New Job in Woodland Hills. Where should I live? (Lancaster: apartment complexes, lease)

[kellz_cant_wait]

I am starting a new job in Woodland Hills in about a month and am trying to find the best place to live. I am 25 and a single male. I am going to be working from 5:30-6:30am to about 2:30-3:30pm. I love the beach and the outdoors and do not want to isolate myself by living in Woodland Hills. I would love to live in Santa Monica, but I also do not want to have to leave for work at 4am to get there by 5:30am. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by kellz_cant_wait

I am starting a new job in Woodland Hills in about a month and am trying to find the best place to live. I am 25 and a single male. I am going to be working from 5:30-6:30am to about 2:30-3:30pm. I love the beach and the outdoors and do not want to isolate myself by living in Woodland Hills. I would love to live in Santa Monica, but I also do not want to have to leave for work at 4am to get there by 5:30am. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

Well, there is no traffic at 530am, and not much at 6am, so its not going to take you an hour and a half to get to Woodland Hills at that time. The problem is, its still a 23 mile drive.

Studio City has a younger crowd and is a 15 mile drive to Woodland Hills, but you still have to deal with crossing the 405, which is not always an easy task. Still, if you leave for work prior to 6am, you shouldn't have an issue most days.

FWIW, you are not "isolating" yourself by living in Woodland Hills and I'm not sure why you think you are. Its far from Hollywood and Downtown, but most people don't go to those places every night. Its 30 min or less drive through the mountains to the coast(Topanga to PCH). A whopping 12 miles...and about 17 miles using the same route in to Santa Monica Beach. I think maybe people think its far from the coast because they get confused driving through the mountains.

FWIW, try Froggys along Topanga in Malibu Canyon. Very interesting place.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Where do you live now?

[nowincal11]

Originally Posted by kellz_cant_wait

I am starting a new job in Woodland Hills in about a month and am trying to find the best place to live. I am 25 and a single male. I am going to be working from 5:30-6:30am to about 2:30-3:30pm. I love the beach and the outdoors and do not want to isolate myself by living in Woodland Hills. I would love to live in Santa Monica, but I also do not want to have to leave for work at 4am to get there by 5:30am. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

Woodland Hills has some young professionals. The vast majority are in their 30s though. Just my 2 cents. The newer apartment complexes are resort style and very nice because the area is a bit more suburban. Thus, the complexes are have their own gyms, pools, etc. The nightlife in the area is a bit limited as compared to Studio City.

At that time of the morning, you will not have traffic. Santa Monica is still a bit far though. Check out Studio City and Sherman Oaks along Ventura Blvd. You could also live in West LA which cuts 10-15 minutes from your commute each way since its right off the 405 and then go to the beach as you please in Santa Monica.

[RalphWiggum]

Studio City as close to Ventura and Laurel Canyon as possible. Your commute will be quite manageable at that time of day. When you want to go to the beach on the weekends, the drive to Santa Monica is about 30 minutes and the drive to Malibu is around 45 minutes. It's also only a 20 minute drive through the hills to West Hollywood nightlife.

[kellz_cant_wait]

I am currently living on Long Island (NY) which is where I am from. I am going to be relocating to California because I got a job offer I couldnt refuse and plus love Southern California. The New York City grind is fun, but it gets old and I am very excited about this step up in my career. I am going to definitely check out Studio City as well as Woodland Hills. I didnt know if I would be "isolating" myself, it was just what I had seen from reading other forums throughout the web. I really appreciate everyones input and will certainly be using the help in my relocation. I was thinking about getting a place in Woodland Hills to start until I get settled and if I get a short term lease, in a few months, I can than go ahead and find a more long term home. As I said, I am going to be 25 in a few months and I am single with no kids, so I can move without too much of a hastle.

Thanks again!!

Ryan

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by kellz_cant_wait

I am currently living on Long Island (NY) which is where I am from. I am going to be relocating to California because I got a job offer I couldnt refuse and plus love Southern California. The New York City grind is fun, but it gets old and I am very excited about this step up in my career. I am going to definitely check out Studio City as well as Woodland Hills. I didnt know if I would be "isolating" myself, it was just what I had seen from reading other forums throughout the web. I really appreciate everyones input and will certainly be using the help in my relocation. I was thinking about getting a place in Woodland Hills to start until I get settled and if I get a short term lease, in a few months, I can than go ahead and find a more long term home. As I said, I am going to be 25 in a few months and I am single with no kids, so I can move without too much of a hastle.

Thanks again!!

Ryan

Sounds like you've got yourself a pretty good plan.

The thing about the interwebz is that people kinda post with their own bias in mind, without actually disclosing what the bias is. So a reader unfamiliar with the subject matter is left with the misconceptions that the original poster has. Happens all the time with City-Data, where Lancaster is a warzone reminiscint of Bagdad and Santa Monica is the greatest city of all time.

Woodland Hills biggest downfall is that its hot in the summer. Hottest place in SFV, which is hotter than the rest of the LA and SGV. Temperatures usually get up to 107-108 for a day or two in summer. Second flaw is that its a bit of a drive to anywhere in the LA basin.

The biggest advantages are that its relatively safe and affordable as far as LA goes. Another advantage is that it has literally every chain store and restaurant that you can think of. Its as middle class suburban as LA gets. While that might not sound appealing to a young professional, I think that happy hours at chain places should not be underestimated in terms of meeting alcohol influenced member of the opposite sex that are in the exact same position. And frankly, there are much worse things than very easy and close access to Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Frys(super duper amazingly awesome store of which I will always be in wonder) and TGIF's. And of course the biggest advantage is that you'll not have much of a commute to work.

The thing about going out at 25 years old is this...theres not a lot of nightlife in Woodland Hills. Fortunately all those traffic problems that exist most of the time do not actually exist after say 8pm on Friday and Saturday nights, so its an easy drive into Hollywood, Westside, or Downtown LA.

[nowincal11]

With John's comments in mind, I'll share with you my own bias. I do happen to venture out to Woodland Hills occasionally and sample the nightlife because I have some colleagues who live that way. I am in the OP's age bracket and am one of the youngest at the 3 or 4 places we hang at.

I'm going to simply give my opinion that the chain restaurant type bars (Fridays, Applebees, etc) does not have the type of crowd that a young professional would be interested in. The crowds are way older and kind of bland in my opinion. The more upscale places such as Fleming's are a bit better, but does not compare to the packed bars along Ventura in Studio City or Sherman Oaks on a weeknight for happy hour or weekend night.

As for the commute, living by work is a huge advantage. Although the traffic on a weekend isn't bad, it's still a trek into Hollywood, the Westside, or Downtown LA. At the end of the night, you still have that drive home after a night out.

In addition, you have the issue of meeting people to go out with. My suspicion is that you will be one of the youngest in Woodland Hills in the young professional scene who is not from LA.

If you sign a short term lease, that will at least give you the option to explore.

[Mike121]

Hi. I'll give you the best advice I can, which is to live by your job whether or not the neighborhood is what you want. Forget about trying to live in a neighborhood that meets your definition of cool. Live by your job, no matter what.

If you do that, you will not be worn out by the traffic and will have the energy to travel to whatever you like in your down time.

If you don't, you'll be ground down by the traffic and in your down time you'll just end up a couch potato.

[Samoi137]

Did I miss mention of your budget? You want to be really close to nightlife, etc. or just accessible? Malibu would be nice if you can afford it. Topanga Canyon has some urban-rustic, artsy parts. but likewise would likely be expensive. Woodland Hills covers a wide enough area that you may find what you like if you look around enough (and have a not terrible drive to the coast through Topanga Canyon or even I-405). Idea to rent and look around sounds good, but I assume you'll make at least one exploratory trip before moving.