West Los Angeles, California

West Los Angeles is a busy district within Los Angeles that between the city of Santa Monica on its western side and Westwood and Century City on its eastern side. To the north is the upscale Brentwood area, and to the south are Culver City and Mar Vista. The region is split vertically down the middle by the San Diego Freeway, also known as “the 405.” During the day, like much of the western region of Los Angeles County, West Los Angeles suffers from many traffic jams as there are few options other than busy surface streets for commuters who travel from one side of town to the other to work and back. The southern border of West Los Angeles is the Santa Monica Freeway, also known as “The Ten.” Given the high level of population density of the region and the high ratio of workers who live a significant distance from where they work, and given that there are few options beyond a few narrow main thoroughfares, such as Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, and Pico Boulevard, to pass through West Los Angeles, it is no surprise that one of the key issues that people who live and work there complain about is the regular gridlock during peak hours. Given that the current development trend is toward building vertically, that is replacing low-level apartment buildings with high-rises, this is a problem that could likely become much worse, potentially affecting quality of life in an area that is largely considered a desirable place to live in for Los Angeles’s middle class residents, due to its mild climate and proximity to the beaches.

Within the borders of West Los Angeles is a small community of Japanese shops, restaurants and other businesses called Sawtelle. It is a cultural focus for immigrants and locals of Japanese heritage and includes a branch of a Japanese educational center for the teaching of language and culture. Taken together, this area is often called Little Osaka.

Largely residential, West Los Angeles has two major business corridors running east and west along Wilshire Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard, and two running north and south along Sepulveda Boulevard and Westwood Boulevard. These corridors support chain retail stores and restaurants as well as independently-owned businesses of the same nature. Given the high concentration of apartment buildings in the area, there are also a large number of apartment managers, who are frequently improperly compensated for their labor. Many apartment managers are provided a discounted rate to live in one of the units and then paid only for the time when they are required to keep office hours during the day, even though they are expected to be on call twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week to handle emergencies. Frequently they are not permitted to take time off for any reason, including a weekend trip out of town. The result can be several hours per week of unpaid labor. If you feel that you have not been paid for all of the hours you have worked due to an unfair work arrangement, contact our office for a free consultation about your situation.