Where to live between Glendale and LAX?? (Ontario, Pasadena: best neighborhood, rentals)

[pokin]

Hey guys. Great forum, its been tons of help.

My girlfriend and I will be moving to LA soon and are trying to figure out the best neighborhood for us. She has gotten a job in Glendale which she will be driving to and from every day. I will have to commute to LAX once, maybe twice a week and normally very early in the morning. We would like to live closer to Glendale since she will be doing her commute much more often than I will.

Our range for hopefully a small two bedroom or a large one bedroom is $1500-2000 a month. We are late twenties-early thirties and would like to be close to some good restaurants and bars, decent shopping and nightlife.

The two areas we are considering for now are Los Feliz and West Hollywood. Any others you would recommend?

We have heard that West Hollywood has a very large gay population. We just want to make sure that we won't feel completely out of place. One of our gay friends has lived in both Los Feliz and West Hollywood and told us that even he thought west hollywood was "gayer than gay" I'm sure it'll be fine but would like to hear from anyone who has any opinions. Thanks in advance for your help!

Pete

[straight outta camden]

West Hollywood is indeed a gay (and lesbian) neighborhood. That's not so unusual, of course. What is odder is the overall mix of people who live there. Youngish gays plus retired central and Eastern Europeans, many of them Jewish. If you have young children you will feel very out of place indeed. The gays who live in West Hollywood are not the adopting kind (toddlers would spoil their manicured front gardens).

It's a great neighbourhood. For bars and restaurants I would choose it over Los Feliz.

Do you know New York? If so, W. Hollywood feels a bit like the West Village. Los Feliz is more like Park Slope.

[pokin]

Thanks for the response. Funny you mention New York. I actually lived in Manhattan on the upper west side for a couple of years. I explored both Park Slope and The Village and they were both pretty cool, albeit different places.

We are taking a trip out next week to drive and walk both WeHo and Los Feliz to try and get a better feel for where we would like to be (and hopefully rent a place!)

Any other areas you would advise to check out?

[Sorcerer68]

Some people really like the area around 3rd and Fairfax near the Grove. There are tons of rentals there and it's really walkable. For me it doesn't have the vibe but it's really hot right now. The Grove is kind of like a Vegas casino mall but with a real sky instead of the painted on clouds. I live in Los Feliz within easy walking distance of Los Feliz Village and it's really nice...it has big shoes to fill since I come from Old Pasadena (my most recent L.A. address albeit 4 years ago) which is the most stellar walkable community in Southern California...but it's the wrong direction for you. Shall I digress...check out Franklin Village and Beachwood Canyon, the former found at Franklin and Beachwood, the latter go north on Beachwood. There are tons of rentals in this area, it's by the freeway, it's reasonable and a nice place to live. Another seldom mentioned area is Whitley Heights which literally has Hollywood Blvd at it's feet yet is quite serene with rentals sprinkled between mansions. It's really gorgeous there. The streets are STEEP if you walk them but Hollywood and Highland is right there.

[UB50]

If you don't have to actually drive to LAX, you might check out Glendale. There is Metrolink service that runs from Glendale to LAX.

[pokin]

Originally Posted by UB50

If you don't have to actually drive to LAX, you might check out Glendale. There is Metrolink service that runs from Glendale to LAX.

Glendale is on the list to checkout for sure since that is where my GF will work. Just doing research online though I can't find any info about metrolink from Glendale to LAX. I might just be missing it though.

Originally Posted by Sorcerer68

check out Franklin Village and Beachwood Canyon, the former found at Franklin and Beachwood, the latter go north on Beachwood. There are tons of rentals in this area, it's by the freeway, it's reasonable and a nice place to live.

Both of these look like nice areas we will add to our list. Thanks!

We are actually coming out to L.A. this Sunday and staying till Wed. We will be actively looking for a place to rent for Sept. 1st. Is this enough time to find a place? If we do find one is the process just to leave a deposit plus first month's rent for Sept. or will they try and make us start paying rent immediately?

Right now we really like Los Feliz and have been combing through craigslist. Anything else you would recommend? We plan to walk up and down some of the streets in Los Feliz to see if there are any unadvertised places as well. Any specific areas of the neighborhood to either target or avoid?

Any thoughts on using Westside Rentals? Actually worth it or just a waste of money?

Originally Posted by Sorcerer68

it has big shoes to fill since I come from Old Pasadena (my most recent L.A. address albeit 4 years ago) which is the most stellar walkable community in Southern California

I keep seeing you mention Old Pass. I think from there to LAX would be a bit far even if I only had to do it once a week. I do have the option of working out of the Ontario airport which would at least be driving against the traffic. I'd have to give up a little bit of quality of life to be based there though. Is Old Pass so great that it'd be worth it?

Thanks again for everyone's help.

Pete

[straight outta camden]

Old Town Pasadena is great. A sort of small-town America archetype. In fact, Pasadena is great. Pretty housing, lots of trees, ethnically diverse, safe etc. The drawback is the freeway to downtown, which can be a nightmare, and the heat. See the first few pages of Chandler's "The High Window" for a description.

You should be able to handle a trip a week to LAX, especially if you can leave at a time other than rush hour.

As for Ontario, it depends what you mean by quality of life. You will be able to afford a bigger place there, that's for sure. It is not exactly a throbbing urban scene though. And driving out there can be pretty grim. LA-area traffic is unpredictable (apart from the 405--that is predictably jammed). If there is an accident--and there often is in the Inland Empire on the 10--it will take you a long time to get to Ontario as well.

[pokin]

Originally Posted by straight outta camden

it depends what you mean by quality of life.

That's the question. I didn't do a great job of explaining my situation. Here we go:

1. Girlfriend will work in Glendale. Need to be within 25 minute drive in rush hour since she'll do it every day.

2. I can work at either LAX or Ontario airport and will make the trip back and forth once maybe twice a week. Would like to keep it no more than 1 hr 15 minute drive in traffic.

3. If I decide to work out of Ontario I will have to work more on the weekends than if I was out of LAX (the main quality of life sacrifice).

Pasadena looks nice and it sounds like you're saying I could still work out of LAX. I guess we are just trying to come up with some kind of plan before we head out there on Sunday so we can look at as many places as possible in good areas.

Thanks again.

Pete

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by pokin

Glendale is on the list to checkout for sure since that is where my GF will work. Just doing research online though I can't find any info about metrolink from Glendale to LAX. I might just be missing it though.



Both of these look like nice areas we will add to our list. Thanks!

We are actually coming out to L.A. this Sunday and staying till Wed. We will be actively looking for a place to rent for Sept. 1st. Is this enough time to find a place? If we do find one is the process just to leave a deposit plus first month's rent for Sept. or will they try and make us start paying rent immediately?

Right now we really like Los Feliz and have been combing through craigslist. Anything else you would recommend? We plan to walk up and down some of the streets in Los Feliz to see if there are any unadvertised places as well. Any specific areas of the neighborhood to either target or avoid?

Any thoughts on using Westside Rentals? Actually worth it or just a waste of money?



I keep seeing you mention Old Pass. I think from there to LAX would be a bit far even if I only had to do it once a week. I do have the option of working out of the Ontario airport which would at least be driving against the traffic. I'd have to give up a little bit of quality of life to be based there though. Is Old Pass so great that it'd be worth it?

Thanks again for everyone's help.

Pete

Driving to Ontario from Old Pas is worse than driving to LAX. You didn't mention if you had to do it in rush hour. Once a week is doable, I wouldn't do it every day. I've lived many, many places in and out of this country and Old Pasadena is my favorite of all of them. I'll hang out there later this afternoon grabbing some King Taco. It's got jaw-dropping architecture, it's really clean, tons of shops and restaurants...culture...a really nice place to live. I'm still kicking myself for giving up my place there. It was temporary insanity.

[pokin]

Ok, you've convinced me to give Pasadena a really good look when we go out there. I'm about to do some research online but are there any areas in particular to look at. What are the general boundaries of "Old Pasadena"?