Customer Reviews

Not for Tourists Guide to Los Angeles 2010

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very handy book for people who have just moved to L.A. There are detailed, street-level maps of most of the neighborhoods in the greater L.A. metro area, and each neighborhood has two maps--one with the "essentials" (schools, post offices, fire stations, gyms, grocery stores, etc.) and one with "extras" (shops, restaurants, etc.) There's also information at the back about local beaches, parks, performance and sports arenas, radio stations, farmers markets, etc.

The only minor drawback about the book is that the restaurants and shops it identifies are sort of hodgepodge. This is not a restaurant or shopping guidebook and none of the shops are rated, like they are in a Zagat-type book, so you have to take its recommendations with a grain of salt. I've found some of the highlighted restaurants to be somewhat uneven in quality/enjoyability. But the detail of the maps more than makes up for that.

I bought this hoping to learn a thing or two about "hidden" LA but I could have just Googled/Yelped stuff and been better informed. I'm not sure how they pick the businesses they list for each neighborhood but I noticed in several neighborhoods that didn't list restaurants I would have included in a guide. And you don't get many details, and no reviews about the places they list. It's a list with addresses, phone numbers, prices, and maybe a small blurb.

Some sections are a little more detailed (parks, beaches, hiking, sports, museums) but if you bought a book called Not For Tourists you probably know about museums and beaches... maybe not.

Most people have Internet at home and/or a smartphone and could easily get as good or even better info off just a couple of sites. NFT has a website with a bit more detail on select places in each neighborhood but you still might as well use Yelp... they hadn't posted anything for my neighborhood since July 2009. I wouldn't recommend this book unless you want something on the go and you don't have a fancy Internet phone.

I read an older edition of this book, and it was missing some parts of LA. So it was incomplete. Also, the web and review sites like yelp generally do a better job, in my opinion, even though they also miss many parts of LA. Still, it's a good effort. One bonus star for effort, because compiling a book like this is a lot of work.

As a new-to-LA person, I had high hopes for this book, but it certainly is not geared towards parents as there is minimal info for kids. Who cares about rental cars and ATMs when you live here?? What we needed was a listing of local parks, playgrounds, indoor activities for kids. Please make a parents version because we don't have time!

I bought this gift for a friend moving to Los Angeles and he loves it. The NFT gave him insider info to help him acclimate to new surroundings as well as pique his interest in social events unique to LA he may not have otherwise known about.

An NFT is always a good purchase, no matter what city you're interested in.