Pico-Robertson area? (Glendale, Pasadena, Beverly Hills: apartment, neighbourhood, to live in)

[bkkm]

Hi all,

I will be spending a semester in LA as a visiting researcher at UCLA, and so far have been looking for a room either in GlendalePasadena (where I will also be going to once or twice a week) or in Sherman Oaks/Studio City, which would help cut the commuting both ways (Pasadena-Westwood) in half. I haven't had much luck, so far, so I started looking for other alternatives. Does anyone know anything about the Pico-Robertson area? Doing some research on the internet, I heard it used to be a wonderful area to live in a couple of decades ago, but now things might have changed. Is this so? Is there any particular area in the neighbourhood I should avoid or look for? And is the commuting to Pasadena (on weekend mornings, 8-9ish) very bad?

Thanks again for all the help!

[LizzyNola]

The Pico/Robertson area is still a pretty good area, mainly Jewish, but mixed. West Of Robertson is better going into the Beverly wood/Beverly Hills/Cheviot Hills area.

The drive will not be bad at that time in the mornings on the week-ends

[LASam]

I absolutely LOVE Beverlywood... if you can get an apt in that area, more power to you.

[BRinSM]

as someone mentioned, it is a very jewish area with lots of kosher shops and pedestrian traffic. it is also pretty close to ucla. pasadena is another story though and could be a tough commute, especially during certain hours of the day. even with no traffic, pasadena will be 30 minutes away.

[King0fthehill]

Dense, Lots of Sefardic Jews and the various shops/establishments (bakeries, groceries, synagogues/temples), crowded, lots of traffic on Pico between Robertson and La Cienega, some dirty and unkept storefronts, etc. Not particularly an attractive nabe by any means, as it is full of unattractive 1970's multifamily units, too.

It's safe, though..and apartment prices shouldn't be too high. It's also worth noting that West of Robertson it gets a whole lot better, but the downside is that there are less apartment units in that direction.

[bkkm]

Thanks so much for all the replies! This is the most helpful forum I've been to.

Well, given the commute I will have to make (doing research at UCLA and attending some art classes in Pasadena) about times a week, I think the best thing to do is try to divide the commute in half. So I will probably be looking for a room either in Sherman Oaks/Studio City or Los Feliz. I am assuming the commuting from either of these two areas (Sherman Oaks/Studio City to UCLA/Pasadena, or Los Feliz to UCLA/Pasadena) takes more or less the same amount of time. Is that so?

[BRinSM]

sherman oaks is actually not that far and there are ways to avoid taking the freeway, which is nice since the 405 can get very congested. if i were you though, i would live closer to ucla, as traffic into that part of town tends to be the worse than anywhere else.

[King0fthehill]

Hey, I even rode my bike down there and snapped a pic for you: