Moving to San Fernando Valley, need some advice please (Pasadena: apartments, lease)

[uberdynasty]

I have a potential job promotion out in the SFV valley, with the office actually located in the city of San Fernando I believe? I live in Orange County currently, but to be honest have no idea about LA/Valley other than the typical trips to downtown LA.

Few questions...

1. Any advice on where would be some good cities to check out apartments? I am currently in a "luxury" apartment, budget up to about $1600 a month or so. Something similar would be great.

2. How close will I be to downtown LA? I am an avid sports fan so I plan to travel down this way frequently. I have been told many areas are extremely close to some of the places in LA I frequent (downtown, hollywood, etc.)

3. How far North does "The Valley" reach? And what can I expect moving from OC to there, any tips would be appreciated.

Thank you!

[BRinSM]

If your job is in San Fernando, the Studio City/Burbank area would probably be a good choice for you as they are both very close to Hollywood and not far from downtown. i'm sure you could find a nice 1br for $1600 in one of those areas, although they wouldn't be brand new like much of the developments in OC. Another decent place, if you want to be closer to Hollywood and downtown would be Los Feliz.

Regarding your question about how far north the valley goes, the northern edge is in Sylmar which is where the 14 and 5 freeways meet. as for moving from OC to LA, i made this move about 4 years ago and haven't looked back. although i do like some parts of OC, i much prefer LA and its offerings. good luck!!!

[ConsideringLA]

We made the move, as well, earlier this year.

If possible, sign a 6 month lease - there's actually a good bit of variation throughout the valley and you may find yourself feeling "at home" in another spot in SFV.

Also, downtown LA is nothing like SFV. Whilst it is a valley, there is a decent amount of variation from areas south of Ventura blvd, to the west edge around Calabasas, Hidden Hills, and West Hills, to the incredibly green & lush areas around Lake Balboa, to the media district in Burbank & Toluca Lake, to the urban vibe of Sherman Oaks & Studio City, to the ranches of Chatsworth, to Porter Ranch (very OC like), to Granada Hills, to some not-so-nice areas in the north Valley.

Good luck. And if you can't be in the town you love, love the one you're in !

[KnoxTown]

Studio City is really nice. Takes me about 15-30 minutes to get to Staples Center.

[streetscenes]

It's aneasy commute to San Fernando from the Pasadena area on the 210 freeway. It's an easy to get to Staples Center, Dodger Stadium, Coliseum, etc. from Pasadena. You can actually do Staples Center on the Gold/Red line as long as you don't miss the last train back. You also have lots of choices between Pasadena and Sherman Oaks that would probably suit your needs. Further west you go the further you are from downtown LA, etc. if that's important to you. There are some new apartment developments in the North Hollywood area and again it would be easy to get to downtown on public transpo from there. You should be able to find a decent apartment for $1,600 a month although probably nothing you would consider "luxury."

[irvine]

If you're a fan of luxury mixed-use developments, the Americana at Brand in Gelendale and Paseo Colorodo in Pasadena come to mind and rents are likely very high. Hollywood has more moderate temps than the Valley in the summer/fall and there are luxury apartments, particularly near Sunset and Vine. The commute up the 101 shouldn't be that bad, and it is close to downtown. The subway red line is nearby. As another poster mentioned you might want to look into the Los Feliz/Silverlake area, a very attractive, hilly area of early 20th century homes and apartments convenient to downtown and the Valley. If you got over 2000/mo to spend, the Bubeshko Apartments designed by architect Rudolph Schindler in Silverlake has a vacancy.