It seemed as if Westwood would be L.A.'s high-rent champ forever. But the latest Los Angeles Rent Report, compiled by the rental site Apartment List, has crowned a new leader: Venice.

Yep, the place once known by some locals as Debris by the Sea, the community where gang warfare was the norm in the 1990s, the neighborhood where homeless residents battle Hollywood elites for elbow room, is now the most expensive rental area in the city of Los Angeles, with a two-bedroom median of $5,200. 

According to the report, which parsed the site's listings over the month of August, dethroned Westwood is now in second place with a two-bed median of $4,200. Marina del Rey ($3,640) is third; downtown ($3,250) is fourth; and Hollywood ($2,960) is fifth. See a map of the city's two-bedroom median rents below.

Across the region (including L.A. and Orange counties), Pasadena's two-bedroom median of $2,630 beat L.A.'s citywide median of $2,600 to make the City of Roses the most expensive rental city in Greater Los Angeles, Apartment List found. Irvine ($2,440), Glendale ($2,410) and Huntington Beach ($2,120) rounded out the top five, respectively.

“Pasadena is more expensive than Los Angeles for renters,” said Apartment List data scientist Andrew Woo. “Pasadena rents are up 6.6 percent over the past year.”

In the city of L.A., rents grew 2.6 percent during that time, the site found. Growth from July to August was paced at 0.5 percent. Venice rents grew 1.1 percent between July and August, according to the report, which parses the site's listings

If you want some of the cheapest rents in the region, you'll have to head in the opposite direction — to the high-desert town of Palmdale. There you'll find a median two-bedroom price of $1,030. But it's very hot there. And there's little reprieve from the sea.

Credit: Apartment List

Credit: Apartment List

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