Moving to LA from London- what suburb suits us??? (Los Angeles: rental, house)

[sals77]

Hey all,

We are aussies witha baby who are moving to LA from London. We have a 7 month old so want to be close to lots of services, parks etc.

We want an area equivalent to Notting Hill or Marylebone- anyone know the equivalent there? Quite affluent and good 'demographic' yet still artsy and fun. We would like nice restaurants and shopping close by.

Want a place where there's lots to do so I am not having to drive every day. Budget, I have NO idea what rents are, but our small 1BR flat in London was £550/week which imo was not cheap, could stretch a bit above this if we had to I guess.

Wouldn't mind close to the beach but prefer village-y atmosphere.

Any suggestions???

[Fontucky]

That's 901 American dollars a week....damn right that ain't cheap. For 3600 dollars a month in L.A. you can live in a nice house in a good neighborhood.

[jbunniii]

Originally Posted by sals77

Hey all,

We are aussies witha baby who are moving to LA from London. We have a 7 month old so want to be close to lots of services, parks etc.

We want an area equivalent to Notting Hill or Marylebone- anyone know the equivalent there? Quite affluent and good 'demographic' yet still artsy and fun. We would like nice restaurants and shopping close by.

Want a place where there's lots to do so I am not having to drive every day. Budget, I have NO idea what rents are, but our small 1BR flat in London was £550/week which imo was not cheap, could stretch a bit above this if we had to I guess.

Wouldn't mind close to the beach but prefer village-y atmosphere.

Any suggestions???

The equivalent of £550/week is $3883/month, which is enough to get you a nice rental [and not just a small 1-bedroom flat, either] pretty much anywhere in greater LA, so your price constraint isn't really a constraint at all.

Santa Monica sounds like a good fit for you, or perhaps Manhattan Beach. You didn't mention whether you will be commuting somewhere for work, though. Will you?

[bhcompy]

Naples would work if you work in the South Bay/Long Beach area

[JRE]

Try to find out if there are any closed dumps (landfills) in the area in which you're planning to move. Many old dumpsites were not cleaned up, only covered up with homes, schools, parks and golf courses. Many contain carcinogenic chemicals and highly explosive, highly flammable landfill gases. The following closed dumps are in Marina del Rey, Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica:

MARINA DEL REY
Dow Chemical Dump, Lighthouse Street & Pacific Avenue
Gladding, McBean & Higgins Building Materials, south of Washington Blvd, ¾ mile south of Lincoln Blvd
Venice Dump, 630 Washington Street
Marina Del Rey Municipal Landfill, Washington Street & Oxford Avenue
Celery Dump, 800’ north of Culver Boulevard & 500’ west of Lincoln Boulevard

PACIFIC PALISADES
16990 Sunset Boulevard on former landfill
Los Angeles City Dump, Alma Real Drive & La Paz Drive

SANTA MONICA
Beverly Hills City Dump, 2401 Colorado Avenue
Gladding McBean Dump, 2400 W. Colorado Avenue
Santa Monica City Dump, 26th street & Colorado Avenue
City of Santa Monica Dump, Stewart Street & Exposition Boulevard
Venturino Dump, 2319 Michigan Avenue
Frank Street Dump, 1943 Frank Street
City of Santa Monica Dump, Dewey Street & Walgrove Avenue

[sals77]

Ooo thanks for that.

Hubby's work is at long beach, but he knows he'll have to drive if that's far from the action........ I'm not going to be working so need to make sure we live somewhere really nice. It's for 6-12 months so guess we want to make the most of it.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by sals77

Ooo thanks for that.

Hubby's work is at long beach, but he knows he'll have to drive if that's far from the action........ I'm not going to be working so need to make sure we live somewhere really nice. It's for 6-12 months so guess we want to make the most of it.

Well, Naples is in Long Beach, so that would probably be a good start.

You might like Surfside or Sunset Beach as well. Aren't "artsy" in a traditional sense, but definitely unique, fun, and very affluent.

[CrossCountryUrbanite]

used to live in London. you'd probably like Brentwood/Malibu.

[JRE]

Here are three Long Beach neighborhoods on dumpsites that would be good to avoid:
Loynes/Bixby Disposal Site, Loynes Drive & Bixby Village Drive
City Dump & Salvage Co. Landfill, 6204, 6363, 6364, and 6501 Pacific Coast Highway
Studebaker/Loynes Disposal Site, Loynes Drive & Studebaker Road

[JRE]

[SIZE=3][/SIZE]
You might enjoy Beachwood Canyon in Hollywood, north of Franklin Avenue.