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Old 08-14-2010, 10:25 PM
 
237 posts, read 667,284 times
Reputation: 236

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Well, you could consider nearby Highland Park as a "dumpy" place with higher crime, but now a hot new area for the very young buying the old houses there and fixing them up, and Highland Park is only 3 stops form downtown Pasadena on the Gold Line.

In fact, there are a lot of "dumpy" areas along the Gold Line route south of Pasadena and very expensive South Pasadena: Mt. Washington (with Southwest Museum Gold Line station), although it also has an artist community in the hills. Another possibility is a recently constructed apartment building next to the Cypress/Lincoln Gold Line station that I have seen. Take a look at the Gold Line route map and check out all the areas near or next to the stations for an easy and fast commute to downtown Pasadena. Heck, I guess you could even live near the Gold Line Eastside extension terminus at Atlantic & Pomona Blvd. (East 3rd Street) that has ample parking in the garage and is accasable from Monterey Park and Montebello. Montebello even has a Metrolink (commuter rail) station, but along the unreliable Riverside Line.

I suppose if you really want the full choice on "dumpy" or far less expensive places to live, but are a fair distance away, you could investigate cities next to Metrolink (commuter rail system) stations that cover the 5 county area. After arriving by Metrolink train at Union Station, your transfer to the Gold Line also at Union Station, to Pasadena is FREE (really included in the price of your Metrolink ticket or pass). Then reverse commute home. It takes about 15-17 minutes from Union Station to downtown Pasadena.

Metrolink (commuter rail) at metrolinktrains.com
LACMTA (subway, light rail, busses in LA county) mta.net

Essentially, all the places I've mentioned are all in the Northeast section of the city of Los Angeles and each has a Gold Line station for a very easy commute to downtown Pasadena. However, much of the Northeast communities do have some gang activity, so please be careful when selecting "dumpy" locations. There are serious crime issues in the Northeast (shootings, murder at bus stop by gang for pay-back of cooperative citizen. Everyone else's dream is to get out of the dumpy Northeast and live in South Pasadena or Pasadena. I would stick to finding housing in a decent area that you can afford as "dumpy" here means dangerous. If you live here a while, you can be a much better judge of the risks you think are reasonable to live in a low rent area.
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Old 08-16-2010, 03:30 AM
 
237 posts, read 667,284 times
Reputation: 236
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryKerry View Post
Well, you could consider nearby Highland Park as a "dumpy" place with higher crime, but now a hot new area for the very young buying the old houses there and fixing them up, and Highland Park is only 3 stops form downtown Pasadena on the Gold Line.

In fact, there are a lot of "dumpy" areas along the Gold Line route south of Pasadena and very expensive South Pasadena: Mt. Washington (with Southwest Museum Gold Line station), although it also has an artist community in the hills. Another possibility is a recently constructed apartment building next to the Cypress/Lincoln Gold Line station that I have seen. Take a look at the Gold Line route map and check out all the areas near or next to the stations for an easy and fast commute to downtown Pasadena. Heck, I guess you could even live near the Gold Line Eastside extension terminus at Atlantic & Pomona Blvd. (East 3rd Street) that has ample parking in the garage and is accasable from Monterey Park and Montebello. Montebello even has a Metrolink (commuter rail) station, but along the unreliable Riverside Line.

I suppose if you really want the full choice on "dumpy" or far less expensive places to live, but are a fair distance away, you could investigate cities next to Metrolink (commuter rail system) stations that cover the 5 county area. After arriving by Metrolink train at Union Station, your transfer to the Gold Line also at Union Station, to Pasadena is FREE (really included in the price of your Metrolink ticket or pass). Then reverse commute home. It takes about 15-17 minutes from Union Station to downtown Pasadena.

Metrolink (commuter rail) at metrolinktrains.com
LACMTA (subway, light rail, busses in LA county) mta.net

Essentially, all the places I've mentioned are all in the Northeast section of the city of Los Angeles and each has a Gold Line station for a very easy commute to downtown Pasadena. However, much of the Northeast communities do have some gang activity, so please be careful when selecting "dumpy" locations. There are serious crime issues in the Northeast (shootings, murder at bus stop by gang for pay-back of cooperative citizen. Everyone else's dream is to get out of the dumpy Northeast and live in South Pasadena or Pasadena. I would stick to finding housing in a decent area that you can afford as "dumpy" here means dangerous. If you live here a while, you can be a much better judge of the risks you think are reasonable to live in a low rent area.
The above post was posted in the wrong thread. Please disregard.
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Old 08-16-2010, 08:53 PM
 
10,629 posts, read 26,660,945 times
Reputation: 6776
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Originally Posted by citric View Post
Thanks for the answers!

Just to clarify, I was wondering whether it would pay off--in terms of more space, cheaper rent, lower cost of living--to live somewhere dumpy and take the train in to work in Pasadena. For example, in New York, most of the younger lawyers live in Brooklyn where they can have a little more space and take the train in to work in Manhattan.
Depends on what you're looking for. I agree with Nita that LA is very different than LA; the lack of one main central (and very expensive) core seems to mean that there's not the same commuting dynamic. The main thing would be those who want to buy a house and end up living somewhere really far out and commuting in; I know people who have done that, but they seem to be mostly (or maybe it's just the people I know) people who have children and are desperate to buy a semi-affordable place in a good school district. I think most people can find what they want in or near Pasadena.
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