Where to live if working downtown (San Diego, Glendale: rentals, high crime, townhouse)

[starfish33]

We will be relocating to the area this summer and are looking at locations to live. Our budget is 2000-3000 and we will be renting, we'd prefer a house but would consider a townhouse too. We have 2 kids under 2 and we'd like be within a 45 minute commute (obviously the shorter the better). Any family friendly community suggestions? Better to live North, South, East of city (figure West is too expensive). Also, where is the best place to look for rentals? Craigslist, property manager, etc?? Thank you!

Should add the we both grew up in San Diego but currently live on the East coast and have been looking to move back "home" for a few years. We're familar with SD but not so much with LA (but we've been there countless times). For those that know SD we like RB, PQ, Poway; so if you know of any similar type places in LA I'd love to hear about them. Thanks again.

[nowincal11]

South Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale, Culver City in that order. All of them have much better schools than LAUSD.

[starfish33]

Thanks nowincal11! Why is Culver city last? Looks like it's the closest to the coast. We'd love to live closer to the beach if possible, but don't want to deal with a lot of crime with little ones. I've heard good things about S. Pasadena but according to google it can take up to an hour and a half to get to the beach with traffic. One thing I really miss about SD is running on the beach regularly.

[nowincal11]

Problem is downtown is about an hour from the beach. My guess is that you will do the beach on weekends. It's a trade off where you live. Close to beach and far from downtown or closer to downtown and far from the beach.

Culver City is in transition for the better. Still some sketchy areas. But the schools are still better than LAUSD (LA city schools). Rents are slightly cheaper, which is a positive.

If you are set on living by the beach, check out El Segundo, but the commute downtown is horrendous.

[BRinSM]

it sounds like you prefer the newer/nicer bedroom communities in SD. Those types of neighborhoods in LA are far from downtown (think Thousand Oaks, Chatsworth, Santa Clarita, etc.) However, many of these areas have commuter rail access so you could avoid driving into the office altogether.

[BlankVerse]

Originally Posted by nowincal11

Problem is downtown is about an hour from the beach. My guess is that you will do the beach on weekends. It's a trade off where you live. Close to beach and far from downtown or closer to downtown and far from the beach.

Culver City is in transition for the better. Still some sketchy areas. But the schools are still better than LAUSD (LA city schools). Rents are slightly cheaper, which is a positive.

If you are set on living by the beach, check out El Segundo, but the commute downtown is horrendous.

One small correction to Nowincal11's post. The drive from Downtown LA to the beach in Santa Monica is about 15 miles. With no traffic you are talking 20 to 25 minutes. I KNOW the words "no traffic" and LA do not belong in the same sentence. But just trying to give some perspective that on weekends (or non-peak hours) you can get to the beach in 30 minutes (or less) from downtown.

And Culver City is a good option to consider given you prefer to be near the coast. The commute from Culver City to downtown is not too bad, esp. by LA standards.

[starfish33]

While not opposed to using the commuter rail we'd like the shortest commute possible. We'd like the safest neighborhood, with the shortest commute that will fit within our budget. We do like newer neighborhoods but are not opposed to older neighborhoods that are safe with character.

[starfish33]

Blankverse: Do you think Culver city is sketchy? Being in a safe neighborhood is most important with 2 little ones and I love to go for walks so I wouldn't want to worry about turning down a "bad" street. Are there areas to avoid?

[majoun]

Originally Posted by starfish33

Blankverse: Do you think Culver city is sketchy? Being in a safe neighborhood is most important with 2 little ones and I love to go for walks so I wouldn't want to worry about turning down a "bad" street. Are there areas to avoid?

I used to live in Culver City and am from the westside.
I would NOT consider Culver City sketchy except for maybe a few streets on the west end of Culver City.
It is generally very safe. Even the "bad" part of Culver City is generally safe except for a few bad streets esp. by Culver West Park or the area right by MV Gardens which is actually in the L.A. neighborhood of Del Rey.
A little ethnic breakdown on different CC areas:
Central/Downtown CC/Veterans Park/areas by the studios - mostly white, middle class, VERY safe
East CC - ethnically/racially mixed, middle class, pretty safe (remarkably so given that there are some bad areas in the L.A. neighborhoods nearby)
South CC/Fox Hills - African-American plurality but still ethnically and racially mixed, middle/upper middle class, most upscale part of CC. Pretty safe.
West CC - Latino/Asian, a few non-Latino whites, lower middle class/working class, some poor, most downscale part of CC, mostly safe but varies street by street ; the only problematic parts of CC are in this area. And there are many streets in this area that are just fine.
You would not find a bad street in CC itself anywhere east of the 405. Now if you wind up walking from CC into some of the surrounding neighborhoods particularly Mid City, Cadillac-Corning, or parts of East Palms then you could encounter a bad street. Those areas however are all north of Venice Blvd. or east of CC's eastern border (Fairfax Ave.) If you're in East CC and you wind up walking east into Mid-City you could also encounter a bad street.

There are some areas of L.A. that border on Culver City that are less safe. In general Culver City is not sketchy at all, only some very small pockets west of the 405, and even those aren't high crime areas.

I sense CC was recommended less than the other cities due to it being farther from downtown AND more expensive.

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by starfish33

While not opposed to using the commuter rail we'd like the shortest commute possible. We'd like the safest neighborhood, with the shortest commute that will fit within our budget. We do like newer neighborhoods but are not opposed to older neighborhoods that are safe with character.

Given those exact parameters, you're choices are

South Pasadena
Burbank
Alhambra
La Crescenta
Culver City
Temple City

All feature older housing stock.