Living in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, with one of the most diverse populations in the world, has over 200 languages spoken in its streets. This cultural variety offers Angelenos and visitors a remarkable array of gastronomic, cultural, and educational experiences and other attractions. It is also the home to one of the world’s top-ranked universities, the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA).

UCLA sits within Westwood Village and is surrounded by an eclectic collection of shops, restaurants, offices, and museums. It is a kind of “city within the city,” where one could find anything and everything one might need without having to leave its boundaries. One might say that Westwood Village is like a small-scale Los Angeles in terms of what it can offer. The Village offers almost anything from Mexican to Chinese to Mediterranean cuisines. It is home to two prominent museums: the Fowler Museum, located within the UCLA Campus, with its displays of rich ethnographic objects, and the Hammer Museum, a unique, cutting-edge arts institution that connects the classics and the contemporary through its varied collections, wide-ranging exhibitions, and programs. These are just a few of what Westwood Village presents and only a thumbnail of what Los Angeles offers.

Outside UCLA and the Westwood Village, the rest of Los Angeles is home to a long list of museums that will cater to every cultural whim of every person. The Getty Center, a world-renowned institution that has a collection of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present, is just three miles away from campus. It also houses the Getty Conservation Institute and Getty Research Institute. Other noteworthy destinations include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Getty Villa in Malibu, Norton Simon Museum of Art and Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Garden.

While Los Angeles is one of the biggest and most urbanized cities in the world, it is not just meant for the urban aficionado. Nature lovers will find a vast array of activities tailored to their interests within a ten-mile radius: from mountains, to beaches, to deserts. About five miles from UCLA is one of the most famous hiking trails in the world, the Griffith Park. Another five-mile drive from the campus and you will find yourself hiking towards one of the most famous signs in the world, the Hollywood sign.  Would you rather surf or frolic on the beach than hike? Beach lovers can easily head to Venice Beach or Santa Monica Beach, a mere 5 miles from the campus.

The year-round nearly-perfect weather that Los Angeles is well-known for makes it an ideal place to relax, work, study, live, and thrive. While driving is the easiest way to navigate this sprawling urban area, Los Angeles has an extensive public transportation system. For information on housing, transportation and cultural life, please visit the links below: