Moving to LA in the fall. Hours and hours of research later... (Oxnard: apartments)

[Citizen Snips]

and I still don't know where I should live. I want to get into post production so I know I should be near downtown, Hollywood, Burbank, Santa Monica area. I have looked in tons of suburbs and neighborhoods but im having a pretty standard price:safety ratio problem.

I will be moving with my gf/fiance/wife (not sure which of the three she will be by then). We are doing nothing but saving from now until then for this move. We do not have kids yet.

I am looking for about $1000/month.

Safe neighborhood.

She is graduating and wants to be a k-2nd teacher so good schools are important.

Decently close to the areas I mentioned above.

Thanks for your help!

Edit: I would prefer to be not super close to downtown. I would rather be closer to either the beach on the south or west or near angeles national forest to the north. not necessary but preferable. Thanks

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by Citizen Snips

and I still don't know where I should live. I want to get into post production so I know I should be near downtown, Hollywood, Burbank, Santa Monica area. I have looked in tons of suburbs and neighborhoods but im having a pretty standard price:safety ratio problem.

I will be moving with my gf/fiance/wife (not sure which of the three she will be by then). We are doing nothing but saving from now until then for this move. We do not have kids yet.

I am looking for about $1000/month.

Safe neighborhood.

She is graduating and wants to be a k-2nd teacher so good schools are important.

Decently close to the areas I mentioned above.

Thanks for your help!

Edit: I would prefer to be not super close to downtown. I would rather be closer to either the beach on the south or west or near angeles national forest to the north. not necessary but preferable. Thanks

So if I'm understanding the post correctly, you need to be close to the industry.

The only beaches with less than an hour rush hour drive to Hollywood will be Santa Monica, Venice, and Marina Del Rey, and thats debateable. Anyway, your price range knocks you out of those areas.

Culver City might work if a studio is acceptable. Maybe Mar Vista too. Lots of industry work in Culver City and not too bad a drive to Hollywood.

The other place that might work is Sherman Oaks or Valley Village. I've seen older small apartments at around $1000 a month. Some parts of North Hollywood are ok too, and even some of Van Nuys and Valley Glen, particularly south of Sherman Way. Case by case basis though.

I think the mountains...La Cresenta and so forth are ok also....maybe Montrose would work.

You have to keep in mind that with that price range in one of the above neighborhoods you are looking at older small apartments with no modern upgrades. Its fine with me personally, but I know lots of people don't like that.

Another thing that would help you get into a better area is to consider a guest house or a shared house.

You may want to check out westsiderentals.com

I cant vouch for any of these places, but here are examples:

Single (or $1,150-1bedrm) West LA + pool - great location (http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/apa/2248917310.html - broken link)
VIRTUAL TOUR! Nice Studio, ALL UTILITIES INCLUDED! (1088) (http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/apa/2248896272.html - broken link)
***********Westwood Single****** (http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/apa/2246409915.html - broken link)
+ Upgraded + Laundry Facility + Near Freeway + Carpet Flooring + (http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/apa/2249064422.html - broken link)
Beautiful Studio (http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/apa/2248718960.html - broken link)

[Citizen Snips]

Super helpful. Thank you very much. I have looked at Culver City and it is probable my top choice but it may be a little pricey. I also looked at Van Nuys, San Fernando, and N Hollywood but some of them look a little sketchy. I guess it just varies from neighborhood to neighborhood though.

This is obviously a long way away but I really just wanted to make sure I would be able to find something decent in a safe neighborhood at my price range.

Thanks again

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by Citizen Snips

Super helpful. Thank you very much. I have looked at Culver City and it is probable my top choice but it may be a little pricey. I also looked at Van Nuys, San Fernando, and N Hollywood but some of them look a little sketchy. I guess it just varies from neighborhood to neighborhood though.

This is obviously a long way away but I really just wanted to make sure I would be able to find something decent in a safe neighborhood at my price range.

Thanks again

No problem.

Van Nuys and North Hollywood has good and bad. The East San Fernando Valley is very odd...the area bounded by the 405, the 5/~Cahuenga. Literally every major street moving southward respresents an increasingly better neighborhood with the big chunks from worse to best being:

Roscoe south to Sherman Way
Sherman Way down to Victory
Victory down to Oxnard
Oxnard to Burbank.
Burbank to 101
101 to Ventura
South of Ventura

Roscoe to Sherman Way has mix of ok to sketch
Sherman Way to Victory has mix of upscale to sketch, but generally quite livable. I lived in that area in a shared housing situation.
Victory down to oxnard is mostly nice and represents what most people would consider safe and nice and the neighborhoods get more upscale after that.

[LASam]

May also want to check the Palms neighborhood. It's centrally located between the studios and beaches and packed with rentals. It's not glamorous but for the price you want and the location you want, you probably aren't going to get glamorous. It's pretty safe though (low violent crime/moderate property crime).

[Citizen Snips]

So I am definitely liking the Culver city/Palms area the best and I think I may be able to find a nice one bedroom for $1000/month if i look hard enough.

[LAjorge]

Downtown L.A. is nice