Just out of college, renting near Century City (Los Angeles, Inglewood: estate, transplants)

[tribecavsbrowns]

If you were a single 22-year-old earning a low-to-mid fifties salary in Century City and willing to spend about $1000-$1300 on rent, where would you live?

I want to be in an area with character, and I want to be close to work, bars, locally owned restaurants, and a quality grocery store. Being close to a library would be a big plus, too. Safety and "trendiness" or "funkiness" aren't bad per se but they're overrated in my opinion and I am wary of paying too much for them.

The areas that are jumping out to me are:
-the area of L.A. partially surrounded by West Hollywood and Beverly Hills (I believe it's "Beverly Hills Adjacent" in real-estate-speak)
-the less expensive areas of Westwood, and
-the northern part of Culver City.

I'd greatly appreciate any advice about these or other neighborhoods. I also have a couple specific questions:

-For any Cleveland transplants, is there anywhere in L.A. similar to Lakewood? For any Chicago transplants, is there anywhere in L.A. similar to Edgewater, Albany Park, Evanston, maybe the demilitarized areas of Rogers Park? I would live in these places if I lived in Cleveland or Chicago, so where should I be looking in L.A.?

-Like I said, I won't write a place off just because it has a moderate amount of crime. But what should I think of a nice-looking area where 20-30% of the houses have bars on the windows? Some areas of Culver City and West L.A. I drove through on the way up from LAX (We took Sepulveda to Sawtelle, Sawtelle to Olympic and Olympic to Ave. of the Stars in Century City) were like this. It is rare even in the worst areas of Cleveland to see bars on the windows, so what gives?

I haven't decided yet if I'm moving to L.A. or staying in Cleveland, but the thought of moving excites me. Thanks in advance for your replies.

[Pathwalker]

With that kind of money, why not just stay in Cleveland and buy a house? Or move to a more affordable area, that is equally exciting, has less crime and is much cheaper - and either get more for your rent money, or STILL buy a house.

Why bother with moving to LA if you're going to be forced to live in an area full of crime, when you could move somewhere else and have a much higher standard of living for that kind of money? Of course, I suppose that depends on whether you could make that much money somewhere else.

[SaintLaurent]

Why do you even want to move to LA?

[greggd]

The ride up sepulveda isnt the greatest representation of Los Angeles. Ive often wondered by the homeowners along that section approaching howard hughes drive don't clean up the back end of their lots.

How about something close to work like Westwood or west los angeles. If you can live between wilshire and santa monica, then you eliminate the need to take your car to work. That will save you parking costs, gas, and you can re-register the vehicle as "pleasure" rather than "commute" . Since you are 22, that may make a pretty big difference in your insurance expenses.

There are several markets in the area pavillions, whole foods, bristol farms etc.
you can shoot down to santa monica for restaurants and bars, or east to hollywood or west hollywood-if that suits your fancy.

Save up man, and may find yourself living in a penthouse overlooking century city.

Here are a few rentals near century city:

Westwood Bachelor (broken link)
1301 Devon Avenue
Spacious and Private 1 + 1 (broken link)
***(((Westwood - Bright and Spacious 1 Bedroom, 1 Bath)))************* (broken link)

[majoun]

Originally Posted by tribecavsbrowns

If you were a single 22-year-old earning a low-to-mid fifties salary in Century City and willing to spend about $1000-$1300 on rent, where would you live?

I want to be in an area with character, and I want to be close to work, bars, locally owned restaurants, and a quality grocery store. Being close to a library would be a big plus, too. Safety and "trendiness" or "funkiness" aren't bad per se but they're overrated in my opinion and I am wary of paying too much for them.

The areas that are jumping out to me are:
-the area of L.A. partially surrounded by West Hollywood and Beverly Hills (I believe it's "Beverly Hills Adjacent" in real-estate-speak)

The Fairfax District? An excellent part of town.

-the less expensive areas of Westwood

Good luck finding anything other than a single in Westwood on your budget.

and
-the northern part of Culver City.

East of the 405? Excellent. West of the 405? There are some parts that are OK and some parts that are questionable. Check out the street/location. I live in Culver (and will until I move to the Bay Area next year) so feel free to ask me questions about streets/locations.

I'd greatly appreciate any advice about these or other neighborhoods. I also have a couple specific questions:

-For any Cleveland transplants, is there anywhere in L.A. similar to Lakewood? For any Chicago transplants, is there anywhere in L.A. similar to Edgewater, Albany Park, Evanston, maybe the demilitarized areas of Rogers Park? I would live in these places if I lived in Cleveland or Chicago, so where should I be looking in L.A.?

The Fairfax District, Culver City, West LA and Mar Vista should suit you fine. Westwood might be a bit pricey.

-Like I said, I won't write a place off just because it has a moderate amount of crime. But what should I think of a nice-looking area where 20-30% of the houses have bars on the windows? Some areas of Culver City and West L.A. I drove through on the way up from LAX (We took Sepulveda to Sawtelle, Sawtelle to Olympic and Olympic to Ave. of the Stars in Century City) were like this. It is rare even in the worst areas of Cleveland to see bars on the windows, so what gives?

It's quite common in L.A. You did pass through the western part of Culver City barely by going along Sawtelle, it's nicer further east but that's an OK area. However, it's closer to the bad part of Culver City. I have friends who live in that area, and if you're going to move around CC west of the 405 stay closer to Washington. There is visible gang activity around Culver and Inglewood (due to the proximity of the Mar Vista Gardens housing project on Inglewood and Braddock just outside of CC limits - while UCLA is planning to buy the project for student housing and the area will undoubtably improve, I'd avoid it for now. )

Note that despite far eastern Culver City's proximity to some bad neighborhoods it is actually a nice neighborhood with low crime, much lower crime than west of the 405. However the best areas are around the studios or around Veteran's Park (i.e. central Culver).

[sweettea1]

Sounds like you should do a ****.com quiz. May help you choose between the two cities. If LA, look at rentals in the Recycler or Craigslist. They have some deals. Also check out makingitinthecity.com for additional info on saving money in expensive cities.

[TheRealAngelion]

Heres's my list of best places in LA to live for singles:

Top 10 Best Places to Live in LA for SINGLES

[LASam]

Originally Posted by WCRob

Why bother with moving to LA if you're going to be forced to live in an area full of crime, when you could move somewhere else and have a much higher standard of living for that kind of money? Of course, I suppose that depends on whether you could make that much money somewhere else.

I call BS on this. My income is similar to the posters and I live in a 1 bd apt near SaMo and Barrington which is a safe, walkable, convenient location if you were working in CC.

[Pathwalker]

Originally Posted by LASam

I call BS on this. My income is similar to the posters and I live in a 1 bd apt near SaMo and Barrington which is a safe, walkable, convenient location if you were working in CC.

Hey, I don't know a whole heck of a lot about Los Angeles, but I'll tell ya' what....

Why don't you look at what you can get for $1000-$1300 a month in Los Angeles, and WHERE in LA you can get that, and then compare that to what you can get in Cleveland, or a different city, for the same money.

The OP said he hasn't even decided if he wants to move away from Cleveland. So I'm just pointing out some facts to him.

[JackSparrow]

The only place you're going to be able to get rent for that price is east of CC? At least, to have a place on your own...