Where to Live between Camarillo and Los Angeles (Thousand Oaks, Burbank: apartments, renting) - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

Jaditude · 05-30-2011, 04:55 PM

Hi, so I'm moving to California soon because I have a job in Camarillo. I'm 25 and single and trying to decide where to live. I have some friends who live in Burbank so I'm wanting to live between Camarillo and LA as opposed to Camarillo and Santa Barbara. I want to live in an area with other people my age/relationship status and with things to do (and safe, that'd be a plus). I've read a lot about different areas around LA like westwood, woodland hills, Encino, and the like but I've also heard about traffic. Obviously I'd rather not have a 2 hour commute each way but would be fine with around 40. Are there any areas with a realistic commute time of around 40 minutes or lower that also would allow me to have a social life without a long commute time to fun? I'd be planning on renting an apartment at least to begin with a monthly rate of less than 2K. I guess it comes down to I don't really comprehend the traffic situation there and need some guidance. Thanks for any help.

Charles · 05-30-2011, 08:34 PM

Camarillo because it is close, safe, has lots of housing options, and very comfortable weather. Camarillo has a bit of a conservative (retired military) culture too. Plus it is home to Siezure Village which speaks of the demographics a little bit.
Ventura because it has a sportier/cool edge, but it is probably 30 minutes away. (You'd best just drive there on the weekends).
Thousand Oaks because it is like Camarillo (boring, family) but hotter in summer, closer to your friends, possibly a bit more expensive and 20-30 minutes commute. There are some younger people in TO though - after all over 100,000 people live there - they can't all be married couples with 2.3 kids or over 65 years old driving Buicks.

user_id · 05-30-2011, 11:24 PM

Why do so many people want to commute to work instead of commuting to fun on the weekends?

Anyhow, if you live in Burbank you'll be looking at long commutes 5 days a week, on the other hand if you live in Camarillo (or Thousand Oaks) you can commute to LA on the weekends and largely avoid traffic (much less traffic on the weekends).

Now, if you're set on living in LA, I'd look at Woodland Hills or connecting communities. The commute in this case isn't that bad as traffic on the 101 usually gets bad when you hit Woodland Hills. There are numerous apartments in the Warner Center area which is relatively safe.

DowntownVentura · 05-31-2011, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by user_id

Why do so many people want to commute to work instead of commuting to fun on the weekends?

<snip>.

It is natural for people to want to live where they feel it is fun and among people that they feel are fun.

People like to live where they feel safer and don't mind as much coming into areas they feel are less safe during the day to work.

MtnSurfer · 05-31-2011, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by user_id

Why do so many people want to commute to work instead of commuting to fun on the weekends?

Anyhow, if you live in Burbank you'll be looking at long commutes 5 days a week, on the other hand if you live in Camarillo (or Thousand Oaks) you can commute to LA on the weekends and largely avoid traffic (much less traffic on the weekends).

Now, if you're set on living in LA, I'd look at Woodland Hills or connecting communities. The commute in this case isn't that bad as traffic on the 101 usually gets bad when you hit Woodland Hills. There are numerous apartments in the Warner Center area which is relatively safe.

I fully agree with you. But at 25 y/o Jaditude may need to discover the joys of LA commuting him/herself to fully appreciate what you are saying. There will be plenty of time to reflect upon that closer to LA decision while sitting in bumper to bumper traffic daily. 5 day a week gridlock can be get old real quick = not so cool, fun anymore.

But hey, you only live once right?

Thousand Oaks would be the furthest I would recommend commuting from the belly of the beast (LA traffic nightmare).

Derek

BRinSM · 05-31-2011, 10:26 AM

a 40 commute would get you 20-30 miles from the office unless you go too far into LA. any further east than woodland hills and you're bound to hit traffic in the valley. and if you are seriously considering woodland hills, you might as well just keep looking west to thousand oaks. this way you'll be closer to work and have some social life options since woodland hills isn't very exciting anyways.

Jaditude · 05-31-2011, 12:18 PM

thanks for the replies. I only mentioned Burbank because I wanted to give a reason why I wanted to live on the LA side of Camarillo. I agree that Burbank is much too far of a commute. I understand the point about living where you work and commuting to other things, but I don't think that'd wind up great for me. If I have to commute 40 minutes to work, I'll do it because it's work and I have to. If I have to commute 40 minutes to a leisure activity I probably won't because mentally that seems too far to do something for fun. I also want to live close enough to stuff to do so that I can come home from work and then go out and do something a couple nights a week instead of just on weekends. I know I'm not being super specific about what I want to do for fun, but that's because I like doing random and different things and I'm guessing that LA would have more options than surrounding communities.

I'll be going out there soon so I'll be checking out places when I'm there, but it seems like I should look at Woodland Hills and possibly Thousand Oaks. Would you guys say a place around the distance to Sherman Oaks would end up hitting a lot more traffic than Woodland Hills? I guess I'll see the traffic first hand soon enough, but I'm so used to using the El in Chicago that I'm having a hard time understanding how bad it is.

Charles · 05-31-2011, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaditude

Would you guys say a place around the distance to Sherman Oaks would end up hitting a lot more traffic than Woodland Hills? I guess I'll see the traffic first hand soon enough, but I'm so used to using the El in Chicago that I'm having a hard time understanding how bad it is.

This should help you a lot. Check it out during your expected commute times (CA time). It is real time traffic. Now, this week may be a little off since some people took the holiday week off.

Sigalert.com Los Angeles Traffic Map

BRinSM · 05-31-2011, 12:28 PM

sherman oaks would probably run about an hour each way, sometimes less and sometimes more. it's mostly a reverse commute, but it's far (close to 40 miles each way). and with gas at $4+ per gallon, that would add up quickly if you don't have a fuel efficient car. is a little extra night life during the work week really worth 2 hours in the car and $15 in gas every day when those numbers could easily be cut in half?

MtnSurfer · 05-31-2011, 12:58 PM

Sherman Oaks to Camarillo would be too much during rush hour IMO. You would be driving right through the most congested part of the valley daily = a lot of wear and tear on you and your vehicle. That makes every day a stressful day even when work itself isn't. The drive can easily exceed 1 hour one way. for example Google estiamtes 1 hour 20 minutes during traffic. If there is an accident which is pretty common or rain then it will be longer.

Keep in mind for LA its not the distance that gets you, rather its the volume of ppl on the road all at the same time that do. So its much easier to come home from work then go out after and drive into LA than it is to drive LA and The Valley during rush hour.

Derek