What do you value about your location/community? (Los Angeles, West Hollywood: real estate, apartments)

[cram242]

I'm working on a possible move from Minneapolis to the Los Angeles area with my family, and I'd like to get some opinions on what people value about the communities they live in so I can get an idea of some of the culture and where might be a good area to transition to.

[nowincal11]

What's your budget and maximum commute time? That determines everything above all else.

[cram242]

I'm relatively familiar with housing prices and commutes in the region, I'm just looking for some opinions from the people who actually live in the different communities. The "softer" qualities that you don't What I was thinking was comments like "I live in X community, and I really like that there is easy access to Y, Z, A and that the community is very ____. Things I don't really like are B, C, D..."

To be honest, I think that with the information I'm hoping to get from this post that it would actually be better if I didn't say what our budget and max commutes are.

[nowincal11]

I completely understand. It'll just be harder for you to navigate thru because there's around 60 neighborhoods of LA city and 88 suburbs just in LA County.

But to answer your question:

I live in Sherman Oaks. It is just over the hill from Hollywood in the south end of the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood is split into 3 divisions.

South of Ventura Blvd. is where the real money in LA is located specifically as you get further into the hill.

North of Ventura and south of the 101 Freeway is mostly medium sized apartments and regular single family homes. This is where I live. Mostly occupied by young professionals and young immigrant families in the apartments and young families in the houses.

North of the 101 is a bit more working class.

Sherman Oaks is kind of a cross bridge between the entertainment industry scene and the suburban mentality of the Valley. There are a lot of mid level players in Hollywood who live here plus a lot of people who work in finance, real estate, etc. It's also a neighborhood where the celebs expect to be left alone since it isn't West Hollywood or Beverly Hills.

I don't have a family here and I live in an apartment, so I don't see a huge amount of materialism. There might be some South of Ventura, but it certainly isn't Beverly Hills.

If you have kids, the schools are LAUSD so they are probably ok for elementary but beyond that, likely terrible.

The neighborhood is pretty geographically centrally located between downtown and the westside downtown in Century City. It's easy to hop to Hollywood over the hill also. Getting to LAX is a pain though.

[JTGJR]

I DON'T completely understand. Why should the knowledgeable people on this board spend their time throwing darts at a blank wall. Apparently, you know about costs and commutes, so you don't need our help to narrow down where you should live in this 4100 square mile county.

[cram242]

Originally Posted by JTGJR

I DON'T completely understand. Why should the knowledgeable people on this board spend their time throwing darts at a blank wall. Apparently, you know about costs and commutes, so you don't need our help to narrow down where you should live in this 4100 square mile county.

Thanks for your comment. I'm not sure why it is difficult to understand where I'm coming from. I want to know what the people and communities are like in different areas of the region.

The feel of the community is going to make a huge difference in our happiness in a major transition like this, so I would rather make the budget work for a place where we'll be happy than try to be happy in a place where a budget will work. Does that make more sense?

I appreciate everyone's input as long as they're trying. I don't mean to bewilder anyone.

[nowincal11]

My criteria for happiness is probably a lot different than yours though as are everyone elses.

Aside from budget, what are you looking for? Urban, suburban, quality of schools?? Quiet, more activities, nightlife/no nightlife?

[SandyCo]

Is weather of any concern to you? That might help narrow down your choices a bit. (I also live in Sherman Oaks, so I have no further "community commentary" for you, sorry...)

[cram242]

Originally Posted by nowincal11

My criteria for happiness is probably a lot different than yours though as are everyone elses.

Aside from budget, what are you looking for? Urban, suburban, quality of schools?? Quiet, more activities, nightlife/no nightlife?

My point in all of this though was not to have anyone tell me where I would be happy, but to learn about what things are offered in different areas of the city in terms of community. I'm sure there are tons of things in different communities that would NOT make me happy, but if I just asked for a recommendation of where I should go, I would never learn about those things! I think when you're looking at an enormous change like this it's a great idea to learn as much of the good and the bad and the indifferent about where you're heading.

[nowincal11]

I hear ya. You just might not get a lot of responses this way. Thus far, I'm the only response.