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The Question in Short:
We are an active, childless 30 y/o couple moving to L.A. from the Midwest, currently used to an urban/city-focused lifestyle. We are looking to bubble ourselves within ~1.5 miles near work @ Broadway/Cloverfield in Santa Monica and share 1 car out here, as I will walk or bike to work every day. Question is: please help us choose between A) Santa Monica (mid-teens # streets near Montana), B) the S.M./L.A. border more inland (e.g. WestLA or "Sawtelle"), C) Marina del Rey (way farther away -- it's a dark horse candidate that would require a commitment to bike-only, my reasoning and explanation for this below) or D) something we haven’t even thought of! Rent budget <$3,500 for decent 2-3BR apartments/condos/townhomes
The Question in Length: Background and Details
We are a married ~30 year old couple moving from a small/mid-sized city in the Midwest to Los Angeles. (We are childless but plan on getting a dog when reaching the west coast). We are fairly “active”, by which I mean walking/running/biking/sitting/spending time outside, going to restaurants, bars, or lounges frequently (2-3x / week), and hanging out with friends, both couples and singles. On a relative basis, the sprawl in our current Midwest area is similar to L.A– we too have a “car culture” based on outer-ring suburbs and exurbs. In our particular case, both of us currently get by sharing 1 car – I walk to work in a downtown urban center that has many of these “active” things (including bike trails & parks for the ‘outdoor’ component). We want to continue with that, especially given L.A.’s famous traffic (and famous weather - walking/biking would be nice every day).
The new job is in Santa Monica – by Broadway/Cloverfield, kind of 24th St. The job will be ~60 hours a week so I don’t want my commute to take too much quality time away from being with family and friends!
Thus, we plan on living within a ~1.5 mile bubble of work location as to give myself a 30 minute walk or a 10 minute leisurely bike ride each way. Our rent budget is <$3,500 for a clean, decent 1,000 – 1,500 square foot 2-3 BR. We prefer apartments/condos & townhomes to houses.
The Question and Options
We are primarily considering 3 options and I’d love everyone’s take. BTW, Venice is out because my wife doesn’t love that area’s vibe (although I do!). And of course some of the more southern beach cities would be out due to distance. “Option A” is renting in mid-Santa Monica 1-2 mi from beach… either near work @ Brodway/Cloverfield or say mid-teens streets along Montana. (We are possibly considering paying through the nose and getting less space to be near the Promenade/Main St. like those architecturally pretty properties, but probably not)
“Option B” is going more inland, by the S.M./L.A. border (WestLA/Sawtelle). This would be to get more for our rent money farther away from the beach, and it fits within the work location bubble.
“Option C”, the dark horse / 3rd party candidate, is admittedly different: being next to the water but in a nicer new development in Marina del Rey – not sure if we’d actually save $$$ relative to S.M.’s water locations by doing this? Or do you guys think MDR is just as pricey? Walking from here would of course be out so this would exclusively be a bike commute, 45 mins each way, or car. Now, I’m considering this ‘dark horse candidate’ MDR (if it is cheaper) because I’d kill multiple birds with one stone: getting a ton of exercise in the daily commute AND appreciating that beautiful ocean bike trail (Marvin Braude trail) and views you Angelenos are so lucky to have every morning and evening. Also MDR closer to airport which I guess is nice for outside travel… but will we give up a lot in terms of walkable neighborhood bars and restaurants and activities relative to options A and B?
"Option D" -- anything else we might want to consider?
As for comparing the first two Santa Monica-area options -- “A” and “B” -- aside from the fact that we probably get more for the $$ by being more inland, does anyone think “B” (LA/SM border) is also preferable compared to “A” by being closer to other parts of West LA like Beverly, WeHo, Westwood, Culver, etc…?
Sorry for the length of the question but I thought a lot of you would have helpful thoughts and opinions! I truly appreciate it and we're excited to join everyone on the West Coast!
I've lived in SM and MDR and enjoyed both. i even used to commute from MDR to SM via bike (beware that SM is at a higher elevation than MDR, so your morning commute will require a steady to decent climb depending on which route you take). MDR is nice and is priced comparably to SM, but you will most likely get a larger unit with better amenities (i.e. washer/dryer in unit). However, at your price point, you'll probably find that just about everywhere. You could probably even find a detached house for that price if you don't mind being a few miles from the coast.
If I were you though, I'd go with option D. My favorite neighborhood in all of LA is Ocean Park along Main St. in the city of SM. I lived there for a few years a while back and my wife and I would walk to the beach (in under 5 minutes) and to all our favorite bars and restaurants. It was also a quick bike ride away from a friend in Venice with whom I'd go on bar hopping/cycling adventures with. There is a newer Archstone building right on Main St that is expensive, but I'm certain $3500 would get you 2br in there. There's also a couple high rise buildings next to the sand that you may consider. I didn't have your budget when I lived in SM, but I will answer any other specific questions you may have.
BRinSM, that's really helpful - thanks. I'll look into Ocean Park as well, our first official "Option D" candidate ha.
The Archstone building looks nice, certainly we'd pay a bit more $ per square foot being near beach and in an Archstone property compared to more inland but you're right, I don't think that Ocean Park location can be beat. Every time we visit we usually have stayed there. That property could fit -- looks to be about 2 miles from work (15 minute bike ride / 45 minute walk maybe).
I do enjoy biking -- where in Venice did you bar hop / cycle with your friend? Recommended / favorite places?
Archstone buildings are rip offs. They may have some amenities but it's not worth it. You'll get apartments nearly as good for 2/3 the price.
I vote for Option A. You can afford it. The neighborhoods in Option A are some of the most desirable in LA County. Extremely walkable, great beach weather, beautiful area, totally safe. And who doesn't want to be blocks from the beach? The air quality is significantly better and local traffic in North Santa Monica is minimized. Meaning, you'll never have a bad commute to work.
I actually don't even know why this is a question at all. Option B, West LA by Sawtelle, is cool and all but much more industrial and urban... and dirty. Option C is nice too but you're setting yourself up for a commute longer than you want, plus parts of MDR are a little too close to Venice and Westchester which is not the vibe you're after.
I see there's an Option D now. Another suitable option. Main Street is great and close to the beach as well. I guess the difference between Montana Ave area and Main St is that Main St is a lot busier and there's more to do walking distance. Main St has lots of bars and foot traffic till 2 or 3 am, Montana Ave is dead by 10-11 pm. So it's a choice between noise and diverse activity vs peace and quiet.
i really like the patio bars (venice whaler, baja cantina, cabo cantina) on washington blvd. the victorian mansion on main st also has a really cool basement bar. pretty much anywhere between lincoln blvd, the coast, wilshire blvd, and washington blvd was game for us. we'd even take the occasional trip inland, but as i mentioned, you have to go up hill in SM, which isn't fun on a beach cruiser.
Traffic on and around Lincoln Blvd, Washington Blvd, Venice Blvd, and Pacific Ave/Neilson/Ocean gets pretty nasty too. If you just live by Montana Ave in the teens, you'll take a couple quiet side streets to work and be there in no time.
I'd probably go with Option D too. We live in Sunset Park, which is adjacent to Ocean Park, almost is part of Ocean Park really, in the 20s off Ocean Park Blvd. My husband works in the Water Garden (right next to where you'll be) and rides his bike or walks to work - 5 mins on bike, 15 min walk at most. And the Metro line will be going in close by in the next few years. If you like Venice, you'll like Ocean/Sunset Park, but your wife won't be freaked out by the vibe.
Around Montana is also very nice, but a little too peaceful and quiet for my taste. Used to live on California around Euclid (which would be 13th St) and it's very lovely but not particularly lively.
I wouldn't trade space and money for proximity to the Promenade. If you are on bikes, there are bike valets, or the bus, or reasonable amount of public parking (car traffic is often horrible though around that area). The Promenade is great, but probably not where you are going to end up spending that much time once you live here. Main St is different though because of restaurants/bars/cafes and proximity to beach.
Also used to live on Franklin between SM Blvd and Broadway, so very close to where your work is and close to West LA. It's a few years ago now, but I really liked it. Nice mix of household structures (families with kids, single people, couples without kids etc), ethnicities, income levels. Reasonably green, fairly quiet, close to bus routes, major access points. There also seem to be a lot of condos and townhouses west of Cloverfield and I wouldn't have any problem living there either, although I think that area will probably have more noise than say Montana or Ocean Park. Also not that much around there in terms of cafes, etc, but it's easy and quick to go somewhere that does. Same applies for West LA really (I'm talking about the area up to 10-15 blocks east of Centinela.
Probably best to steer clear of the area around Virginia Ave. It's fairly close to where you'll be working and is not as bad as lots of people will say and still fairly safe, but it is more low-income, more police activity etc.
MDR is an unusual choice, given distance - do you mean closer to the airport, or the area south of Washington and west of Lincoln? There are some great places there and you could probably find something very close to the beach, but traffic can be truly miserable, especially in the weekend. Having said that, had friends that lived for a while on Galleon off Speedway/Pacific and it was a sweet place. Generally quiet, 1 min from the beach, swam every evening after work, hard to beat that. Just make sure you get somewhere that has a parking space. If you are talking closer to the airport, I think it would be a miserable commute in a car and a fairly dangerous commute on a bike.
Something else to bear in mind is that the closer you are to the coast, the more you will be affected by the marine layer which can keep things fairly cool and gray at times. Lots of people like that, I prefer less of it myself. Seems to burn off quicker if you are east of say Cloverfield. Don't worry about air-conditioning. It's great if your place has it, but you won't need it for more than 2-3 weeks a year and a decent fan will work for that time.
One last thing - try and get a place that lets you get outside - balcony, patio, yard or garden. It's such a beautiful climate, it's great to be able to relax and have a coffee or cocktail outside or grow some plants and watch the hummingbirds.
Ocean Park (at least east of Lincoln) is just as quiet as Montana at night. If the OP lived near Main Street that's where it's busier. So I'd say living by Ocean Park and Main (or just north or south) fits a little busier and lively than Montana.
All you guys are great. This is fantastic -- super helpful. I'm adding these notes to a map I'm working on for the apartment search.
While swimming after work sounds ideal (yep exactly Cloudwalker, that area on Galleon St in MDR as a general area) I think my wife dislikes the cool breezes from the marine layer effects, which would officially rule out the dark horse candidate of MDR or anywhere near the beach really. Plus as much as the bike Exercise+Commute 2-birds-with-1-stone thing sounds nice, I don't know if I could commit to it twice a day, five times a week!
We'll focus on your collective suggestions of
- Ocean Park,
- Sunset Park,
- "North SM" (by that I mean Montana somewhere in the teens),
- Areas near work @ Broadway/Colo like Cloudwalker's mentions of W of Cloverfield and Franklin between SMBlvd/Wilshire.
- Maybe we'll still take a look at W. LA/Sawtelle but I think disgruntled la native's point rings true. I once stayed at a hotel near the 405 and SMBlvd and got a similar vibe -- stuff to do there, but dirtier / more industrial than heart of S.M. and certainly less walkable
- I may take a look at Venice's canal area residences if you guys think that has less of the sketchy vibe my wife disliked on the Venice beachfront area, but that might be waaay out of our price range. Seemed like when we biked around there it was mostly multi-million $$$ houses.
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