Los Angeles has long been a popular getaway for northern Californians. And by San Francisco standards, Los Angeles has year-round beach weather. The city’s average winter high temperature is about 70 degrees, which is the average high in San Francisco in the summer.
The greater Los Angeles area has also long been LGBT-friendly with West Hollywood leading the way. WeHo eventually became one of the gayest cities in the country as the result of its location, just outside of the Los Angeles city limits. The once-notoriously homophobic Los Angeles Police Department was much more aggressive than the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which has jurisdiction over West Hollywood. Similarly, the city’s famed Sunset Strip got its start during the Prohibition era when the sheriff’s office was not as strict in enforcement of the liquor ban.
West Hollywood officially became incorporated as a city in 1984. With a population of nearly 37,000 in less than two square miles, it is one of the state’s smallest cities in area but one of the most densely populated. WeHo’s compactness also makes it arguably southern California’s most walkable and least car-dependent city. To entice more residents and visitors to ditch their cars, the city provides a free weekend night shuttle bus called WeHo Pickup that makes a loop around the city. The city also has a bike sharing program, WeHo Pedals, similar to San Francisco’s Ford bike-docking system.