Planning on commuting from Westminster to Malibu for work (rent, loans)

[doublehh03]

so i just graduated from school in SF, and now moving down to orange county to live. but my new job most likely will place me in Malibu. I live in the westminster area. however, in order to save up for a house (and pay off school loans), i actually would not mind the commute doing this in order to achieve those goals.

but since i'm not familiar with the traffic in the LA area, just want a lot of advice from you guys.

i know how bad the 405 is, but wondering how bad is an extra 10-12 miles along the PCH can add onto my commute.

my work hours vary. if i work 10-7, i dont think the commute would be too bad at all (i've been commuting as an intern to LA for the past few days and it takes me around 1h and 15 mins to get there, and 40 minutes to come home, which is actually surprisingly ok).

but again, i hear that PCH is just an actual highway and no freeway leads directly to malibu. so was wondering how bad is PCH?

if i work from 8-5, what time should i leave home? what about 10-7?

i was planning on hanging around malibu if i leave work at 5pm anyways to enjoy the nice area.

any advice would be appreciated.

[disgruntled la native]

I can't recommend it. why are you trying to live in westminster? live in LA somewhere ! you say its an hour at least to LA - correct. malibu is far from LA. you have to go to santa monica, then work your way up the coast. that can be at least another 30-45 minutes of traffic. you could be looking at 2 hours on bad days. one way.

For example, I used to live in santa monica very very close to PCH (like 2 minutes) and it would sometimes take me 30-45 minutes just to get to central malibu (malibu colony and PCH).

[doublehh03]

basically i'm the single provider for my family financially and i'm looking to buy my parents a house ASAP + loans to pay off. and i don't really think renting a place that can be expensive near malibu, although i'll be making 6 figures before tax).

i actually don't mind driving 1-2 hrs one way b/c i like to drive and i love my care. but wanting to hear opinions from the more experienced people.

but thanks for your advice. is PCH that bad ALL the time? every hour? i read that it's a really nice drive. and traffic is only bad if there are acidents (but it's rare, like 6 per year).

[disgruntled la native]

I'm guessing you'll have to take the 405 from westminster to the 10, then the 10 to PCH, then PCH several miles up to Malibu.

Now the 405 portion is generally what people take from OC to LA and it's what, 45 minutes with no traffic and an hour to 90 minutes with some.

Then the 10 west to PCH is a few minutes, maybe more.

From the 10 to Malibu it depends what part of Malibu. But even in light traffic, expect at least 15-20 minutes.

So if you're ok driving 2 hours one way, this may be realistic.

[doublehh03]

where i work will be in west malibu most likely (at least it's not east)

well, i don't plan on driving in the rush hour times of the day. for instance, if i have to get to work by 8pm, i plan on driving at 4:15-4:30pm ish (which avoids a lot of the morning traffic). and if i have to leave work at 5pm, i plan on hanging out in malibu (gym, meeting some friends) until 7:30pm before heading home.

but yes, i was planning on taking that route. but we'll see, maybe i do end up rooming with a friend of mine who's going to USC and will rent a place in santa monica.

but thanks a lot for your advice. its' been helpful.

[JohnG72]

Troll post.

Again.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

Troll post.

Again.

Exactly.

[Mike121]

It is a very long drive. If you want the opinion of anyone that has done the drive, they're going to tell you that it is not advisable. You seem dead set, so go ahead and try it and find out for yourself.

If you really want to do it, you should try to shift your hours to that one leg of your commute is between 9pm and 5am.

Also, you should immediately start looking for a new job in OC.

[BRinSM]

west malibu is further away from OC than east malibu btw. if your office is up near zuma, that's at least 30 minutes from santa monica with no traffic on pch.

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

Troll post.

Again.

how is it a troll post? OP seems sincere, isnt trying to pick a fight, and i have heard of people attempting commutes similarly crazy like this (but they never last)