Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Los Angeles
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 04-10-2016, 08:20 PM
 
2 posts, read 2,099 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Hey everyone!

My soon to be wife and I are moving from St. Louis (Chesterfield) MO to Los Angeles for my new job and are looking for an apartment. My company is located in Marina Del Rey and her company is in the heart of Downtown, LA. To give you a little bit of background on us: she's a CPA (accountant) and I'm a co-founder of a tech startup. Even though St. Louis has a bad reputation for safety, the suburbs/the area I'm from is like something out of Leave it to Beaver safety-level (ridiculously safe).

Top Priorities for us:
- Safety, safety, safety. She may be working late nights and I want her to come home late at night with us feeling really good about safety.
- Both of us in traffic less than 45 min. We hear LA traffic is awful and that I'm for a world of hurt (I'm willing to put up with a little more traffic in my commute instead of hers to live in the right place)

Nice to haves:

https://ragline.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/suburbs.jpg

- Clean suburban feel. I get made fun of for this, but I prefer really clean, open, well-kept neighborhood that feels modern. With a lot of places I've been near the coast the streets feel a little older - parts of palm trees all over the streets, sidewalk, and yards.. it just feels a little dirty. I don't know if that makes me sound crazy

- Down-to-earth culture. I could do without materialism and pop culture in my face, with the what car do you drive and what brands do you wear. Would be a dream come true to be in a place with down-to-earth culture that goes beyond the shallow and rather full of deep conversations.

Constraints:
- $2300/month budget (apartment)


Would really love your guys' & gals' help as I really don't know much about LA and could use some experienced wisdom!

Last edited by rayankh; 04-10-2016 at 08:57 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-10-2016, 08:46 PM
 
4,795 posts, read 4,819,371 times
Reputation: 7348
Your budget and requirements will probably put you on the valley or Burbank. Not a good commute for either of you. Koreatown might be good budget and commute wise but not for the atmosphere your looking for. As long as you live in a building with gated subterranean parking safety coming home late at night isn't an issue. Besides, the worst parts of LA are safer than St Louis
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-10-2016, 10:48 PM
 
Location: California
37,127 posts, read 42,189,292 times
Reputation: 35001
Those locations are at odds. So many possibilities if only your startup wasn't located on the westside.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-11-2016, 12:36 AM
 
477 posts, read 276,289 times
Reputation: 1316
Trust the natives; be willing to sacrifice your wants for needs. In Los Angeles, needs are affordability and location. I would look at the most northeastern corner of Culver City, as it is about equidistant geographically to your individual work areas, though traffic can stretch one to the other. Do NOT rent sight unseen, you really need to visit first or budget for a few days of apartment hunting when you arrive.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-11-2016, 06:48 AM
 
4,538 posts, read 10,624,896 times
Reputation: 4073
Quote:
Originally Posted by rayankh View Post
Hey everyone!

My soon to be wife and I are moving from St. Louis (Chesterfield) MO to Los Angeles for my new job and are looking for an apartment. My company is located in Marina Del Rey and her company is in the heart of Downtown, LA. To give you a little bit of background on us: she's a CPA (accountant) and I'm a co-founder of a tech startup. Even though St. Louis has a bad reputation for safety, the suburbs/the area I'm from is like something out of Leave it to Beaver safety-level (ridiculously safe).

Top Priorities for us:
- Safety, safety, safety. She may be working late nights and I want her to come home late at night with us feeling really good about safety.
This means you will not live anywhere near Downtown LA. I love Downtown, but I don't think its for you.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rayankh View Post
- Both of us in traffic less than 45 min. We hear LA traffic is awful and that I'm for a world of hurt (I'm willing to put up with
a little more traffic in my commute instead of hers to live in the right place)
Theres locations that will meet some, but not all of your needs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rayankh View Post
Nice to haves:

https://ragline.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/suburbs.jpg

- Clean suburban feel. I get made fun of for this, but I prefer really clean, open, well-kept neighborhood that feels modern. With a lot of places I've been near the coast the streets feel a little older - parts of palm trees all over the streets, sidewalk, and yards.. it just feels a little dirty. I don't know if that makes me sound crazy
Near impossible on your budget. The ONLY place that fits your needs is the Playa Vista Developments and I think your budget will be impossible. I could be wrong. Literally everywhere else I will suggest is OLD. Nice, but old. Might as well suggest...Culver City and Torrance. Both may be more like a 1 hour commute, but I think North Torrance and Culver City are probably about a 45 minute rush hour drive to Downtown. At night, after 730 pm, more like 20 minutes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rayankh View Post
- Down-to-earth culture. I could do without materialism and pop culture in my face, with the what car do you drive and what brands do you wear. Would be a dream come true to be in a place with down-to-earth culture that goes beyond the shallow and rather full of deep conversations.
I really don't know what this means. Most people in LA are just people. I've lived in LA my entire 40+ years and have never encountered what you are talking about.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-11-2016, 07:49 AM
 
4,795 posts, read 4,819,371 times
Reputation: 7348
Everyplace in LA is old. New construction is rare and expensive. Most apartment I've lived in are from 1950s and 60s. I just bought a condo in the suburbs built in 1991 and I'd consider that modern compared to others I saw
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-11-2016, 08:17 AM
 
Location: Downtown Los Angeles, CA
1,886 posts, read 2,097,483 times
Reputation: 2250
Rent a house in Culver City. Somewhat suburb-y. It won't be new, but you won't find new within 1 hr of the West Side without paying $3500/mo+. It would be a quick drive for you, and public transit for your wife.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-11-2016, 08:33 AM
 
4,795 posts, read 4,819,371 times
Reputation: 7348
Quote:
Originally Posted by adr3naline View Post
Rent a house in Culver City. Somewhat suburb-y. It won't be new, but you won't find new within 1 hr of the West Side without paying $3500/mo+. It would be a quick drive for you, and public transit for your wife.
You can rent a house in Culver City for $2300/mo?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-11-2016, 08:38 AM
 
Location: Downtown Los Angeles, CA
1,886 posts, read 2,097,483 times
Reputation: 2250
Quote:
Originally Posted by ryanms3030 View Post
You can rent a house in Culver City for $2300/mo?
Good catch--meant to say apartment. Plenty of new-ish apartments in CC/Palms area for ~$2300.
https://www.padmapper.com/search/apa...lse&dogs=false
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-11-2016, 10:11 AM
 
29 posts, read 34,315 times
Reputation: 22
I don't know about your budget, but you can also try Westchester or Mar Vista. If you truly want "new and safe-safe-safe" then increase your budget and move into a gated community like Manhattan Village in Manhattan Beach or stick with the Playa Vista developments. There is a new gated community in Hawthorne called 360 at South Bay. Not a fabulous location but it is new and safely gated and has a variety of Townhomes. A lot of nice young couples live there.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Los Angeles

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:19 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top