Looking for good areas to move to (Pasadena, Orange: apartments, house)

[blind spot]

Hi all,

I am currently living in northern OC, my friend just moved here from another state and she has been wanting to get a place more in the LA area. My bf and i are not in love with OC and so we opted to all get a place together. She does marketing/PR work and acting as well. I work nights in Azusa, aside from that I have no real opinion on where we end up so long as it's not in the ghetto. My bf is in retail, down in Orange, so he is looking into transferring to another store (or getting another job altogether). We are currently looking in the burbank, north hollywood, silver lake, los feliz and west hollywood areas. We want a 2 bed, preferably 2 bath but 1 bath is fine. We can spend up to $2000 between the three of us (we'd prefer around $1800 though, 2 grand is stretching it). It also has to accept dogs because we have a small dog (~20 lbs). No one has kids so we don't care about schools.

Now my questions...

Is there any particular area in these neighborhoods to avoid?
Would you recommend West hollywood/los feliz/silver lake over burbank/north hollywood or the other way around?
Are there other areas we should consider?
Does anyone know of specific apartments that are good (or should be avoided?)
And lastly, am I crazy to think I can commute to and from Azusa? I have gone straight to work from the West Hollywood area and had no problem but I am worried about the drive home, to be honest.

Thanks for your help guys, please let me know if you need more info.

ETA: My BF and I share a car but she doesn't drive (yet). In case that changes things.

[disgruntled la native]

commute to azusa is going to be horrendous in any of those areas especially weho. not sure how you'd do it but I know people who commute that far and manage so I guess its doable, gas is gonna kill ya

west hollywood may be out of your price range and it's further from azusa... not sure why you want to live there unless you're specifically into the nightlife there

burbank and north hollywood will be affordable. parts of north hollywood are unsafe.

silver lake and los feliz are a lot more exciting than burbank or north hollywood, so if you can find an apartment in your price range there, that's a good fit, plus it's fairly far east so azusa wont be quite as bad.

[blind spot]

Which parts of north hollywood are unsafe? We looked at a house at hartsook/lankershim and an apartment at huston/lankershim, which I think is the arts district and it looked like a nice area--granted I haven't been there at night.

We are checking out places in the silver lake area tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback

[uptown_urbanist]

Have you thought about places closer to Azusa? That sounds like a terrible commute. What's the appeal of being so far west? If you did somewhere in the middle, like Eagle Rock or Pasadena, you'd still be in a fun area but would be a LOT closer to work.

[LABornandRaised]

Originally Posted by crazy carrie

Which parts of north hollywood are unsafe? We looked at a house at hartsook/lankershim and an apartment at huston/lankershim, which I think is the arts district and it looked like a nice area--granted I haven't been there at night.

We are checking out places in the silver lake area tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback

Lankershim at Hartsook is very safe. That's right in the heart of the Arts district, so you will be very happy there. You're in walking distance to dance studios, theaters, cafes, shops, you name it.

The part of North Hollywood the gives the area a bad name are the areas at Victory Blvd and further North. The rule of thumb is to stay as far south as possible and you'll be quite happy.

[blind spot]

uptown_urbanist, I have considered eagle rock and pasadena. I love Pasadena! We will probably expand to look there too.

And that is good to know LABornandRaised, it felt safe but I am unfamiliar with the area so...I wanted to be sure, haha.

[blind spot]

We found a place in Silver Lake that we really like so we will probably go with that.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

[disgruntled la native]

^good choice.