Commute to Pasadena from Weho or Culver City (Santa Monica, West Hollywood: living in, move to)

[freewheelin]

Hi,

I am debating whether to move to Culver City or West Hollywood when working in Pasadena (although this job would only be for about 6 months). I would be living in downtown CC and working in Pasadena where the 210 and 134 meet. How long of a commute would this be, if I need to be at work around 9am? And would living in Weho make a substantial difference?

Thanks.

[obscure reference]

I'd take CC over WeHo, simply because it's less of a hassle to get to the freeway from CC. If you've just driven 30-odd miles back from your job, you probably don't want to be fighting your way through WeHo traffic to get home, too. That could add 20-30 minutes coming back.

A few years ago, I took a five-month contract that entailed a commute very similar to what you'd be doing from CC (heck, I wouldn't be surprised if it was at the same place as you're talking about!). At the time, I lived right near where the 405 hits Santa Monica Blvd, which is probably where you'd be getting on if you chose WeHo over CC. My morning commute was about 45 minutes. The only part where I'd regularly run into traffic was the 101 between the 405 and 134; those 6.5 miles usually took at least 15-20 minutes to get through. Coming back in the evenings was a crapshoot -- could take 25 minutes, could take 2 hours. After a couple of weeks, I started bringing my laptop with me and holing up in a Starbucks until the traffic out of Pasadena died down.

Would I commit to doing that every day, for years? No. But for a fixed time, it was do-able.