California here i come! (Santa Monica, Culver City: apartment, rentals, hotel)

[explorer4504]

In final phase of interviewing for a great job at UCLA. If offered the position will likely be moving to LA in May and I think West Hollywood is the neighborhood closest to campus and where I will be working. I may purchase a house in a year after I get abetter feel for the area, etc. Right now I need to figure out housing, an apartment, and affordability earning 80K a year gross. I'm thinking housing cost of 1200.00 - 1400.00 and wonder if that is realistic for a 2/1 or 2/1.5? Also need parking and would like to be within walking distance of restaurants and shopping and I like a peaceful and quiet living space.

Thanks!

[altoidboy]

Yes, I think you should be able to find something that fits the bill within that budget.

Good call on waiting to buy (my personal opinion is that prices will continue to sink slowly as we haven't hit the bottom yet) but especially because you're new to the area.

My main advice is to ALWAYS see the place before you rent it. LA is so hit-and-miss so don't rent blindly or based on internet photos.

[explorer4504]

Thanks! I plan on working with a rental agent/realtor to locate a place. Is West Hollywood close to UCLA campus? Is West Hollywood a walkable neighborhood close to shopping and restaurants and night life? Quiet neighborhood?

Thanks!

[altoidboy]

You can certainly work with a rental agent/realtor, but the weird thing in L.A. is that the neighborhoods are SO diverse (different from each other) and so this totally depends on whether you find an agent/realtor that understands what you need. Most people in L.A. find rentals either via Craigslist, or via a membership to WestSideRentals.com (which is very good).

West Hollywood is a pretty colorful part of town. Definitely some good places there, and also lots of crappy places. It's not too far from UCLA although you can certainly find closer.

In L.A. one block can be gorgeous and the next block can be ghetto. One BUILDING can be gorgeous and its next-door neighbor be ghetto. And a building can be beautiful on the outside but horrible on the inside - or vice versa!

My suggestion would be to do the WestSideRentals thing first to narrow down some candidates. Use it in tandem with Google Maps to choose a few neighborhoods as candidates. You can absolutely post your findings here and lots of people like helping with "is this neighborhood a good place" kinds of questions. Then find a hotel/motel for your first week here, so you can scope it out in person and make your final decision.

[explorer4504]

Thanks again man! Much appreciated. I will be staying at the Tiverton Guest House on campus when I come in for the final face to face phase of the selection process the first week of April.

[altoidboy]

Sounds good. Like I said, if you come up with a few concrete ideas of places to live, post here and some people who know the neighborhoods usually chime in to let you know what they think.

[David in the City]

Originally Posted by explorer4504

Thanks! I plan on working with a rental agent/realtor to locate a place. Is West Hollywood close to UCLA campus? Is West Hollywood a walkable neighborhood close to shopping and restaurants and night life? Quiet neighborhood?

Thanks!

Walkable yes, Quiet, hells NO. At least not quiet on average. It really boils down to how quiet you want to be. The quieter it is, the further away from the main blvd and shopping you will be, so not as walkable. There are lots of clubs in WeHo, so if you want quiet, you probably don't want to be too close to the blvd. And yes, you can hear the music bumping from the street.

Not sure if that's what you meant by quiet. There are helicopters (news/police, etc) flying over LA (WeHo) pretty frequently, so I'm not sure what level of quiet you're used to.

[BRinSM]

i'm not sure you'll find a 2br place for $1400 in weho. if you do it will probably be quite rundown or not actually in weho (weho borders some sketchy areas of hollywood proper).

[explorer4504]

Wow! Thanks everyone for the responses. This is very helpful.

[HarryKerry]

The problem for the commute is dealing with Santa Monica Blvd. getting through to UCLA. However, Sunset is a very popular alternative. I would prefer to stay on the westside much closer to UCLA and even consider Culver City to dealing with the whole Beverly Hills-Century City DEATH TRAP!