LA's Best Neighborhoods For Trick-Or-Treating
Ever since Walt Disney portrayed the custom of traveling from house to house in search of candy in the 1952 cartoon "Trick or Treat," the Halloween practice has been established firmly in popular culture. Throughout Los Angeles, residents that prefer to participate in the tradition decorate their homes with make-believe jack-o-lanterns, spider webs and fake skeletons. Others, who choose not to be disturbed on Oct. 31, resort to just turning on their front light and leaving goodies in bowls on the front porch. With so many neighborhoods dotting LA's urban sprawl, parents are urged to take caution in choosing the right type of community to take their costumed children out for an evening of thrills and adventure. Here are a few popular areas in LA to consider visiting on Halloween that promise an enjoyable and safer trick-or-treating experience.
Beverly Hills
www.beverlyhills.org
In spite of the city's name, most residents live in the "flats" of Beverly Hills, which makes it easier for children and their guardians to stroll carefully from house to house. Many of the boulevards and streets are wide and well lighted. Participating residents in this affluent community are child-friendly and welcome miniature masqueraders with a quality assortment of wrapped goodies and sometimes envelopes containing small amounts of monetary gifts. This area of LA is bordered to the south by Beverlywood, a festive and older-aged locality that has lately become a treat-or-treat mecca with its lavishly decorated homes and yards. Each Halloween, Beverly Hills and its adjacent territory open their arms to hundreds of children that pour out of open-door vehicles after dusk in search of a boundless stock of sweetness and photo opportunities.Related: Buy One Get One 25% off with NO minimum order PLUS always a free shipping option at Halloween Express!
Silver Lake
www.cityclerk.lacity.org
Right in the blood-pumping heart of central LA is one of the metro's largest family-oriented Halloween block parties. The annual shindig takes place on Armstrong Avenue between Tesla Avenue and West Silver Lake Drive. Within this trendy area of town, residents and store owners deck their exteriors with detailed enhancements, ranging from disgusting crime scenes to disturbing haunted houses. Be sure to arrive before sunset because the thousands of allotted candy portions have been known to vanish quicker than Casper can shriek "boo." This artsy section of town is quite safe for trick-or-treating youngsters because participating streets will be blocked to vehicular traffic. Remember to keep your cameras powered to the max throughout the evening to capture some highly creative costumed characters strutting about in one of LA's hippest neighborhoods.
Hancock Park
www.wshphs.org
To the outside world, this bedroom community in central LA is known for the place where Prince William and his bride, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge stayed during their first visit to the US in 2011. It's also a quaint pocket of town noted for attracting hundreds of adults and children wearing masks, disguises and fantastic costumes on Halloween night. Each year, trick-or-treaters discover elaborate Halloween adornments lining on Arden Boulevard, Rossmore Avenue and around the Larchmont shopping district, where they'll find a goldmine of tasty prizes. For the younger sets that choose to dress up as royal highnesses, the best time to launch a candy crusade will be early in the evening before darkness falls and shadows disappear. Hancock Park gets rather congested as night wears on with parking spaces at a haunting premium.
Studio City
www.studiocitychamber.com
This historic neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley is perhaps the best place to run into celebrities accompanying their children on the annual sweet-tooth pilgrimage. Like other popular communities, Studio City residents are not shy when it comes to transforming their homes into outrageous, ominous settings. Families may want to start their trek on Mound View, then explore surrounding streets for signs of Halloween welcome mats. Every year, an estimated 1,000 children dress up as their favorite television or movie character, looking for an even better treat than the last. Don't be surprised if you bump into actors Erik Estrada, Will Ferrell, Ryan Gosling or Cuba Gooding, Jr. on this night of fun and mischief. After all, this is where scores of Hollywood's hottest stars and recording artists call home.
Brentwood Glen
www.wikipedia.org
The best part about this delightful pouch of hospitality in the Brentwood area of LA is that it is suitable for those who may not feel like walking long distances between homes. Located south of Sunset Boulevard and west of Interstate 405, this neighborhood consists of only 600 dwellings, many of them situated close to each other. It's also quite easy for little gremlins to find their way through Brentwood Glen because the streets are grouped alphabetically, with the beginning of the alphabet at its eastern end. Homes are decorated with the sensitivity of impressionable youth in mind. Here, parents will find kid-friendly haunted houses and many residents aimed at making your child's Halloween experience joyful, rather than tormenting. Some participating homeowners are also known to hand out toys and books, in addition to sugar-free candy.
