley from suburban Glendale to downtown LA in about 15 minutes. Now it will take you that long to find a parking space in LA after an endless commute by car. The public transit lines were demolished, allegedly in the name of "progress" but really because local politicians were under pressure from automobile manufacturers and dealers to get rid of them. Nothing unusual about that; it is the way the "free market" usually operates anywhere. The Blue Line trolleys, which began running between downtown LA and downtown Long Beach in 1990, are in part operated on a right of way originally used by the old red cars.

If you are moving to LA proper, you should do some research ov where you live to where you work. If you are planning to commute by bike, it is possible to do so - and the roads are mostly better than comparable ones in the midwest or east. Distances between points in LA can be long, so do your homework.

Furthermore, be aware that this is Southern California and home to the worst examples of car culture as Mymicz has mentioned above. If you are coming to SoCal from another urban area don't be surprised when you see monster trucks rolling by you on the road. I realize that you thought those things only existed in Appalachia or in various sports arenas during the early '80's, but no, here in SoCal they have continued to thrive, and get much larger.

SoCal drivers are under a lot of stress, as well. It seems to be a nuisance to have to drive a vehicle when also being required to talk on the phone, drink coffee, adjust the stereo and temperature, etc. A whole lot of bikers and motorcylists have been sent prematurely to heaven by these busy busy people.

If you're looking to ride for enjoyment, you will find that you've arrived in possibly the best place on Earth. Almost no humidity, few rainy days, excellent roads and easy access to miles and miles of first-rate singletrack. Plenty of hills as well.

Of course it depends where you live and work, but there is an underground "metro" system which extends for large distances throughout the city http://www.mta.net (a new branch is just opening which runs up to Pasadena). There are also "rapid buses" which are a bit quicker than the regular MTA buses.

Biking is pretty easy: it rains once or twice only per year. Most motorists are human beings. A lot of people will try to justify their car abuse by whipping up fear about evil motorists, but if you look at the statistics of accident-per-hour-travelling they're much higher for motorists than for cyclists.

A savvy selection of where you live with an eye to being near good bus/metro routes plus cycling should mean that you never have to buy a car.

Don't know how good your riding skills are and if you're a kerb-hugging non-effective cyclist, but if you are an experienced vehicular cyclist then you'll find L.A. much easier than lots of other large metropolises.

Check out cicle.org and ask questions in the forums. There's some good links on the main site about cycling skills and a trip-planner that tells you how much energy you expend on different routes.

Good luck and welcome to LA! We need more cyclists!

I might add that Pasadena and the older sections of Long Beach are less auto-oriented than much of Southern California and resemble cities in the midwest or east coast in that sidewalks at least exist and one can actually shop at a supermarket and bring the groceries home in a canvas bag or in a two-wheeled cart without walking ten miles or being questioned by the cops as a burglary suspect or escaped mental patient. Places for people who hate cars to avoid are Orange County, the San Fernando Valley, and extreme northern LA County, which is still partially desert.

thank you all for this information. you've been very helpful.

this is why i always turn to indymedia for answers!

You want to be aware that the city of Los Angeles is divided by the Santa Monica Mountains, which separate the San Fernando Valley from the rest of the city.

If you're going to work south of the mountains, you want to live on the same side. Similarly, if you work in the Valley, you want to live there. The ride through the mountains, on Laurel Canyon or Coldwater Canyon, for example, is only bikable in the practical sense if you're in GREAT shape.

The Valley itself is mostly as flat as if it were planed, and with its wide streets, many of which include bike lanes, could be excellent biking territory.

As for drivers, my experience is that the morons who think that the right of way belongs to the more expensive vehicle, or do stupid things because they simply can't envisage the existence of anyone except themselves, are mostly found south of the Santa Monicas. Exercise extra caution in places with "wood" or "hills" in their name. Also be extra cautious around vehicles that cost more than a Philly rowhouse. The only thing worse than a bimbo in a Porsche is a bald spot in a Porsche. They'll probably be gabbing on their cell phones.

On the positive side, it's WAY safer to be a pedestrian here than it is back East. Ped right of way is respected pretty well here, and in the West in general. The cops are pretty strict about it. I've also observed that most drivers here in the Valley are pretty courteous towards bicyclists; it's the exceptions you have to watch out for.

"Exercise extra caution in places with "wood" or "hills" in their name."

Exactly, like IngleWOOD.

HOW U KNOW.......@%(*&$#@!

Laurel Canyon is certainly a painful way to get into the Valley. Going up Cahuenga onto Coldwater is practical however as there's only a short climb of probably 200 feet elevation over a mile or so. There's a nice quiet side street to do it on too.

One other thing about LA, bikes and pubtrans is that the LACountyBikeCoalition worked with the MTA to make it a little easier to bring your bike on a bus or the metro. You now no longer require a permit to do so and can bring them on any time to the metro except 6:30-8:30 and 4:30-6:30 (personally I think this restriction should be removed too) and any time on the bus as long as there's a rack (I think the majority of buses now have them, be sure to lock your front wheel to the bike so that no one can take the bike down and ride away on it though).

I live on top of a hill just off Sunset boulevard and find that the city is so fucking bikable. First off, living along the Sunset boulevard cooridor gives me pretty easy access to hollywood and points west. There are bike lanes painted onto the street up sunset boulevarde and up into the hills on silverlake- all within 20 minutes.
Its not much more then a thirty minute ride in hollywood. But to the East, along Sunset or Cesar Chavez(or as it is also called in places) I can get most places in nearby east LA in 15 minutes. Chinatown and Downtown is a quik zip away. And Recently, Ive discovered how easy it is to go through Elysian Park to get over the small hills that seperate historic Los Angeles from Highland Park. It is also notable, that Union Trainstation (the hub of the subway and lightrail) is a 10 minute ride down sunset. I used to commute via bike to the train out to the Suburbs 2 times a week and it worked great, I was able to bring my bike on the train and finish the trip on wheels.

As is said before, LA is so fucking bikable if you live in the right place. It amazes me. I actually even lived here for 2 years without a car as a student and hardly needed to bum rides. The areas I mentioned above are mostly my destinations anyway, and it is often so much better to ride than to be stuck in traffic.

LA is such a secret bike city.

try plugging some sample origins and destinations into the linked page for travel times and costs