I had a rental in California City (granted that's a bit north of AV but probably the same demographic). 

@Will SpruillJust throwing in my 2 cents, although a lot will likely be redundant.As an agent, of course, I'm limited to how I may comment on a neighborhood :-)  That said, I always encourage folks to do their due diligence and research crime statistics, demographics, etc. since everything is so accessible online.  

The beautiful thing about LA is the diverese demographic which leaves me endless possibilities.If I am blessed with a mentor, he or she will have someone they trust.

Use demographics and other stats here http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/z01/cs0007-eng.htm to find tons of data to narrow your search.

or delivering a window AC unit to a pissed off tenant who's central air went out :)     but I'm also driving for dollars and building my knowledge of local areas and demographics and staying in tune with the "streets".    

Depends on the property class and your demographic.  

The flip side of the coin is many people will still want to be in walkable areas...especially the younger demographics and up-and-coming professionals.

Suggest you search demographics, income, tax rate, crime rate to sort through these areas use spreadsheet sort and filtering functions until you can narrow down to manageable muni.

Checked out the demographics (40,000 people, 17,000 households, $145k median home price)4.

Check the area for crime, economy (jobs, businesses, colleges), other rents and house rentals/sales, condition of the neighborhood, and the demographics.