From Sydney to a new contract in LA ! Where to live ? (Los Angeles: for rent, condo)

[drpopper]

I've taken a new contract for the next 12 months based in Century City and we have decided to actually rent a place rather then living in serviced accommodation. We have 2 young children under 4yo and are looking for a small house reasonably close to my office. I have been given a budget of $7k per month by my employer but we could top that up a bit if necessary. What we are looking for a nice 3 bedroom family house with facilities close by in a real "neighborhood" . The streets full of endless condo's and townhouses near Century city/West LA/ North Santa Monica do not exactly fill us with lust, we'd like this next 12 months to be a bit of a adventure so we would like a nice but a cooler more quirky area then what we saw very close to Century City. Any ideas ?

[JohnG72]

Venice I guess. Maybe off Melrose in Hollywood, say between near Fairfax.

Most families with kids go for the more vanilla locations though. For houses, Rancho Park, Culver City, parts of Westwood, esp near the country club just north of Century City. But none are what I'd describe as quirky.

As to your budget...if 7K per month is your total salary, you should be able to find plenty nice places for $3K a month rent. If you have $7k per month for rent, your're good everywhere except the wealthiest of digs.

[SalParadise]

Carthay Circle, Larchmont Village, Silverlake, Los Feliz, Venice (near Abbot Kinney), or Mircale Mile (one of the single-family districts near La Brea/Wilshire).

[drpopper]

Would anyone know the approx commute from this property to Century city ?
2431 Carman Crest Sunset Strip | Hollywood Hills | Los Angeles, CA 90068 (http://www.hiltonhyland.com/property/1645/2431-Carman-Crest.html - broken link)

Otherwise what would be the commute from Silverlake/ Echo Park area?

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by drpopper

Would anyone know the approx commute from this property to Century city ?
2431 Carman Crest Sunset Strip | Hollywood Hills | Los Angeles, CA 90068 (http://www.hiltonhyland.com/property/1645/2431-Carman-Crest.html - broken link)

Otherwise what would be the commute from Silverlake/ Echo Park area?

Map Quest puts the commute at about 23 minutes (i.e., no traffic).

Peak hours I'd say that part of the Hollywood Hills to Century City is approx. 35 to 40 minutes.
MapQuest Maps - Driving Directions - Map

Silverlake/Echo Park would be worse.

[drpopper]

We've decided to concentrate on the area around Manderville Canyon for now ....looks like it offers everything we want.

[BRinSM]

i wouldn't call mandeville canyone a 'real' neighborhood. there are some amazing houses up there, but amenities are miles away. i think a much better location would be south of mandeville near san vicente boulevard or near montana ave in santa monica. there are a lot of wealthy families in these areas along with parks and plenty of shopping/dining options. while mandeville canyon can feel like an escape from the city, it's also very secluded and not very child friendly with all of the speeding cars and cyclists that use the road. i'm not trying to discount mandeville (i love it!), i just don't think that it is ideal for a family with young children.

if you're still looking for neighborhoods, i would definitely stay west of century city. it is much easier to access century city from the west than the east.

[drpopper]

Yeah certainly the area just north of San vicente boulevard is one of our favorites. Certainly we weren't planning on going all the way up Mandeville but rather staying around the bottom end.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

i wouldn't call mandeville canyone a 'real' neighborhood. there are some amazing houses up there, but amenities are miles away. i think a much better location would be south of mandeville near san vicente boulevard or near montana ave in santa monica. there are a lot of wealthy families in these areas along with parks and plenty of shopping/dining options. while mandeville canyon can feel like an escape from the city, it's also very secluded and not very child friendly with all of the speeding cars and cyclists that use the road. i'm not trying to discount mandeville (i love it!), i just don't think that it is ideal for a family with young children.

if you're still looking for neighborhoods, i would definitely stay west of century city. it is much easier to access century city from the west than the east.

But accessing Century City from west of the 405 is worse than accessing it from any other direction. Given the choice I would much rather even pass through Beverly Hills than pass through the utter traffic nightmare that is the area by the 405. That is why I would not recommend that anyone who's working east of the 405 live west of the 405 (unless they are living and/or working right next to the freeway.)

[drpopper]

still here ... Ended up giving up traffic after the first year and we bought a house off Stone Canyon in mid Bel Air.... 5 min commute ...