Los Angeles & Southern California
Living in Los Angeles
A practical guide for international students and scholars learning how to live, move around, connect, and explore one of the world's most diverse metropolitan regions.
Understanding the Region
Los Angeles Is Bigger Than a Downtown
Los Angeles is not one compact, downtown-centered city. It is a large metropolitan region made up of many cities, neighborhoods, cultural communities, transit systems, and local identities.
Cal State LA sits on the eastern side of Los Angeles, close to East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley. Many students and scholars live in nearby communities such as Alhambra, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, South Pasadena, Pasadena, Rosemead, El Sereno, and other parts of the region.
When deciding where to live or what to explore, think about travel time and transportation options, not only distance on a map. A location that appears close may take much longer to reach depending on traffic and transit connections.
Getting Established
Everyday Essentials
Moving to a new country involves many small decisions. Use these resources to begin building your day-to-day life in Los Angeles.
Housing
Explore on-campus housing and begin off-campus housing planning early. Housing availability, lease terms, deposits, utilities, roommates, and commuting time can all affect your experience.
Transportation
Cal State LA is served by public transit, and students may have access to discounted transit programs. Learn about Metro, Foothill Transit, commuter services, parking, rideshare, biking, and other ways to reach campus.
Phones, Banking & Daily Services
You may need to establish U.S. mobile-phone service, banking, payment methods, mailing arrangements, and other everyday services after arrival. Requirements vary by provider, so compare options before signing a contract or paying a deposit.
Groceries & Everyday Shopping
Greater Los Angeles has supermarkets, markets, bakeries, pharmacies, and specialty stores serving communities from around the world. Exploring nearby neighborhoods can make it easier to find familiar foods while also discovering something new.
Be Careful with Housing and Rental Scams
Do not send money for a rental you have not verified. Read lease terms carefully, understand what deposits and utilities are required, and use reliable consumer resources when you have questions about renting.
Moving Around Los Angeles
Your Commute Shapes Your LA Experience
Los Angeles can be explored without driving, but different parts of the region are easier to reach by different forms of transportation. Learn the options before assuming you need a car.
Metro & Local Transit
Use Metro rail and bus services, local transit agencies, and the Cal State LA Transit Center to plan trips across the region.
Golden Eagle U-Pass
Eligible Cal State LA students can review current U-Pass information for discounted transit access across participating Los Angeles County transit systems.
Metrolink & Regional Travel
Metrolink connects parts of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, and other Southern California counties. It uses a separate fare system from the Cal State LA U-Pass.
Explore the Region You Live In
Los Angeles Is a City of Communities
There is no single Los Angeles experience. The region has been shaped by Indigenous peoples, migration, immigration, labor, music, food, art, faith, entrepreneurship, activism, and generations of communities building lives alongside one another.
Do not limit your experience to the places most often shown in movies or tourist advertising. Some of the most interesting parts of Los Angeles are close to Cal State LA.
East Los Angeles, Boyle Heights, El Sereno & Lincoln Heights
Explore communities with deep Mexican American and Chicano histories, public art, music, food, civic life, and long traditions of cultural and community organizing. These areas are part of the social and cultural landscape immediately surrounding Cal State LA.
San Gabriel Valley
Alhambra, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, Rosemead, Temple City, and surrounding communities are home to extraordinary Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, and other Asian American communities, restaurants, markets, businesses, and cultural institutions.
Downtown, Little Tokyo & Chinatown
Downtown contains historic districts, museums, performance venues, civic institutions, markets, and neighborhoods shaped by generations of Japanese American, Chinese American, Latino, and immigrant communities.
Koreatown, Historic Filipinotown & Thai Town
These communities offer food, music, language, markets, nightlife, cultural organizations, and everyday neighborhood life connected to Korean, Filipino, Thai, Latino, and many other communities.
Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Cypress Park & Glassell Park
These Northeast Los Angeles neighborhoods combine long-established communities, local businesses, music, art, restaurants, and changing urban life close to campus.
South Los Angeles & Leimert Park
Explore important centers of Black Los Angeles history, culture, music, art, food, entrepreneurship, and civic life, along with museums and cultural institutions around Exposition Park and the Crenshaw corridor.
What Is Happening Around LA?
Use Local Culture Guides, Not Just Tourist Lists
Los Angeles changes every week. Rather than maintaining a static list of restaurants, concerts, exhibitions, and festivals, use trusted local sources that continually cover the region.
KCRW
Public radio, music, food, culture, community stories, concerts, screenings, and events from across Los Angeles and Southern California.
LAist
Local news, neighborhood reporting, guides, events, food, culture, transportation, and explanations of how Los Angeles works.
DICE
Find live music, club nights, comedy, talks, and other events across Los Angeles. Listings often include free and lower-cost events as well as major shows.
Discover Los Angeles
Neighborhood guides, museums, attractions, arts, food, events, and ideas for exploring different parts of Los Angeles.
SparkOC
Orange County's countywide arts-and-culture resource, with searchable listings for festivals, fairs, music, theatre, dance, museums, galleries, classes, and free events.
Orange County Events & Festivals
Browse community festivals, seasonal events, concerts, cultural celebrations, fairs, and weekend activities across Orange County cities.
L.A. TACO
Independent street-level journalism focused on Los Angeles food, neighborhoods, culture, working communities, and stories that are often missed by larger media outlets.
The Eastsider
Free neighborhood news and community reporting from the Eastside of Los Angeles, including areas such as Echo Park, Silver Lake, Highland Park, Cypress Park, Eagle Rock, Boyle Heights, and nearby communities.
Secret Los Angeles
A fast-moving guide to events, exhibitions, food, nightlife, music, hidden places, and things to do across Los Angeles, with frequent roundups for the weekend, month, and season.
Beyond Los Angeles
Southern California Is Part of the Experience
Southern California can feel enormous when you are new to the region. Orange County, the coast, mountains, deserts, and neighboring cities each offer very different experiences. Start with places you can realistically reach and use reliable planning tools before you leave.
Orange County Coast & Beach Cities
Orange County has 42 miles of coastline and a very different coastal landscape from Los Angeles County. Explore Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente, Seal Beach, Crystal Cove, Salt Creek, and other beaches and harbors.
Orange County Culture, Arts & Festivals
Orange County is much more than beaches and theme parks. Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Anaheim, Fullerton, Laguna Beach, Westminster, Garden Grove, and other cities have distinct arts scenes, museums, performance venues, food cultures, festivals, and community traditions.
Mountains, Deserts & Outdoor Spaces
Southern California includes coastal mountains, desert landscapes, state parks, and national park sites. Nearby options range from Malibu Creek and Chino Hills to the San Gabriel Mountains, Joshua Tree, Channel Islands, and other public lands.
Regional Cities & Car-Free Day Trips
You do not need a car for every regional trip. Metrolink and the Pacific Surfliner can connect you with destinations in Orange County and farther across Southern California, including Anaheim, Fullerton, Orange, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Oceanside, San Diego, Ventura, and Santa Barbara.
Plan Before You Go
A Southern California day trip can involve long travel times, changing weather, road or rail disruptions, parking rules, beach conditions, and environments that are very different from Los Angeles. Check the basics before leaving.
Weather & Hazards
Check forecasts, heat, wind, beach hazards, and other active advisories.
Road Conditions
See traffic speeds, closures, incidents, highway information, cameras, and chain controls.
Train Schedules
Confirm departure times, return service, connections, and current rail alerts before you go.
Beach & Park Conditions
Check operating status, facilities, reservations, beach or trail access, and site-specific rules.
More Southern California to Explore
Cities, Regions & Experiences Beyond Los Angeles
Southern California is made up of distinct regions, not one continuous version of Los Angeles. These places offer different histories, landscapes, cultural institutions, food traditions, and outdoor experiences.
Riverside & the Inland Empire
Explore Riverside's museums, historic downtown, California citrus history, annual events, and the larger Inland Empire region stretching toward Redlands, San Bernardino, and the mountain communities.
Temecula Valley
Temecula offers Old Town, seasonal festivals, live music, food, vineyards, and a landscape that feels very different from coastal Southern California. It works best as a planned day or weekend trip.
San Diego
San Diego combines beaches, neighborhoods, Balboa Park, museums, public art, food, and major cultural institutions. It is also one of the easiest longer regional trips to make by Pacific Surfliner.
Santa Barbara & Ventura
These coastal cities offer beaches, arts, historic districts, food, waterfronts, and access to Channel Islands National Park. Both are reachable by rail from Los Angeles.
Big Bear & the San Bernardino Mountains
Big Bear gives Southern California students and scholars access to mountain scenery, hiking, winter snow, skiing, snowboarding, and a completely different climate from Los Angeles.
Surfing & Beach Culture
Surfing is part of Southern California culture, but ocean conditions can change quickly. Beginners should use professional instruction, check conditions, and understand rip-current and beach-safety guidance before entering the water.
Explore More of California
California Is Much Bigger Than Southern California
Yosemite, the redwoods, San Francisco, Monterey, Sacramento, and other parts of California require more planning than a typical Southern California day trip. Treat these as longer trips and check distance, transportation, lodging, weather, reservations, and park conditions before you go.
Yosemite & the Sierra Nevada
Yosemite National Park is one of California's best-known landscapes, with waterfalls, granite cliffs, meadows, giant sequoias, and High Sierra wilderness. It is not a practical day trip from Los Angeles, so plan lodging, transportation, seasonal road access, and park conditions in advance.
Sequoia & Kings Canyon
These Sierra Nevada parks are known for giant sequoias, mountain landscapes, hiking, and scenic drives. Conditions vary significantly by season and elevation.
Redwood Country & the Northern California Coast
Redwood National and State Parks protect some of the world's tallest trees along the far Northern California coast. This is a major trip from Los Angeles, not a weekend add-on. Check driving distances, maps, lodging, weather, and current road or trail conditions carefully.
San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area offer dense neighborhoods, museums, food, public transit, waterfronts, universities, parks, and cultural communities very different from Southern California.
Monterey, Carmel & the Central Coast
The Central Coast offers marine life, coastal landscapes, historic towns, beaches, and routes between Southern and Northern California. Monterey and Carmel can be combined with a longer coastal trip, but road conditions and travel times matter.
Sacramento & California History
California's capital offers museums, the State Capitol, Old Sacramento, food, murals, festivals, and access to the history and government of the state.
Safety & Preparedness
Know What to Do Before You Need to Know
Living in Southern California means learning a few local safety basics. Preparation is useful without being alarmist.
Emergency: Call 911
Call 911 for immediate police, fire, or medical emergencies. For non-emergency campus safety concerns, use Cal State LA Public Safety resources.
Earthquakes & Regional Emergencies
Learn basic earthquake procedures, prepare a small emergency kit, know how you will communicate with family or roommates, and sign up for relevant emergency alerts.
Practical Questions
Common Questions When You Are New to Los Angeles
Do I need a car?
Not necessarily. Your answer depends on where you live, your class or work schedule, and how often you travel outside areas served well by public transit. Start by exploring Metro, local bus systems, the Cal State LA U-Pass, rideshare, biking, and walking before deciding whether driving is necessary for you.
Where should I live?
There is no single best neighborhood for every student or scholar. Consider commute time, transit access, rent, roommates, grocery options, safety, and the kind of community you want around you. A neighborhood close to campus by transit may be more practical than one that is geographically closer but difficult to reach.
How do I understand a rental lease?
Read the entire agreement before signing. Make sure you understand the rent, deposit, lease period, utilities, parking, guest and roommate rules, move-out requirements, and any fees. Los Angeles County Consumer and Business Affairs provides renter information and tenant-protection resources.
Where can I find help with food, housing, or other essential needs?
Cal State LA students can begin with Eddie's Essentials and the Office of the Dean of Students. Los Angeles County's 211 service can also connect people with community resources throughout the region.
Where do I ask questions about F-1 or J-1 status?
Questions about maintaining F-1 or J-1 status, employment authorization, travel, SEVIS, Forms I-20 or DS-2019, or other status-related requirements should be directed to the International Students and Scholars Office.
Make the Region Your Own
Your Los Angeles Does Not Have to Look Like Anyone Else's
Los Angeles is not only Hollywood, Beverly Hills, beaches, or famous landmarks. It is also neighborhoods, languages, markets, family businesses, public art, music, transit, parks, universities, community organizations, street food, libraries, museums, religious communities, and people building lives across the region.
Explore beyond the familiar. Learn the history of the places you visit. Try public transit. Attend a neighborhood festival. Visit a museum you have never heard of. Eat somewhere recommended by a classmate. Los Angeles becomes much more interesting when you experience it as a place where people live, not simply as a destination.
Cal State LA Resources
Where to Go for Help
Housing
On-campus housing applications, residence life, housing dates, and current University housing information.
Transportation
Transit, U-Pass, parking, biking, rideshare, and commuting information.
Student Support & Basic Needs
Food, emergency housing, financial wellness, and support when personal circumstances affect your ability to succeed.
F-1 & J-1 Status
Questions about F-1 or J-1 status, SEVIS, employment authorization, travel, Forms I-20 and DS-2019, or other status-related requirements.