30 y/o couple moving to LA, job in Santa Monica: where to live? 1) WestLA/Sawtelle, 2) mid S.M., 3) MdR or 4) Other? (safe area, safe)

[disgruntled la native]

I don't think you need to look at WLA/Sawtelle at all. You're not going to like it from your requirements. It's a safe area and pretty walkable but is congested and filled with cars and pollution, plus you're right next to the 10 and 405 , something just doesn't feel healthy around there. Lot of industrial big office buildings too, and the weather is not nearly as cool as santa monica . I used to work by Olympic/Sawtelle for years and it was a huge difference between there and my home by the beach.

I see "Sunset Park" is the quiet park of Ocean Park I was describing. So what I mean to say is Sunset Park is just as quiet as Montana Ave/North SM, lots of families and homes and shops and restaurants - generally dies down around 10 pm at night. Montana Ave/North SM is more prestigious and pricy but the areas are very comparable.

[MidwestToLA]

I know it's not Ocean Park or "North of Montana" as previously discussed, but seeing some intriguing stuff near these intersections:
- Wilshire & the teens ("Mid-City"(?) on Google Maps), which is very convenient to work @ Colorado/Broadway intersection
- Pico & the high 20s is still within that 30 min walk / 10 min bike ride as well.

Is traffic bad / there or any other downside? Should we be avoiding either?
Is Pico in the high 20s too close to the 10 fwy?

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by MidwestToLA

I know it's not Ocean Park or "North of Montana" as previously discussed, but seeing some intriguing stuff near these intersections:
- Wilshire & the teens ("Mid-City"(?) on Google Maps), which is very convenient to work @ Colorado/Broadway intersection
- Pico & the high 20s is still within that 30 min walk / 10 min bike ride as well.

Is traffic bad / there or any other downside? Should we be avoiding either?
Is Pico in the high 20s too close to the 10 fwy?

Wilshire and teens... well it depends, are you thinking north of Wilshire or south of Wilshire? Both areas are fine, but the teens north of Wilshire is a densely populated nice area. Lots of apartments and condos, skews a bit younger, and tons of walkable businesses on Wilshire in the teens (bars, pizza, markets, etc). Teens south of Wilshire gets more industrial and quiet.

I wouldn't live Pico in the High 20s... you're basically adjacent to the very small shady area of Santa Monica (north of Pico in the 20s), there's not a whole lot going on there, and yeah you're right by the 10 freeway and whole lot of industrial ugliness. If you have to live in that area, do Sunset Park to the south

[MidwestToLA]

disgrunted la native: thanks again!

[Cloudwalker]

We are one block south of Pico near Pearl and 29th and it's fine. Quiet, very safe, very walkable, lots of families, $1m plus homes, no freeway noise, or noise from Pico, walk to Trader Joes and McCabe's Guitar Shop. 28th has more traffic and more condos/apartments.

The parts to stay clear of are north of Pico, south of the 10, west of Stewart (28th becomes Stewart when it crosses Pico and is the fastest way through to where you'd be working). And only in terms of living there; we walk, bike and drive though there all the time and have never had any problems whatsoever. Good Farmers Market in Virginia Park on Saturday mornings.

Wilshire and the teens is good too, but keep in mind that traffic can get a bit intense around that area because it is near both UCLA-Santa Monica and St Johns, so lots of short-term visitors cruising for parking. Higher density area, but there's some nice places to be found, either north or south, and close to lots of places to eat and drink.

[MidwestToLA]

Cloudwalker, thanks for the refinining the zone. The one particular listing I saw up there was 34th and Pico, which looks right by the 10. Looks like where you describe Pearl by high 20s, seems a lot quieter.

We're going out there to look at places next weekend so I'll keep you guys posted where we end up! Thanks for all the advice.

There are so many good areas -- and worthy opinions from you -- that wherever we live there will be pros/cons, but overall I'm stoked to be almost anywhere in S.M. It's sort of like a "no bad choice" scenario.

[Cloudwalker]

Yep, you are right, it is right by the 10, but still take a look as you might be surprised re noise. Pico/Pearl starts to go downhill (geographically) around 32nd and if you are physically below the 10 rather than level with it, it makes a huge difference soundwise. Friends live at Pearl and Granville, so maybe 5-6 houses away from the freeway, and I was really shocked at how little noise there was. Nothing you could hear in the house, and just local traffic hum in the yard. I'd actually be more concerned about noise from Pico (stop-start traffic) or Centinela (people waiting to get on the freeway entrance).

Pearl can be busy between 5-6pm (that freeway entrance again), but is usually fairly quiet the rest of the time. Best advice is to just get out and walk/bike around. There is a bike lane on Pearl from Centinela through to about 10th, I think, and city-run bike valets at lots of places - the beach, markets, SM Place, etc. It's free and they park and guard your bike for you.

Also think about local SM airport noise. We are not bothered by it, but if you are closer to it (eg Pier, Ashland), you will definitely hear it.

I agree, virtually anywhere is Santa Monica is pretty sweet! Will be interesting to see where you end up.

[MidwestToLA]

OK the decision is in. This might disappoint you, disgruntled la native, but we ended up in West LA by the Santa Monica border. Basically where Colorado turns into Idaho, several blocks south of Santa Monica Blvd.

I agree with most/all of you that S.M. proper is cleaner/air and has more of an appeal. But economics came into it, which is unfortunately why we didn't end up, say, in Ocean Park. As we all know, with real estate it's a "pick 2 of 3" decision between Amenities/Quality, Location, and Good Price -- and such a decision is especially magnified in the Los Angeles area. We wanted to stay within our budget, be close to work and be in a decent, updated place. Anyway, where we ended up I'll be able to walk to work in ~25 mins or bike in 10.

We ended up in a quiet residential block up there with a WalkScore of about 89, I think. We had strongly considered the Archstone on Main (GREAT location) but as many mentioned, it is expensive for what you get. A perfect example of where you pay a premium to be by the beach. And with work being @ Yahoo Center, our new W. LA residence is half the walk to work versus living down in Ocean Park (plus an uphill commute from Ocean Park, as BRinSM noted)

Cloudwalker -- we had found a great place in Sunset Park at 28th and Pearl, but by the time we flew back and were ready to apply someone else had already booked it. That was a shame because we almost did that one and it was priced at a great value. Although in the end, Sunset Park might have been a bit quiet for us -- (no kids yet) -- even though the neighborhood looks very clean and safe.

Our favorite location was an NMS apartment property @ 6th / Colorado but, it only allowed cats and due to size we'd have to sell some of our furniture that we'd rather keep while going out there. It was an expensive building but we loved the area. We'd probably have gone there if they allowed dogs (we are going to get a dog out there, have been wanting one for years) -- that was a deciding factor.

The more we drove thru Venice (Abbott Kinney etc) the more I wanted to live there. But, the aforementioned vibe my wife dislikes, and far from work too. Maybe someday -- a bigger budget for a cool loft there!

Thanks for all your help. We're doing only 1 yr lease so as we learn more about what we like/dislike about certain areas in L.A. and become more integrated in the city, maybe the next stop is S.M. proper! you never know where we'll end up next! Appreciate everyone's thoughts.

[disgruntled la native]

Are you west or east of Bundy? That makes a slight difference. If you're west of Bundy, you're still practically in santa monica (even though you may be in LA city limits). I still like that area a lot,a nd you can walk to Wilshire and Santa Monica and Olympic.

East of Bundy along Idaho is ok, but kind of a dead wasteland IMO, until you get close to Sawtelle

[MidwestToLA]

Unfortunately east agreed in your assessment of dead residential wasteland, but I got a vibe that it was at least quiet/safe. Building itself has a lot to do inside, pretty active community. In the end, I couldn't argue with the wife after she liked the unit + building itself more than other locations, haa.

So I guess that (wasteland) is the main negative. Positive is that our place inside is really new/nice, 10-25 min non-car commute to work, and it fit within our budget.

The other thing that came into our thought process was interesting: we currently live in a very central location surrounded by bars/restaurants (95 walkscore) @ our midwest urban center. For instance, there's a good & popular bar that's a stone's throw from my balcony. But we end up not frequenting it that much. Once a month at most. This part of our current everyday life factored into the decision -- will we need a bar a block away? (Groceries for SURE would be nice) Anyway, I think -- or at least I hope! -- we'll accomplish the "active" part of my original description by biking/driving down to the S.M. beach & its offering there.