Santa Clarita to Westlake Village Commute (Thousand Oaks, Burbank: apartment, renter, house)

[wisepanda]

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum and would love to get some information from other forum members.

1. I'm taking up a new job in Westlake Village.
2. My previous job was in Burbank/North Hollywood area and I used to commute from Santa Clarita. It wasn't too bad at all given flexible timing (9-11 am start, 6-8 pm end). Never had a commute more than 35-40 minutes.
3. However new job requires me to be at work by 8.30am and I get to leave by 5pm.
4. I'm not sure/aware of any opportunities to telecommute.
5. I don't have any kids so schools are not a problem but I do own my house and would have to find a renter if I did decide to rent a place closer to work.
6. I have a V6 sedan (on finance about 3.5 years left) that probably gives me an average of 25MPG Hwy and City combined. (Santa Clarita to Burbank/North Hollywood)

Now I'm trying to cut down on my expenses given that the new job pays me a little bit lesser than the old one. Here are some of the options that I could think of. Looking for some suggestions or notes from people who have been there done that.

1. Find a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment in Westlake/Thousand Oaks area for around $1500 and try to rent out my house. (Short term hit until I find a renter since it is a 4 bed 3 bath single family home) But start saving immediately on gas. (about $400 each month assuming a 100 mile round trip commute Old Road->Balboa->118->23->101). Good possibility of savings but hassle of moving out of my own house.

2. Buy a Diesel/used hybrid with about 100k miles on it. (Will save about $200 on gas) but get to stay at my own house.

3. Try to find a carpool partner and keep my existing V6 sedan. Saving on gas and miles driven but hassle of trying to find a carpool partner and then syncing up the drive times.

4. Train/bus to Moorpark/Chatsworth and leave a beater car there at the train/bus station. (Need to worry about car getting stolen, missing bus etc) Also I'm not even sure if there is a way to commute from Santa Clarita to Moorpark/Chatsworth/Thousand Oaks.

Also, it would be good if you could point me towards any better routing that I could take. Currently I'm thinking Old Road->Balboa->118->23->101 and the same route back. Works out to about 100 miles round trip. How is the traffic along this route? (Assuming I leave by 7am and return trip is at 5.15pm)

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for your input.

[iConsciousness]

Given that there's heavy morning traffic going on the 405 South (to connect to the 101 North), I think the 118 East/23 South/101 South might be your best bet.

[wisepanda]

Thanks for the info. Just to update the thread, it took me about 1hr 45min on Monday when it was raining. On Tuesday and this morning it took me 55 mins each way which was really really good. I guess the 118-23-101 is the best route for this commute. I also recommend taking Madera rd North exit and joining 23 at Olsen Rd.