Downtown L.A. Saturday Housing Bus Tour

What a great service for potential residents of Downtown LA… and what a way to make «outsiders» feel welcome. It’s a rare feeling when you come into a new neighborhood and experience a heartwarming welcome rather than territoriality. But this bus tour puts the excitement and possibilities of DTLA on display and makes you eager to jump in, be a part of it all, and join the fun. The main goal of the BID is to make Downtown a great place to live, and they «get it»… they know that in order to make that happen the entire community needs to be involved and working together.
Dave C. really nailed all the details of the tour, but a few things have changed since 2009. The meeting place for the last tour was Bottega Louie’s and there were no personal headsets (maybe because we were a smaller group.) However, they did provide validation parking, we were scooted around town on comfortable charter buses, and the whole thing was free!!!
What I appreciated most about the tour was the frankness… both guides were long time residents of DTLA and were eager to answer any questions that came up. Discussions covered HOAs, dogs, safety, homelessness, amenities, schools, community events, … and the list goes on. Nothing was sugar coated, which I appreciated.
We saw 3 condos & 3 rentals on our tour, but the selection changes each time, so it is recommended to take the tour more than just once.
I’m still wavering on whether or not to take the plunge, but if I could credit anyone for showing me all that Downtown Living has to offer, it would be those folks at the BID.

Hal Bastian (The Tour Host, and BID Director) is «THE MAN» and knows EVERYTHING about living and playing in Downtown LA.
I truly believe the markets in most cities would reduce their inventory greatly if cities would jump on board with this genius concept of a Bus Tour. Enjoy!

The Downtown L.A. Housing Bus Tour by the Downtown Center Business Improvement District is not only one of the most fun ways to check out rental and for sale properties if you’re a prospective home buyer or thinking about moving, but it’s also a great, safe way to explore and learn about some parts of the city that you don’t normally frequent. And best of all, it’s free! (even parking!)
I know many Unilocalers live Downtown (and I’m jealous of you), but the reality is that most of us are spread out on the Westside, beach cities, Pasadena areas, East LA, South Bay, etc. On the tour, you get to check out a bunch of properties, ride on a nice coach bus, and you also learn a lot about all the plans and new developments happening Downtown. If you’re at all interested in real estate or just learning a little more about the city you live in, you can get a lot out of this tour.
The way that the tour works is that you sign up online (
) for a Saturday morning tour, which currently take place every other weekend. You show up to the familiar 7^th and Figueroa plaza by 9:00AM to check in and get an audio headset so that it’s easier to hear your tour guides fun facts about different properties that you’re going to. You board the buses with a bunch of other good natured people (had about 40 in my group) and off you go!
It might not always be the case, but we ended up seeing 3 rental properties and 3 for sale properties. I think that the properties they show switch off every other week and I’m not sure how many more they go and visit, but you’ll end up seeing different neighborhoods, layouts, and views, which are really helpful when deciding if a move Downtown is right for you. A couple of the places we saw were «meh,» but a couple of them were AWESOME and really got you excited about potentially moving into the soon-​to-​be bustling area of Downtown LA. It’s fun because while there are no formal introductions, since the tour is 4 hours+, you’ll slowly start to get to know different people you’re riding around with and you’ll make some very casual friendships, which makes it fun.
While checking out what Downtown living would be like, you also hear exactly how much specific units cost, HOA dues, parking, pet policies, etc. for the properties that you’re looking at, which I think is GREAT. Brochures can only tell you so much, so a building representative shows you a model unit and answers any questions that people might have. One of the downsides is that sometimes the model unit is a 1BR 1BA and you’re stuffing 40 people in there, so it can get a little crowded! However, at least you know your place could potentially hold 40 people.
While looking at the properties is great, I think that one of the most valuable parts about the trip is the time that you’ll spend in the buses. You’ll have a host that will tell you about the specific neighborhoods that you’re driving through and they’ll point out other properties that you might not being seeing where they know there’s vacancies and reasons why you might want to live in one area over another. They’ll tell you about the transportation system and on our tour, they even took us to the very nice Ralph’s downtown and we got gifts from the store manager! (woot!) And really, it’s great to go around Downtown not worrying about parking or walking around and getting lost because you’re either on the bus or with a big group.
I do think that this is a truly a really fun and different experience, but I have to warn that there is a lot of walking involved and that it is 4 hours+. If you’re not interested in housing at all and you don’t really like learning about a city, you are going to be bored. If you are looking for housing or you’re just interested in spending a Saturday morning doing something completely different and you have a love for a little bit of random adventure, you’ll really get a lot out of the tour.