Pasadena to UCLA - daily commute (West Hollywood, Fairfax: car insurance, home, disposal)

[Lou_the_grad]

Hello,

I am a graduate student at UCLA who has to be on campus just about every day (usually, I have to be there from 11AM to 5PM; I can do the rest of my work at home or at the office). My boyfriend lives in Pasadena and needs to be at his work from 10AM to about midnight, 5 or 6 days per week.

Right now, we are seeing each other on week-ends, but this is far from a desirable situation. We would like to move in together. We have only one car at our disposal.

The first idea we had was to live in Pasadena. Do you think it is reasonable for me to drive all the way from Pasadena to UCLA and back, every week-day?

Google Maps says that with no traffic the trip would take about 40 minutes each way, but what can I expect the traffic to be like? Will the costs of a 60 miles daily round trip be insane?


What about if we were living in West Hollywood, near Fairfax and Sunset? He would be driving to Pasadena. I would have to take the bus (45 minutes, if light or no traffic). Would this be any improvement, or would driving from West Hollywood to Pasadena be just about as bad as driving from UCLA to Pasadena?

Thanks!

[Charles]

10AM to midnight? Ouch.

Where does he work? Pasadena? Sounds like he would have the least risk of a bad commute. You will always have a bad PM commute.

The 405 heading north from Westwood is pretty bad but not horrible. Maybe with two cars, you could make something work in Sherman Oaks.

UCLA vanpool?

Otherwise, I'd favor you since you should avoid 5PM commutes.

[uptown_urbanist]

That sounds like a terrible commute. I would not plan on living in Pasadena. That said, not sure about West Hollywood, either; that leaves him with a terrible commute (although with his hours at least he won't be going at rush hour)

How about somewhere like Los Feliz? That would be just enough closer to Pasadena to make the commute easier for him, and still not too bad from UCLA -- and certainly MUCH better than from Pasadena. You could take the 780 Rapid for part of the trip to make the trip faster.

[Lou_the_grad]

I hadn't considered Los Feliz. We can count on having only one car, so that would mean a 90 minutes bus commute for me each way (from Los Feliz to UCLA, but thankfully it's only one bus) and a 15 miles commute by car for him.

He is really not keen on living outside Pasadena, due to his very long work hours. Most of our friends are in Pasadena, too.

My schedule is a bit more variable: I need to be on campus just about every day of the week, but I can do most of my work either on campus or at home. So, I am willing to do my best to accommodate him. Still, a daily car commute of 60 miles seems so bad...! Though between that and 3 hours of bus, if I were to live in Los Feliz... I don't know.

[BRinSM]

i'm with charles, check the UCLA vanpool options. I see those vans all over the city.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

i'm with charles, check the UCLA vanpool options. I see those vans all over the city.

i agree, with you. The commute from Pasa to UCLA every day woudl be a nightmare to say the least and only having one car will add to the challenges.

Nita

[Lou_the_grad]

Thanks for advising the Van Pool. They do cover Pasadena.

Considering the price of gas, car insurance and on campus parking, the van pool seems like a very attractive option. Plus, I wouldn't have to do the driving.

[disgruntled la native]

this is one of those situations where there's no middle ground and no real compromise. First off your boyfriend works insane hours how does he survive wt f does he do, I'm guessing corporate lawyer. anyway ucla to pasadena is really far but doable i know people who commuted that and also from burbank