Is living around USC safe? (Glendale, Pasadena: rental, high crime, homes)

[MightyGandhi]

I will moving to LA in August to attend USC for graduate school. My budget for living is around $1000 a month, but I may be willing to pay more. I am ideally looking for a studio.

I found some places near USC affordable, but I am hesistant to live there because of the crime, etc. I know a few people who have lived near USC for many years and they all say it is not that bad; however, I have a hard time believing that after reading some of these threads. I also know that there is gang activity around there which results in robberies, some homicides, etc.

I was looking into Glendale, and Culver City as possible options. It looks like Pasadena and Burbank are too far away.

If anyone has suggestions on where I could find a safe area within a 30 min drive of USC, I would really appreciate it. Also, if anyone has lived near USC, I would appreciate any experience that you have had.

[frcal]

My suggestion would be to contact the school. Many local homes with ads on message boards at the school do offer rooms to rent to college students. I would look into possible communiting if you were not able to obtain a rental nearby in a safe environment such as student housing. Glendale and north of USC is very congested by freeway and street traffic. In fact, much of that area will be congested having the freeway interchage nearby. Culver City would be your bette choice to reduce traffic congestion. Obtain an area map and search out communities, over the Baldwin hills into Westchester wouldn't be bad. Again, I would recommend the school as your best source for this housing question until you can see the areas first hand.

[MightyGandhi]

Thank you for your help.

I have been able to find plently of places near USC. My main thing is that I want to be safe and I know that Culver City and Glendale are much safter than near USC.

I also saw that Culver City requires me to take interstate 10, while Glendale would require the 5, 110, and 10 interstates. I am not sure what the traffic is like on these. I definetly do not want to drive more than 30 mins each way.

Unfortanetly, Culver City is more expensive than Glendale. I also saw that Mid-Wilshire and Dowtown have high crime also, but they are much closer options.

[Sorcerer68]

West Adams is the cleanest area close to USC. This decision depends what you are used to. If you live in a rural area, the neighborhood surrounding the University will look horrific. If you're from a large city, you might not see what the big deal is. People from NYC see that neighborhood and say "you call THIS a bad neighborhood?" It's all about how perfect you require your neighborhood. Culver City is a long commute. You might like Los Feliz. It's not terribly far and it's nice. South Pasadena is on the Gold Line which requires a transfer to get the rest of the way to USC. It's quiet and really clean.

I've known plenty of people who went to USC and nothing horrific ever happened to any of them. That said, some parts are better than others. Get as close to the campus as you can if you choose to live there.

[the point]

Its a nice college town where you will be embraced by the natives.

[missusparsons]

Originally Posted by Sorcerer68

Get as close to the campus as you can if you choose to live there.

Caveat -- Closer to campus does generally mean less violent crime. But you will have to deal with more property crime and theft. Also keep in mind that the parking/traffic situation will be horrendous during game days.

Overall, the area near campus is okay. I'd stay more north/east and going towards the downtown area - there is a real community feel. You get to know locals pretty quickly (even the bums), and never feel scared driving around at night (which can't be said about alot of areas in L.A.). It's an older part of the city, so there is not as much flash as say... Westwood, but it grows on you.

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by missusparsons

Caveat -- Closer to campus does generally mean less violent crime. But you will have to deal with more property crime and theft. Also keep in mind that the parking/traffic situation will be horrendous during game days.

Overall, the area near campus is okay. I'd stay more north/east and going towards the downtown area - there is a real community feel. You get to know locals pretty quickly (even the bums), and never feel scared driving around at night (which can't be said about alot of areas in L.A.). It's an older part of the city, so there is not as much flash as say... Westwood, but it grows on you.

I should have said all this. I agree with you about northeast.

[MightyGandhi]

Thanks for the info guys. I have been talking to students and most of them seem to say that the area around USC patrolled by USC police is relatively safe as long as you dont walk alone at night, etc.

I am most likely going to live one block West of USC. I was not able to find anything that I like North of USC yet....

My main thing is that I dont want to live in an area where I have to worry about what color clothing I am wearing, etc b/c I might get shot, but the USC area does not seem to be that bad.

[mattybrewski]

I'm moving to LA for the same reason. What about Koreatown? I've found some pretty decent places in that neighborhood. MightyGandhi, what grad program are you entering?

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by mattybrewski

I'm moving to LA for the same reason. What about Koreatown? I've found some pretty decent places in that neighborhood. MightyGandhi, what grad program are you entering?

I am not sure about Koreatown, have heard mixed things about the area, but most of the areas around USC are pretty iffy..Not necessarily gang related though..

BTW, MightyGandhi posted this message about 2 years ago, probobly have finished the program by now.

Nita