Moving to LA for work - recommendations?
 

Figured I'd post this in FT's LA forum as my searches have been ineffective and my question may be somewhat unique.

A month from now, I'll begin working as a consultant out of my company's downtown LA office. I imagine around 25% travel, but the bulk of my time will be spent in the office. This should be a fun process, because I'm originally from the Midwest and currently based abroad. I've not been to LA in about ten years (campus visits to USC & UCLA when I was still in high school), but I'm expecting good times, and a bit of a challenge. My assignment sounds pretty interesting, and I know not a soul, aside from old high school acquaintances I'd hesitate to dial up, plus a few people from work.

Anyway, I'm wondering where the best place for me to live would be. Everyone I talk to has a different opinion. My boss, who's done pretty well for himself, has been suggesting places to which he would relocate if he were me. I think he's making these recommendations based on his current salary -- let's just say $2,500+ beachside rentals are a bit outside of my price range. ;)

I've bounced around Craigslist and Westside Rentals to get a sense of availability, but I'm looking more for a community. Runners, intramural sports -- bars/restaurants would probably be too much to ask, but I'll ask it anyway. Is there a young-ish, professional neighborhood between downtown and LAX (or within 45 minutes commute of DT) that fits these qualifications, where I can score an apartment with a bedroom and a fridge for less than an arm and a leg?

Went through this 5 years ago when I moved out here. Had about 10 friends spread from Woodland Hills to Silverlake to South Bay -- all said their area was the best - and I should live out here for a while and find my "center." Thing is they were all right to a certain degree - lots of cool areas to live - each has their own unique California experience,

My work is in Culver City, so in my case I just looked at my friends and told them they were crazy - did not need to do anything but look at a map - and that I was going to live somewhere between Culver City and the ocean, preferrably as close to the ocean as possible. Ended up in Santa Monica, which I love. But being out here I have spent time in some of the other areas like Studio City, Hermosa Beach, Silverlake, and Pasadena which are also cool and you should look at.

In terms of a Westside location, the downtown office makes just saying live at the ocean a little harder. A key to being happy in LA is to keep your commute small. But if you travel a lot, would suggest staying westside-ish to have good access to LAX (and also so you can run at the beach). So one area you should definitely look at is Westside Village - which is bordered by Sepulveda Blvd., National Blvd, Overland Ave, and Charnock Road just east of the 405 and south of the 10. Lots of apartments and young-ish crowd (population of about 12,000, of which 70 percent are renters and 30 percent homeowners). Prices should be a little better by being a few miles inland. And the drive downtown is good (short hop on the 10 without traffic, lots of surface street options during rush hour). Good access to Venice/Santa Monica, Culver City, and Westwood for restaurants, and easy to get on the freeway to other areas.

If I had to work in Downtown LA (thank goodness I do not), I would give serious consideration to taking mass transit to work over driving. Traffic is bad and parking expensive.

http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/ma...s/rail_map.pdf

I'd look at Long Beach (Blue Line) one of the beach communities near LAX (Green/Blue Line) or Pasadena (Gold Line). You can also look at Glendale/Burbank, which has heavy rail service to Union Station on the Metrolink.

It's been a while since we had a LA-Area Do; might be a good time to have a "Welcome to SoCal" one... :)

Priorities
 

I have grown up in Pasadena area and moved over to westside due to job. Working in downtown, Pasadena, valley and places east seemed to do better on transit options. Westside is not so good for transit, particularly on budget due to apt. rates.

Pasadena, particularly on east side, can be fairly affordable -- not sure what parking rates are at stations (if any). There are pockets in downtown, but it is grim for nightlife.

I wanna go to a Do if one is in the works!:D

Thanks for all the replies so far -- I'm definitely up for a Do once I get settled (in what looks like it'll be a studio...). I'll be in LA for three days in a couple weeks to check out neighborhoods and hopefully find a good place. Even though the company's picking up this trip, I think it's a good omen that fares on NW dropped from $1400 to $250 for the days I want to travel... :D

Westside Village sounds fantastic -- that will definitely be on my short list, as will Pasadena and other places with transit options. I've gotten used to taking the train here in Europe, so I wouldn't mind abandoning my car for the commute, especially a) in LA and b) because my old office was suburban, which means I didn't have to pay for parking.... I think I may have been spoiled there.

Looking forward to some sunshine already. ^

Running, bar-hopping, mass transit to downtown LA, reasonable rent = Belmont Shores, Long Beach. For about half of that $2500, I’m guessing, you would be able to walk to the beach. And while LAX is w/in 45 minutes from Long Beach--less off-peak--we have an airport.

Since you have free parking, I would not pick west side, <$2000/month is not an option (my personal opinion, but you may get lucky or you share a room.)
What time do you have to go to work? it's an important key to your answer, to drive or not. Not to have a car in LA is hard, LA public transportation is not to convinient like Europe or NewYork.
You can have decent place in Pasadena or Los Feliz with less traffic (depend on your time, again time is the key).

While the other recomendations all have their merits, I twigged to your "runners & intramural sports" and thought... This guy ought to be looking at something in the neighborhoods around Griffith Park. The park has plenty of sports opportunities for those inclined: from miles of running, bike, and horse trails, tennis courts, soccer & rugby leagues, several golf courses, and facilities for other sports. Communities to look at include Los Feliz, West Glendale, North Hollywood, Universal City, etc. All of these would be within your prefered commute distance. Many have the possibility of using public transit to get to work. (check out www.metro.net)

i've lived in this area, and never heard it called 'westside village.' most people, inside and out, call it palms. give yourself 30 minutes to get downtown, 15 or so to get to westwood or santa monica. but palms has its good and bad areas, and it's not that easy to tell them apart.

for 'community,' west pasadena, brentwood, larchmont, sherman oaks, and playa del rey offer a yuppie community. pasadena has the bonus of having the gold line running into downtown. brentwood mostly closes down at 10pm, playa is a bit far from downtown, and sherman oaks can be difficult to reach from west l.a. or downtown because you're stuck with the 405 or the 101, two of the worst freeways.

a generally safe course is to pick something convenient to work for the first year, and then triangulate your preferred community after that. but the westside, pasadena, and the valley all have distinct feels (as do redondo beach, long beach, the dreaded orange curtain, and - gasp! - the 909).

Try El Segundo. It is actually where LAX is. Most people think of El Segundo as the place where all of the aerospace and corporate buildings are but when you go down to Richmond Street and Main it is like the mid-west. They have great little shops, restaurants and bars. They have their Richmond Street Fairs . The community is really safe and people are walking around all the time. It is located between Manhattan Beach and LAX but it is less expensive than the beach cities. You could take the Flyaway bus from LAX to Downtown or take the metro rail if you don't like driving.

Here are some of the restaurants/bars there http://www.yelp.com/search?find_loc=...lt=restaurants You can also use that search engine to look up many things like recreation in El Segundo.

Also, there is a local paper called the Beach Reporter that covers El Segundo for more info www.tbrnews.com/el_segundo_news/

I am an agent near by so if you have any questions about the area, leasing or buying feel free to PM me.

Cheri



You should check it out on Craigslist.

El Segundo...sure miss living there...
 

...I lived in El Segundo for many years - essentially '81 to '93...for a frequent flyer, it is great...the "midwestern feel" description is right on, though it has been "yuppified" quite a bit over the years...the town literally can be shut down with a handful of squad cars...safest place I have ever lived...I never felt afraid walking the dog at any, and I do mean any, hour of the day or night...you can walk anywhere in town - Rec Park, restaurants, etc., as the residential part is completely West of Sepulveda...I still miss it and swear if I ever win a lottery I will buy a house there...now, if I can just recreate some of the "blue-collar" restaurants (OK, dives!) that were so great way back when...Vapor Trails, anyone?? good luck!

Los Feliz area (near Griffith Observatory) is definitely a small community.

I would say Culver City. Great restaurants (From DT CC to Helms Bakery area), close to beach w/ good climate (Pasadena heat in summer is unbearable), close to LAX, reasonable cost of living. Commute to DT is easy, I wouldnt even get on a freeway -- Venice blvd to Fig.

That was precisely what I thought, too! ^

I love living in Pasadena, California. Of course, working here helps. Given what you say you're looking for, 318i, I wouldn't bother with anything too far from Old Town Pasadena; if you want restaurants and community and bars, that's the best part of town, even though it is also the most expensive (figures, right?). But, Pasadena might not be quite what you want. Look here, but be sure to check out other areas, too. Clearly, I like mlshanks' suggestion for you.

But, how feasible is getting to downtown from there via public transportation?

Yes - Westside Village is part of Palms, though it has its own homeowners association. Just like a lot of places in LA, Palms as a whole has hit or miss blocks - the blocks included in Westside Village are all pretty safe/nice (I lived there for a year while we remodeled our Santa Monica house). They even have their own blue neighborhood signs from the city designating it as a distinct area.

318i - just like everyone you asked before you posted, everyone here has a different opinion. Same as I experienced 5 years ago. I should have mentioned Long Beach in my original post too - lots of co-workers live down there love it and I find it charming every time I visit them. But most of these co-workers are also a little older, and unless you are doing all your travel on Jetblue not sure LGB will really help with the 25% travel schedule.

As great as Long Beach, Pasadena, and even El Segundo/South Bay are, not sure that would really be the LA experience you are looking for. Even though they are all part of "greater LA" - living in these areas you would be living in Pasadena, Long Beach, or the South Bay and commuting to Los Angeles (and a decent commute at that - train or car). I think you have to start on the westside, mid-Wilshire, West Hollywood, Silverlake/Loz Feliz, or Studio City/North Hollywood to really move to LA as a single person -- just my opinion from moving here in my late 20s -- these are the places you will want to go after work, so you might as well live in one of them (and if you were married, my recommendations on where to live would be different).

Then factor how much you will really be traveling and whether you can do a large portion of that out of Burbank or if it will really be LAX-oriented. 25% sounds low to a lot of the folks here on flyertalk, but it is still a lot of time at the airport. I am at 25% and still think I live at LAX. I would easily take better airport access/less travel stress/in my bed sooner after that late flight home 1 out of 4 days vs. a few extra minutes on the daily commute 3 out of 4 days (though this statement assumes 25% means lots of day trips - not 1 trip a month for a week at a time).

I will also add to crabbing's suggestion, you could even do something REALLY close to work like one of the new lofts downtown to start with (6 months - 1 year lease) and figure it out from there. There is a lot happenng in downtown right now. Forget the train - you might be able to walk to work. And airport access is decent.

And for iapetus - we have lots of buses running straight down Venice, Pico, and the other main roads to downtown! And give us two years and we might even have real mass transit on the westside!. Though that is the beauty of living on the westside - with all the surface streets we generally do not need mass transit to get downtown - we can just drive - and half the fun of living in LA is driving around and finding the unexpected.