Now that I’m on my own, I find that I really enjoy working out of coffeeshops. And considering I’ve been driving my daughter to school some mornings in “the valley” of LA, I’ve been searching far and wide for places with free wifi and caffeine that I can plant myself for a few hours to get some work done.
However, I’m realizing that I was completely spoiled in Seattle where just about every small retail district in North Seattle had an independent coffeeshop (almost always with free wifi!). Here in The Valley, good blogging (independent) coffee shops are are nearly non-existent. (It’s worth noting that both of those links to go maps that are at the same scale!)
With all that said, here are the coffee shops I’ve found (although I’m definitely still on the lookout for more!):
Perks (yelp)
9028 Balboa Blvd
Northridge, CA 91325
Daily Grind (yelp)
18131 Chatsworth St
Granada Hills, CA 91344
Village Coffee Roasters (yelp)
23351 Mulholland Dr
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
Panera Bread (yelp)
19662 Nordhoff St
Northridge, CA 91328
Coffee Junction (yelp) Currently closed while undergoing renovations
19221 Ventura Blvd
Tarzana, CA 91356
I’ll happily update this post to add more coffee shops in the valley with free wifi, so please don’t hesitate to let me know if there are others!
Panera Bread
19662 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91324
(818) 407-9400 | phone
Good food – free wifi.
Jessie,
You’re all over the Panera Bread… I didn’t even know they had one in the valley, although if I remember right, the shop in Santa Monica kicked us off the wifi after an hour. Nonetheless, I’ll definitely try it out this week! 😉
Although Jessie, I just read on their site that they don’t time people out of their wifi, so that may have just been a fluke the one day we were there.
Ahem. “The Valley” is in Arizona. As in “The Valley of the Sun”.
How can LA be in a valley when one side of it is bordered by the Pacific?
🙂
Sorry Jay… Having once dated a Valley Girl, The Valley will always refer to the San Fernando Valley. 🙂
(By the way, check out this terrain map to see how the valley is bordered by mountains that create quite the heat sink in the summer!).
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Interesting. Now I’ll have to concede that the area formed by the “triangle” of San Fernando / Calabasas / Glendale is indeed quite “Valley like”. But everything east and south of there? Nah…
I always say you can learn more by reading blogs than by any other method. Who’d have thunk I’d get a LA geography lesson today? I love it! Anaheim is the extent of my LA experience. You’ll never guess why I was there…
(I bet our summer heat sink beats your summer heat sink! 🙂 )
You like totally dated a Valley Girl? That so totally, you know, rad!
Jay: You called the geography exactly!
Interestingly, you got me reading up on wikipedia and I couldn’t help but notice that the recently attempted “Secession Movement” (many people in The Valley want to break away from the rest of the City of LA) would have created “the sixth most populous city in the U.S., just ahead of Phoenix“. 😉
I have spent entire days there for a change of pace and as long as you are actively surfing you are connected. May have been because were too busy talking… my laptop went into sleep mode.
Dustin, Do you know about WeFi? I downloaded this free tool awhile ago. I use it all the time to find free internet spots– when I know I’m going to be visiting a specific area. Basically people telling other people where open spots are: http://www.wefi.com/maps/
That’s so awesome… Leave it to my mom to show me how to get free wifi! 🙂
Wendy, nice find on the WeFi.
& if you’re in SF, check out Free the Net – http://meraki.com/about/freethenet/
Dustin, great to read that you have taken the ‘bedouin’ approach! It’s time to rethink why one should be tied to one (1) office for the entire year.
http://www.thebeliever.se/smart-use-of-internet/2008/1/13/going-bedouin-the-thailand-experience.html
Awesome Magnus… Are you still in Thailand? or did you make it back home yet?
Back in Sweden after 6 weeks in Thailand.
Btw, have started to think about doing a California ‘remote trip’. Maybe at a coffeshop near from you one day. 😉
I would definitely enjoy showing you the sights and sounds of southern California! Let me know if you make it!
Dustin, try out Aroma in Studio City on Tujunga, if you haven’t already. There’s even an attached book store!
Ohh… I don’t know about that one, but will DEFINITELY check it out soon!