Where to move to L.A.?

[StreetLegal]

Originally Posted by hongkyongnae

Thanks for the advice. I had not looked at Torrance or Cypress. As for the the extra $50,000, if that makes a big difference then it would be worth it.

I agree with SoCal88, Torrance would fit what you are looking for...you won't find a lot in the $500,000 to $550,000 range but there will be some.

[MItoBH]

Originally Posted by Eldarwen75

Where does your sister live? That would be a very important to my recommendation.

One piece of advice I've heard and pass along about LA is "figure out where the people you want to hang out with live, and live near them. After a while you won't drive to see them".

Now if your sister has a completely different life style (3 kids for example), you might not want to be in the same neighborhood, just an easy freeway drive. If she's in north LA and you're in south, that drive can take as long as LAX to San Diego.

WeHo can be a party area, but not all of it is, particularly the eastern part has lots of apartments that are rented by a mix of 30 somethings and 70 something Russian immigrants.

You asked about Long Beach - Long Beach is where the container ship port is - and there is lots of industry in LB because of that. It's a hike (okay a sizable freeway drive to most of the LA going out hot spots) and much more affordable than most of LA. That said, if where you are going is downtown, it's probably easier than living in Palos Verdes and most of the other beach cities, with the possible exception of Santa Monica.

Hermosa, Redondo and Manhattan have very beach vibe communities. They are not particularly accessible to down town or central LA. And they remain pricey. Manhattan has the most party vibe, Redondo is more family, Hermosa and El Segundo will be more calm.

If I were moving here and wanted to be beach accessible (could bike there in 30 min or less), the more price adapted options are Palms (some dumps, some well maintained, some pricey new construction, and a comfortable walk your dog at night neighborhood), Westchester - here you'll have to pay more attention to which part, as the portions under the LAX flight path are also less welcoming, Playa del Rey (probably higher rents), Mar Vista which is mostly single family homes, but has some apt buildings (similar to Palms but closer to beach and slightly better neighborhood). Everything north is going to go up in cost. Might be able to make parts of Torrance work (I don't know it too well) it really depends on your commute and social events.

If I wanted access to all the things LA has to offer - cafes, shops, funky vibes - but more affordable, I'd definitely look at Los Feliz, Atwater, Silverlake, Echo Park, Angeleno Heights. These places have more funk and are on the affordable end for LA. And Culver City on the westside, it's like Santa Monica 20 or 30 years ago.

Mid-City is changing rapidly right now - in a good way. You could look at Highland Park - also undergoing a serious gentrification right now. Still has a good mix, rough edges and some soul.

Also, as an FYI, I've heard the San Diego Rental market is also very competitive, not sure how much of an easier time

Lots of valuable information! Thank you!

[Csj50]

Originally Posted by icestar

I curently live in Los Angeles and rent a 1 bedroom apt. In regards to Hermosa, Manhatten or Long Beach - if your sister is closer to downtown or Los Angeles proper I think it would be way more traffic than you want to deal with. It would take about 45 minutes, most days and times to get to the "Los Angeles" area. Santa Monica is not one of my favorites. The traffic is crazy, its very expensive, not close to a freeway and they have a lot of restrictions like, no smoking (almost anywhere) no pet stores, etc - its too restrictive for me.

For a 1 bedroom 1 bath for $2000 you would be looking at an older property. This area is getting updated which means that brand new construction apartments, really small 1 bedrooms are 2100 or more per month.

Tell me about how you guys spend your spare time and I can give you a better idea of areas to consider. Also, check craigslist.org and look at the areas and check out the rents this should help you narrow your areas too.

Could never live in Santa Monica. Beautiful, but way too touristy for us, probably wouldn't consider it even if was cheap to live there.

Now the smoking thing poses a new challenge...as my husband is a smoker (outdoors only). Not sure how we'd find a rental that would allow smoking on outside property (patio, balcony).

Please refrain from comments advising me about how smoking kills, you think smoking is digsuting, etc.