moving to la (Los Angeles, Pasadena, Santa Monica: housing, rental, income)

[mum2lysie]

My family is moving to LA for my husband's fellowship. This includes myself, husband and 2 year old (when we move) daughter. Our income will be such that we will be able to afford 2000-2500$ monthly for rent. We will be visiting the area in the spring to find housing. We are aware of some of the difficulties that LA presents, ie, parking, traffic, $$$$. My main concern is safety and finding a place where I feel comfortable strolling my daughter around. We're not strangers to city life, we've lived in New york, baltimore, boston. We're in our early 30's and would like to be close to coffee, restaurants, boutiques, etc. I apologize if this post is redundant..I haven't scrolled through all the previous ones. Any input is appreciated Thank You

[straight outta camden]

Where will you and / or your husband be working? (forgive me--does a fellowship involve work?) That will help people advise you better.

[mum2lysie]

Yes, I realized after I posted it would probably be helpful to know he will be working at UCLA medical center. He's a physician, a fellowship is an extension of his training-sorry I didn't clarify

[mum2lysie]

Also, as I'm thinking of it...what would be the areas I should stay away from? Some of the listings on craigslist mention they are "on the westside" and in a nice area, yet the pictures show a home with bars on the windows. I'm not sure what that means in LA but where I come from (boston) that's not a good thing...

[TheRealAngelion]

You should stay close to UCLA. Westwood or Brentwood would probably be your best options, but it really depends on your budget and how much you can afford in rent.

[mum2lysie]

We sort of figured brentwood or westwood just based on other threads and the close proximity to UCLA. LA really seems to be portrayed as an extremely dangerous city, this does concern me a great deal. However, we are moving from Baltimore City and have had to deal with ALOT of crime here. Some of the neighborhoods here are down right frightening. So that being said, should I be worried about walking around the streets of Brentwood? I'm not being sarcastic either-I have never been there and I'm genuinely wondering

[straight outta camden]

I would look at Westwood, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Culver City, particularly the last two. I'm not crazy about Westwood, which strikes me as ersatz, but plenty of people like it and of course it always pays to be close to work. You may, for example, be able to get away with 1 car if you live there. Brentwood is OK--ritzy and alienating in the hills, more urban in the flats (though still not very urban compared with the cities you mention). Culver City and Santa Monica are more child-friendly. The "boutiquey" bits of Santa Monica are 3rd St, Main St. and Montana. If you are looking for a house with a garden you will struggle on $2500 in any of these areas but you should be able to find a nice apartment. (If you really, really want a house think about Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley, both of which are cheaper and child-friendly although you will pay for it with the commute to Westwood.) All of these areas are safe. Compared to Baltimore they are extremely safe--in fact, south-central LA is safe compared to Baltimore. Bars over windows are not a good sign, of course, though they can be slightly misleading in the case of Venice.

Sign up for westsiderentals.com and buy a copy of Los Angeles Not for Tourists which will show you where the concentrations of restaurants are. Good luck!

[mum2lysie]

straight outta camden,
Thanks so much for the input! We are going to take a week and fly out there and spend some time in the suggested neighborhoods. We are looking to rent an apartment so the need for space isn't going to be a huge issue. I'm hoping there are some parks and playgrounds I can get to pretty easily. It's only for a few years so we can deal with it:-)

[straight outta camden]

You're welcome.

As well as Los Angeles NFT you may want to get hold of a copy of City Baby L.A. A pretty useful guide to living in the city with children. It has lists of good parks and beaches etc. You should also look into Peachhead Families--another forum.

In general Los Angeles is a good city in which to live with a toddler. It is usually sunny. You drive everywhere anyway. You may well have a yard. There is a zoo and an aquarium. The preschools are good (though notoriously overbooked in places like Westwood and Santa Monica). And, thanks in part to the large Chicano population, the city has a child-friendly air. Overall it is certainly better than New York. I used to eat my lunch in Washington Square Park and it was depressing to see the children, who had learned to be oblivious of everything around them.