I was recently there for the Auto Show, I go downtown frequently for concerts and other events and it’s not scary. No, you don’t wander down to Skid Row at 2am, but you don’t do that in San Diego either. Get on the wrong tram in San Diego (which is easy to do because of the color coding/train color/sinage conflicts) and you end up in a bad area as well. Wander a little too far towards the stadium in San Diego, also bad neighborhood. Every city has its issues.

No, the beach is not walkable, but Hollywood is about 25-40 min away (depending on time of day) by car– however there’s a SUBWAY that runs from downtown right to Hollywood and Highland so you can check out Mann’s Chinese Theater, walk up to the Hollywood Bowl, even take a shuttle from there to Griffith Park Observatory. Continue on that Subway and you come out at Universal Studios with CityWalk (an outdoor shopping/eating district with Imax theater).

But, if you want to stay in downtown LA there’s a LOT to do within a shuttles ride, or a walk:

The Grand Central Market – Any kind of food you could possibly want

Little Tokyo, some very cool anime stores

There’s Olvera Street – A Mexican marketplace and the oldest residence in LA. Again, great food!

Free Summer Concerts at California Plaza, they recently had the music of Battlestar Galactica with some of the cast members showing up.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall. Even if there’s not a concert they have a great architectural tour

Across the street is MOCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art. The art museum in San Diego left downtown and went to LaJolla.

There’s movie theaters, a GIANT Library where Ray Brabury wrote a lot of his work and speaking of Bradbury, there’s the Bradbury Building where Blade Runner was filmed.

And of course the new LA Live with restaurants, Staples Center, hotels, etc.

“And then most of the people who are paying for hotels in San Diego won’t need to in LA because we’ll go drive home each night. So that blows off the “fill up hotel rooms, get the CC for $1,000″ concept.” That makes the assumption that the majority of Comic-Con attendees are from LA. Are they? I ran into people from all over the country and all over the world at CC last year.

And I agree with Al, heat + spandex = ugly!

Here’s why Las Vegas is a bad idea:
IAll those Comic Con fans in their costumes in that heat? Not gonna happen.

Going to the beach or any interesting location will be impossible due to the horrible traffic jams and everything is 20+ miles away plus you have to pay for parking. Shuttles will be impossible due to the way LA is spread out. I can’t go from the Valley to downtown via public transit unless I want to spead 1.5+ hours each way, let alone all the way to the CC. And then most of the people who are paying for hotels in San Diego won’t need to in LA because we’ll go drive home each night. So that blows off the “fill up hotel rooms, get the CC for $1,000″ concept. Oh, and when people coming to Los Angeles ask where to stay, I tell them the hell away from downtown.

Short version: LA is too expensive, unsafe and nothing of fun is in walking distance to the CC.

Anaheim: Similar to LA, except safer.

Both Anaheim and Los Angeles are too spread out. San Diego worked to make the downtown a hub of activity and unlike LA, the downtown is alive.

Going to San Diego is an event unto itself. All of San Diego is Comic Con. Everything is in walking distance and you can use public transportation (again, LA’s is near non-existent) to and from your hotel if need be. The clean beaches are nearby, restaurants of all price ranges, and you can walk around downtown with fear of being stabbed or shot because you wore the wrong colors or looked and someone the wrong way. San Diego during Comic Con is a party town and fun, even if you just walk around. There is absolutely nothing to look at or do downtown in Los Angeles.