Moving to LA from west. Washington-Neighborhood Advice Needed! (Los Angeles, Glendale: apartment, rent) - City-Data Forum

JM15 · 07-04-2011, 04:31 PM

My gf and I are planning on moving to LA in Sept. She will be attending FIDM-Los Angeles. We are western Washington residents, 22yrs old, recent college grads, and don't need a "night-life" area. Our monthly rent budget must not exceed $900. We are looking for a one bedroom or studio apartment in a "safer" environment. We will be bringing two vehicles. We would prefer not to live in downtown LA. What neighboring areas would you recommend? Please be exact as I am not familiar with the area and will be using Google Maps. Please stick with facts and if possible include travel times in minutes during rush-hour traffic to downtown LA (as best you can). Thanks!

nowincal11 · 07-04-2011, 05:00 PM

Alhambra is very safe, affordable, and maybe 20-25 minutes from downtown LA, 30 tops. It is very generic suburban.

Echo Park is a neighborhood of the city of LA just NW of downtown. It is relatively safe by LA standards and has rents in your price range. 10 min from Downtown LA.

Atwater Village is another affordable area just NW of downtown. It's become a lot more safe in the past few years. This is about 20 min from downtown.

JM15 · 07-04-2011, 05:22 PM

Thanks for the input! I've been doing some forum reading and the overall consensus I have taken away is that if you draw a circle connecting LA-Culver City-Beverly Hills-Glendale-Pasadena-Alhambra, it seems to be the safety ring. I understand that we will be "paying" for the safety factor. Would you agree with the "safety ring" statement? Are Sanford and Oakwood safe places as well? I wasn't able to find anything on those. Thanks again, I look forward to your response...

nowincal11 · 07-04-2011, 05:35 PM

For the most part, those areas are safe except for Koreatown and most of Hollywood. Oakwood is a very unsafe area in Hollywood. Downtown is a bit sketchy in parts, but has gotten better. By Culver City is pretty good, with a few bad pockets alongside the 405.

pwright1 · 07-04-2011, 09:33 PM

Where did you live in western Washington?

JM15 · 07-06-2011, 09:20 AM

We live near Seattle (25 min away). My gf lives in Redmond and I live in Renton.

majoun · 07-06-2011, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nowincal11

For the most part, those areas are safe except for Koreatown and most of Hollywood. Oakwood is a very unsafe area in Hollywood. Downtown is a bit sketchy in parts, but has gotten better. By Culver City is pretty good, with a few bad pockets alongside the 405.

"Oakwood" and "Sanford" in relation to inner city L.A. are normally referred to as Koreatown. I had to Google both names of neighborhoods as the only Oakwood I'd heard of was the Venice neighborhood of that name which is the absolute worst westside neighborhood. I wouldn't recommend that someone live in either Oakwood neighborhood (although Oakwood Ave. is perfectly fine in the Fairfax District, Hancock Park, or Larchmont, I'd be hesitant about heading east of Wilton on Oakwood)

nowincal11 · 07-06-2011, 02:10 PM

Really? Learn something new everyday. Always thought of Oakwood as part of Hollywood. I think it's Hollywood Patrol Division.

10by2012 · 07-06-2011, 06:47 PM

the USC area .. lots of students with okay priced rent

majoun · 07-06-2011, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nowincal11

Really? Learn something new everyday. Always thought of Oakwood as part of Hollywood. I think it's Hollywood Patrol Division.

Oakwood Avenue is almost entirely within Hollywood Division although there may be a small part in the Rampart Division or the Olympic Division. Koreatown is covered by four different LAPD divisions: Wilshire, Rampart, Hollywood, and Olympic. (Neighboring East Hollywood is covered by three different LAPD divisions: Hollywood, Northeast, and Rampart).

Oakwood and Western to me would be Koreatown, but it's very close to the border with Hollywood and East Hollywood to the north (and with Larchmont to the west). In recent years the name "Melrose Hill" has become used to describe the area between K-town and East Hollywood (which is similar to both and has the exact same problems).

Keep in mind the only Oakwood neighborhood I'd heard of before that post was the one in Venice. I knew very well where Oakwood and Western was, but had never heard that area called Oakwood (As for which Oakwood is worse, it's pretty close. Both have pretty bad problems with gang activity and drug sales. Oakwood in Venice doesn't have as much street prostitution as inner city Oakwood, but has more homeless.)

According to Google, "Sanford" refers to the area by Wilshire and Western. I have never heard that actually used to describe that neighborhood. I remember when Koreatown was a white working class neighborhood called Wilshire Center, but I never heard the terms Oakwood and Sanford used to describe any neighborhoods along Western Avenue.