Single Female Moving to North Hollywood from Abroad -- Need Advice

[LABornandRaised]

If you'll be going to school near Universal Studios, then you have lots of options. I'm not sure what your budget is, but North Hollywood will be the most affordable. Then you have Burbank to the East and Studio City to the West.

There are a lot of apartment choices in the triangle bordered by Riverside to the North, Vineland to the West and Lankershim to the east. They are building a lot of new apartments in that triangle, so check those out. They are a hop skip and jump away from your school and the area is quite safe.

If your budget is a bit tight, head a bit north towards the NoHo Arts district. Still quite safe and lots of apartment choices ranging from old world charm to 80's fugly to brand spankin' new luxury. There's also quite a few options to rent houses (not shared) for very reasonable prices. For example, a house catty-corner from my house (3 bedroom) just rented for $1600 and the house is flawless.

[David in the City]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

Rough = high crime. Progressively worse the further north you go from Victory Bl. Eventually into a high gang area in Sun Valley, which borders North Hollywood.

Vineland Boyz gangster gets life for killing witness - Mean Streets (http://www.insidesocal.com/crime/2008/07/vineland-boyz-gangster-gets-li.html - broken link)



For reference, the 7600 Case address mentioned in the article about the witness murder is just a few blocks north of North Hollywood.

Are you kidding me with this? You're giving her a news article from 2008. Not only are we in 2011, this is a lame attempt at fear-mongering. I could find a murder news article for practically any neighborhood in Los Angeles (Silverlake, EchoPark(one just tonight), my own Miracle Mile, even the affluent and "safe" areas. Moreover, you're talking about a neighborhood that's not even North Hollywood. So I take it if there's a murder in Burbank, it's something she needs to worry about since it borders North Hollywood?

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by David in the City

Are you kidding me with this? You're giving her a news article from 2008. Not only are we in 2011, this is a lame attempt at fear-mongering. I could find a murder news article for practically any neighborhood in Los Angeles (Silverlake, EchoPark(one just tonight), my own Miracle Mile, even the affluent and "safe" areas. Moreover, you're talking about a neighborhood that's not even North Hollywood. So I take it if there's a murder in Burbank, it's something she needs to worry about since it borders North Hollywood?

https://af11.wordpress.com/tag/vinel...z-street-gang/

The advice given consistently on CD regarding North Hollywood is to stay south of anywhere from Oxnard to Victory depending on the poster.

Theres some real crap areas of North Hollywood, and adjacent Sun Valley is largely awful.

Don't you think that someone considering moving to North Hollywood ought to be aware of the level and type of crimes that might be commited there?

[elarbee]

On a side note for you, when moving to America get used to FICO Credit Score. Unlike Australia, most utility companies and anyone else giving you credit terms for service (ie gas, electric, phone etc.) will run your credit score. I assume you've not been in the US recently so you won't have one. In that case, just be prepared for them to ask you for a deposit payment. In my experience, it's usually $500 which you get back after a year of good payment history. But this alone makes it hard to get 'set up' before you arrive in the US.

Another tip for ya, Apartments are usually owned by a company and rented out to tenants. Condos, on the other hand, look the same but they're owned privately and not often rented out. But if you see Apartment and Condo, now you know the diff. In Australia we don't really have apartment buildings owned by a company for the purpose of renting them out so this might be a bit weird at first.

Have fun.

[J--]

Thanks everyone for your kind answers