Of course, you can't miss your urbanlike street shopping/dining areas. L.A. has plenty of em:
Santa Monica Main Street
Old Town Pasadena (Main streets are Colorado blvd and South Lake ave, 20 blocks containing 360 stores, 80 restaurants, lively nightlife, host to the tournament of roses parade in New years day)
Read more about Old town pasadena at seeingstars.com
Long Beach Pine Avenue - photos by AOL Travel - digital city
Long Beach Belmont Shore / 2nd street
Whittier blvd - photo from Sleepylagoon.com
Fairfax Village
Larchmont Blvd
San Fernando Mall
Rodeo Drive
Santa Monica third street promenade *see L.A. attractions for more pics/info
Westwood Village
Anyway, many of the big streets in L.A. are lined with dense urban streetside retail:
And streetside Plazas / Streetside retail centers like these are scattered throughout L.A.:
