Desirable, affordable towns surrounding LA? (San Francisco, Glendale: for rent, neighborhoods, theatre)

[lhill]

Hello all,

My girlfriend and I currently live in Austin, TX and are keen to make the move to somewhere near L.A. We'd prefer not to live or work in LA proper (too much traffic, too expensive) so we've been looking at some of the smaller towns/suburbs surrounding LA. We're looking to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $2000-$2500 a month for rent. We'd like to find a nice community that's relatively safe and quiet, with at least some stuff going on so we don't have to make the trip to LA any time we feel like doing something. Not so much nightlife, but theatre and things of that nature. We've been looking at Claremont and it seems like a reasonable distance and a pretty nice town.

We'll be heading out to stay in LA for 8 days next week, and I was hoping I could get some suggestions of places to check out. Glendale? Pasadena? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Charles]

Why do you want to move near LA?
What line of work are you in?
Have you investigated the prospects of finding a job? What did you find out?

[harahap]

Well, most theatre is in LA, but some of it is also in Pasadena. Claremont is just east of Pasadena, so you'd be close to it. Just so you know, Claremont is a somewhat hippie/new age crowd. Very laid back people. Not so much like, say, Haight-Ashbury of San Francisco, but it's noticeable. I love it, but it's not for everyone. If you like ice-cream and sweets, it has Bert and Rocky's, one of the best mom-and-pop places. Yum.

If you don't plan on going to LA too often, Claremont's a great choice. If you do, it's a 30-45 minute drive, so if that's too much, Pasadena's closer.

[lhill]

Well, my income doesn't depend on my location so I wont actually be looking for a job there. I want to be close to L.A. because my work is in the film industry (though I only work for myself out of my house), so it would be nice to be close enough to L.A. to make the occasional meeting, but the job thing isn't an issue.

Claremont sounds like a great town, I like that sort of laid-back hippie vibe (after all, I am from Austin). Pasadena also seems like it might be worth checking out - ideally we'd like a place that's not so small that the only culture is in L.A. (if something like that exists).

[CESpeed]

Claremont is a very nice community. Pasadena and Burbank are definitely worth the trip. I would recommend Culver City but because it's surrounded by LA it might be "too" city for you. While you are in the Claremont area there are also other communties worth a look: San Dimas, West Covina, Walnut, if you stay strictly near the University, Pomona, otherwise forget it. Monrovia is also a clean, small, family oriented community.

[lhill]

Are any of these little towns somewhat walkable? We'd love to be in a place where we didn't have to get in the car every time we wanted to go somewhere (and, yes, I realize So. Cal. is not the best place for that sort of thing).

[CESpeed]

If you are near Old Town Pasadena or near the Mall in Burbank, those are walkable. Downtown Culver City has been redesigned for this as well. When I lived in West Covina, I walked a lot. I lived near a shopping center. All of them have walking areas, but since we but for the most part you will still need a car.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by harahap

Claremont is just east of Pasadena, so you'd be close to it. If you don't plan on going to LA too often, Claremont's a great choice. If you do, it's a 30-45 minute drive....

....maybe if you're on the freeway at 11 in the morning. What used to be termed "rush hour traffic" now exists for about 6 hours on many freeways here, and certainly the 210 and the 10. Claremont is not a good choice if you want to be close to L.A. If you're returning from downtown L.A. or the Wilshire area and driving to Claremont in the afternoon, it can take up to 2 hours on a bad day.

[timelesschild]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

....maybe if you're on the freeway at 11 in the morning. What used to be termed "rush hour traffic" now exists for about 6 hours on many freeways here, and certainly the 210 and the 10. Claremont is not a good choice if you want to be close to L.A. If you're returning from downtown L.A. or the Wilshire area and driving to Claremont in the afternoon, it can take up to 2 hours on a bad day.

Very true. It would be a horrible daily commute to/from LA. If, however, you were living and working in/around Claremont, and only going to LA for, say, a Dodgers game or the occasional special event, it would be very tolerable. Claremont is a cute town with a LOT to offer.

[lhill]

Claremont sounds pretty great. My hope is that wherever we live will have enough going on that we'll only have to go to LA for special events and the odd meeting. Thanks everyone for your feedback.

As I said, I'll be heading out there in about a week to look at some neighborhoods, so far I've got:

Pasadena
Claremont
Burbank
Culver City
San Dimas
West Covina
Walnut
Monrovia
Glendale

Does that sound about right? I want to make sure I take a look at all of the areas I can while I'm there.

And I presume it would be folly to even ask if there's anything similar to these but near the beach...