New job in Santa Monica vs Culver City (Vista, Redondo Beach: apartment complex, rentals)

[Freebird]

Currently living in Camarillo and working in Calabasas - but new job is starting in late September and will be in either Santa Monica or Culver City. We are looking at moving closer for sure - have started looking around both of these cities for rentals - as well as Manhattan Beach, Marina del Rey and Playa del Rey/Playa Vista.

Would anyone mind giving thoughts on traffic and how far out it would be advisable/inadvisable to live - areas which would make for a less gnarly commute to work? Motorbike riding on surface streets is a definite option. I know El Segundo has been mentioned as a nice area - Redondo Beach as well, but that is farther out and I wasn't sure how that would translate in drive time (understanding that every day is different). It will already be like night and day compared to the Camarillo-Calabasas-Camarillo traffic - we want to avoid the really bad scenarios but it might be a decent trade to live closer to the beach assuming we could find something in our price range for a rental.

Also, we are looking for 2 bed/2 bath rentals around $2000/month - could go up to $2400 if it was the perfect place but would rather keep it lower if possible- rents in Camarillo are well below 2K right now. 2 baths seem more difficult to find if it's not in an apartment complex - seems like more are 2/1 - and I know parking is not as workable and might not even be assigned or reserved, especially in the beach areas. Are the "apartment complexes" located more in certain areas - and could anyone recommend more safe areas (from burglary/vandalism more than anything else) than others? We could go in the opposite direction from the beach as well if it's more safe - could/should be more affordable as well. We saw some complexes along Pico east of Culver City that looked nice from the outside but are just getting into searching at this point.

The places we've been living (Agoura Hills and Camarillo) compared to where we are heading are like different worlds - we're looking forward to the differences but just trying to prepare for everything as much as we can. Thanks very much for any information you can give us.

[BRinSM]

traffic into those areas is absolutely terrible if you don't live nearby, so if you can can swing, i would live under 5 miles from your office. the westside has many options, you just have to decide which will work best for your. santa monica is nice and fun, but very expensive, although your budget will still get you in there. there area you mentioned on pico is rather bland, but rents are a bit cheaper. what we really need to know is what kind of scene you are looking for. regardless, no matter where you move, it will be much, much different than ventura county. lots more people, but also much more to do and a lot more great places to eat.

[Freebird]

It's mixed, what we are looking to find - and may be unrealistic to find it in one place close to work, hence the reason for my post. We would like to be able to walk to the beach or Starbucks, be able to run outside in a safe area, yet have assigned parking for two cars and live not too far from work. Also, choosing where to live basing it on the work location is complicated because right now the job site is in Santa Monica - but it's moving to somewhere in Culver City in the not-too-distant future.

It's all tradeoffs - right now it appears that it's either farther from the beach but less expensive rent and more open space - or walkable to the beach and other activities with no guaranteed parking, more expensive rent and probably renting through a private owner vs an apartment complex.

Does this sound accurate so far? I really appreciate your reply.

Edited to add: Camarillo is a long way from the beach for sure and isn't walkable at all (where we live anyway) - so anywhere closer to beach/activities/foods and drinks than we are now is a step up.

[BRinSM]

i live in marina del rey and have everything you mention within a short walk. i also used to live near main st. in santa monica, which was also a great area and had what you are looking for. rents are high in these areas and you may not get the nicest unit, but the neighborhood amenities will be great and close to work. marina del rey to santa monica is 15-20 minutes max and probably about the same to culver city, maybe less.

[Larry1000]

i can only dream of a 15/20 minute commute to work! Take Marina Del Ray...it sounds perfect!

You'll be living my dream!

[jball1129]

I live in Santa Monica and you are exactly right about sacrificing space for living close to the beach. I live in downtown Santa Monica and parking is horrible. Unless your place provides parking you either have to get a permit for street parking which is not bad but some places don't allow street parking and you have to park at a parking garage. I'd recommend living North of Wilshire to have better parking and a little more quiet neighborhood and its extremely safe. I wanted to live close to the beach so I got a studio and live 3 blocks from the beach. In the future I would rather live 6 to 10 blocks away from the beach and have a little larger place. The commute to Culver City is not that bad, if you are truly worried about lt, look to live in Culver City for the rent will be a lot cheaper.

[Bruin5]

Never forget that whether you choose Culver or Santa Monica that you will have good Bus options from both cities. The Greenline (Culver) and Big Blue Bus will definitely by good assets. Believe me, you don't want to put up with traffic going to the beach on a weekend. Hopefully you'll be able to find what you want near the beach, but living a little towards Culver still keeps you within good mileage to the beach.

[obscure reference]

I'm liking life in the 90025 area code - south of Brentwood, east of Santa Monica, north of Rancho Park, west of Century City. I've commuted to Santa Monica, Culver City and Westwood by car and bus with no problems. The neighborhood's a few miles from the beach, but there are plenty of cafes and such on the main streets, and the residential streets make for pretty runs.

$1800-$1900 seems to be pretty standard for a 2 bed/2 bath with 2 parking spaces.

[Freebird]

Thank you very much for all of your replies so far - this is really nice information - it is helping us out for sure. Living close to work (in either Culver City or Santa Monica, with great bus service) or else Marina del Rey sounds great, if we can find somewhere within our price range with parking/two baths. To widen our search though, we are still trying to get a feel for what would be the most extreme distance out from those cities that would be workable to drive/motorbike to work (understanding that what might be a nightmare drive to some might be ok for others). As in, how far south could we realistically look but not go crazy getting around - how far west, how far north - as long as we understand the tradeoffs in traffic/drive time and everything else?

I guess we have a chance right now to "choose a life", almost - as in, the walkability of Santa Monica and proximity to work would be awesome, yet Manhattan Beach looks possible and might be workable - trying to figure out if it (or another place a similar distance away) would be worth extra time back and forth to work for what we could do on the weekends and at night - if we could sort out how much extra time it would take on an ordinary day, still understanding that every day is different. Since we've never lived close to LA, all we know it it's night and day compared to Camarillo - this is helping us see how different.

[BRinSM]

if it was me, i wouldn't live north of sunset, easy of la cienega or south of LAX if the job was in culver city. if it was in santa monica then i wouldn't live east of overland. fwiw, i do all my commuting by vespa, bus, or bicycle if that helps put things into perspective for you.