Best neighborhoods to trick-or-treat in Los Angeles
For the uninitiated, a fruitful Halloween can be kind of tough to navigate in the urban sprawl that is Los Angeles. Never fear. When pointed in the right direction, you'll be able to earn the best loot for you and your kids while trick-or-treating in the City of Angeles and enjoy a goldmine of tasty sweets that could last until Thanksgiving if certain special measures are taken - if you know what we mean.
Hancock Park
This ritzy area of town is great for trick-or-treaters who are eager to discover quality over quantity during their Halloween evening excursion. The homes here are gigantic, and the treats seem to reflect this grandeur by being full sized. To be sure, the folks who live here don't skimp on anything, so why would they do that to the candy given out to costume-wearing youngsters? Another plus about picking Hancock Park is that this Los Angeles enclave is situated on the flats, meaning no trudging up hills is necessary when seeking to fill your candy carrier, be that a fake pumpkin or an old pillow case.
Beverly Hills
Another big scene on the trick-or-treating trail come Halloween is the place with an area code everyone knows. So, head for the 90210 and start banging on doors at the homes found between Sunset and Santa Monica boulevards. Actually, these homes are more like mansions, so going to this high profile vicinity to do your thing means getting a chance to look inside these stately stations of luxury living, at least for a moment. Besides that, many who have done this before say those who don't have any more candy to spare will likely give you money instead - and we're not talking pennies, here.
Silver Lake
Hipster-ville, also known as Silver Lake and located on Los Angeles' trendy East side, is on blast on Halloween, particularly on Armstrong Avenue where everyone is out in force fore what is referred to as a block party of immense proportions. What does that mean for trick-or-treaters? Well-stocked candy piles that number in the thousands and are ready to be taken away for the pleasure of showing off your very inventive costumes. Not only that, but every single house on this thoroughfare is done up in spooky attire, too, ready to scare the pants off some unsuspecting outsiders. Sound like fun? Sure does!
Venice Canals
For those who want to be sure nothing happens while walking in traffic on All Hallows Eve, choose to do your trick-or-treating in a place where no roads even exist. Yes, we're talking the Venice Canals here, where the four-block area surrounding Dell and South Venice Boulevard is decked out to the delight of costume-wearing clients. Here, even the local residents handing out their goodies get dressed up for the occasion, so you can compare notes as the tasty merchandise is exchanged.
Burbank
Skip beautiful downtown Burbank and go straight to the quiet streets on its perimeter for taking your very little ones out for what is perhaps their first Halloween treasure hunt. Beyond finding candy to taste, know that since this is the land of Disney you'll also encounter plenty of clever decorating schemes at the some of the houses you'll visit, since many of these folks are employed by the Mouse House.
Los Angeles freelance travel writer Jane Lasky, contributes to publications such as Travel + Leisure, Vogue and Esquire. Her weekly sojourning column ran in 40 newspapers for 20 years. Jane is anything but an accidental tourist and always travels with her pillow. Check out her articles on Examiner.com.