Moving to Santa Monica / West LA / WestWood - Please Suggest Safe & Affordable Areas For Rent (Culver City: apartments, crime rate)

[NameNobodyTook]

Hi fellow CDers,

I currently live in Northridge, San Fernando Valley. I recently got a job at Santa Monica and am thinking of moving to a place closer to work. I'm mainly looking to minimize the cost equation by finding the sweet spot between the amount of time and gas that I should spend on commuting to work should I rent an apartment farther away, and the extra price penalty that I should incur by renting a more expensive apartment close by. The farther you get away from Santa Monica the lower the cost of the apartments, but the higher you have to pay in terms of gas and wasted time. So what I am really looking for is a 1BR apartment in a nice area (no gangs, drugs, thugs, prostitutes), as close to work as possible (Santa Monica, West LA, West Wood,..), not necessarily close to beach, in the price range of $1200-$1500.

You see the problem is that I am not familiar with the area, so I spend some time finding a place on the internet, go down there to check it out only to realize that the neighborhood is not nice. This has happened to me a couple of times. Yesterday I went down there to check a couple of apartments in the eastern parts of Venice Blvd in Culver City (which all looked nice judging by the pictures) and the neighborhood was well, ghetto-ish. So I asked around and a couple of neighbors said the crime rate is rather high, lots of stuff get stolen and some neighbors are smoking weed all day. This is really not the sort of place I feel comfortable leaving my wife and kids home.

Anyway, I really appreciate it if you could share your experience with me and give me some pointers as to what neighborhoods / areas I should look into that is both safe and nice and in my price range. I don't have much time left so your help can save me tremendous amount of headache and pressure down the line. Thank you all in advance!

Best,
Ash

[disgruntled la native]

Your budget should get you a nice place in West LA (the neighborhood), or sometimes called Sawtelle. It's about 5-10 min from Santa Monica, safe, quiet, and affordable. Think around Santa Monica Blvd just west of the 405 but east of Bundy, up to Ohio, down to Olympic.

[NameNobodyTook]

Thank you. Any specific method of searching you suggest? Roaming the streets vs. looking online?

[disgruntled la native]

Roam the streets and look for rent signs. a lot of complexes in those areas tend to be smaller

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by NameNobodyTook

Hi fellow CDers,

I currently live in Northridge, San Fernando Valley. I recently got a job at Santa Monica and am thinking of moving to a place closer to work. I'm mainly looking to minimize the cost equation by finding the sweet spot between the amount of time and gas that I should spend on commuting to work should I rent an apartment farther away, and the extra price penalty that I should incur by renting a more expensive apartment close by. The farther you get away from Santa Monica the lower the cost of the apartments, but the higher you have to pay in terms of gas and wasted time. So what I am really looking for is a 1BR apartment in a nice area (no gangs, drugs, thugs, prostitutes), as close to work as possible (Santa Monica, West LA, West Wood,..), not necessarily close to beach, in the price range of $1200-$1500.

You see the problem is that I am not familiar with the area, so I spend some time finding a place on the internet, go down there to check it out only to realize that the neighborhood is not nice. This has happened to me a couple of times. Yesterday I went down there to check a couple of apartments in the eastern parts of Venice Blvd in Culver City (which all looked nice judging by the pictures) and the neighborhood was well, ghetto-ish. So I asked around and a couple of neighbors said the crime rate is rather high, lots of stuff get stolen and some neighbors are smoking weed all day. This is really not the sort of place I feel comfortable leaving my wife and kids home.

Anyway, I really appreciate it if you could share your experience with me and give me some pointers as to what neighborhoods / areas I should look into that is both safe and nice and in my price range. I don't have much time left so your help can save me tremendous amount of headache and pressure down the line. Thank you all in advance!

Best,
Ash

I saw a super nice listing in downtown Culver City for a large 2 bedroom with off street parking at $1650/mo just a couple weeks ago. So I can't imagine you will have any difficulty finding a one bedroom in your price range. I think you just have to look around a bit.

[greggd1]

Originally Posted by NameNobodyTook

Hi fellow CDers,

I currently live in Northridge, San Fernando Valley. I recently got a job at Santa Monica and am thinking of moving to a place closer to work. in the price range of $1200-$1500.


Best,
Ash

You should check Eastern Santa Monica and anything north of the 10 frwy all the way down to Eastern Part of Westwood and a bit beyond.

You can easily hop a bus to work if you wanted to do so.

I congradulate you for moving closer to work and thus spending more time with your family rather than sitting in a car to save $100 per month on rent.

Check Craigslist but driving up and down the streets with your wife and a cell phone would be best.

Here is one in the Pacific Palisades, Really good schools in the area: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/apa/2522451880.html (broken link)

[majoun]

Originally Posted by greggd1

You should check Eastern Santa Monica and anything north of the 10 frwy all the way down to Eastern Part of Westwood and a bit beyond.

You can easily hop a bus to work if you wanted to do so.

I congradulate you for moving closer to work and thus spending more time with your family rather than sitting in a car to save $100 per month on rent.

Check Craigslist but driving up and down the streets with your wife and a cell phone would be best.

Here is one in the Pacific Palisades, Really good schools in the area: 1 bd/ 1ba Apt in Pacific Palisades, near the Beach, Canyon & Village (http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/apa/2522451880.html - broken link)

Safe enough albeit boring, but the situation with the schools is in flux.
That address is in the LAUSD, not the Santa Monica school district, and the charter status of Palisades High has been revoked with it turning back into a comprehensive.
I wouldn't chance having kids in an LAUSD area. Unfortunately Pacific Palisades is not any cheaper than Santa Monica. Despite property values tumbling more than any other westside neighborhood, it is still just as expensive as SM and even more expensive than some parts of SM.

[greggd1]

Originally Posted by majoun

Safe enough albeit boring, but the situation with the schools is in flux.
That address is in the LAUSD, not the Santa Monica school district, and the charter status of Palisades High has been revoked with it turning back into a comprehensive.
I wouldn't chance having kids in an LAUSD area. Unfortunately Pacific Palisades is not any cheaper than Santa Monica. Despite property values tumbling more than any other westside neighborhood, it is still just as expensive as SM and even more expensive than some parts of SM.

boring? Remember he is married with a kid...

I know what you are saying about LAUSD and agree for the most part, but Pacific Palisades? I may need to roll by there during a school day and check it out. Last time I did, (5+years ago) it didn't look much different than when i went there. I'd rather send the kids there than SAMO for sure. That was a given even 20 years ago.

[obscure reference]

I've lived in the Sawtelle area for years, and it's about as safe, affordable and close to Santa Monica as you'll find in west LA. Try driving around the 90025 zip code west of the 405; there are lots of apartments, but they can be snapped up pretty quickly.

I seem to have come out of LAUSD schools just fine, as did my Harvard PhD brother. We each racked up enough AP credits finish our BAs two quarters early. YMMV, obviously, but that was ours.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by greggd1

boring? Remember he is married with a kid...

I know what you are saying about LAUSD and agree for the most part, but Pacific Palisades? I may need to roll by there during a school day and check it out. Last time I did, (5+years ago) it didn't look much different than when i went there. I'd rather send the kids there than SAMO for sure. That was a given even 20 years ago.

It had charter status for some time, but just had its charter status revoked. Uni may wind up becoming a charter instead. Which means the status of those two schools will be reversed ; Uni will be a good school again and Pali would be like what Uni or Venice are like now. That might have interesting effects on West LA demographics...

Remember that where LAUSD comprehensive schools are located does not matter. LAUSD schools resemble each other more than they resemble their neighborhoods. If location of LAUSD schools made those schools good, than Fairfax and Marshall would still be good schools.

Pali already had more problems than Samo 20-30 years ago, and probably always will have more problems than Samo. For example Samo not being in LAUSD avoided the busing issue....