Los Angeles residents could soon be able to enjoy drinks while walking through one of the city’s most troubled areas under a proposal now moving forward.
The Los Angeles City Council voted 12-0 at its Wednesday meeting to direct city departments to study whether designated “entertainment zones” could be established in violence-prone areas of Downtown Los Angeles. Within those zones, patrons could potentially carry open containers of alcohol.
City planners, local agencies and state alcohol regulators have 60 days to determine whether the proposal is feasible.
The Department of City Planning will work with multiple city departments, the LAPD, the City Attorney’s Office and the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) on a comprehensive report. The review will examine community-specific safety measures, operating hours and enforcement protocols.
The report will also recommend potential locations for entertainment zones in DTLA, which has an overall crime index 62% higher than the national average, according to DoorProfit.
MORE ON THIS: Florida Mother Arrested at Airport After Leaving 4 Kids Home Alone for Vegas Trip
Councilmembers Ysabel Jurado and Hugo Soto-Martínez introduced the motion to study the proposal in May.
The plan follows Senate Bill 969, which was passed in 2024 and allows local governments to authorize adults to purchase alcoholic beverages from licensed bars or restaurants and consume them outdoors in designated public areas.
“Downtown Los Angeles is one of the strongest economic and cultural engines of our City, but our local businesses, hospitality workers, restaurants, bars, and cultural corridors are still recovering from years of disruption,” Councilmember Jurado said in May.
She said the motion “is not about creating a free-for-all,” but instead seeks to determine whether “managed public space activation can support economic recovery while maintaining strong safeguards for residents, workers, visitors, and neighborhoods.”
During the October 28 meeting, Soto-Martínez amended the measure from the floor to include a study of “one or more Entertainment Zones on or near the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
Similar entertainment zones are already operating at Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade and in Culver City.
If approved, the zones would represent a major change to public alcohol regulations in Southern California, echoing open-container districts popular in cities such as New Orleans and pilot programs tested in San Francisco.
EXPLORE MORE: Daily Mail Investigation Reveals Cancer Surge Among Young Americans