First things first, I want to tell everyone what we get here in Koreatown for $890 a month.
Nicole and I live in a 550 square foot studio on the 4th floor. If we didn't have Oni the rent would be $870. It was recently remodeled (within the last 4 years) and freshly painted when we moved in. When we found this place on craigslist it said we would have the use of an elevator but when we arrived we discovered it was out of order. Pissed, I marched back to the office and asked them how I'm supposed to get all my stuff (including a bed and sofa) up to the 4th floor when it's just my 100 lb wife and I. To make up for the inconvenience the manager took $500 off our rent and supplied 6 of his workers to help us move all our stuff up the stairs. WOW!! What service. I must put in a ringing endorsement here for Macbeth Apartment Systems. They really know how to make their tenants happy. After we moved in and started examining the apartment we discovered that for $890 a month this place is a sweet deal! There's plenty of light, it's clean and we can hardly hear our neighbors.
Despite all the bad publicity from friends and family who had any kind of experience with Koreatown in Los Angeles, it turns out it's a nice place to live (or at least where we're at).
We're located near 8th and Western. There's numerous restaurants, a grocery store, a video store and a gas station all within a block or two. The population of Koreatown isn't very Korean either. Our building (located at 835 S. Oxford Ave 90005) is mostly hispanic and so are the surrounding buildings. It's mostly the working class, which is just fine with me, as they're the kind of people I grew up around. There also seem to be a few white artists and musicians distributed throughout my building but I might venture to say I'm one of five white people in a 50 unit building.
I think the people here in Koreatown are much like those in any working class neighborhood: Really good, hard working people. We've had offers of help when we were moving in, doors held open for us regularly, kind words, smiles, help parallel parking, and questions about our dog Oni. Everyone seems very friendly and I don't feel scared to be outside my apartment for even a second. I even feel comfortable enough to leave the door unlocked when I go to take the dog for a walk.
In my opinion Koreatown gets two thumbs up!