Torn between Mar Vista and Culver City (Santa Monica, West Hollywood: apartments, for rent)

[bakerc13]

Hi all,

I recently took a job in Culver City, and am renting an apartment on a month to month basis until I can find something long term. My job is in southern CC, and I was advised by a few different people to stay on the west side; Santa Monica, Venice, etc.

In looking at places I figured I wanted a few different criteria met (if at all possible). Ideally, I want something:

Relatively close to work (<20 min)
Relatively close to the water (within biking/running distance)
Something with a social scene (I'm a single guy in his late 20s from the midwest)

With that in mind, I found a place in Mar Vista a few blocks east of the high school that I'll be looking at this weekend, but the feedback I got from it from friends and co-workers was lackluster at best. My thought was that it's central to the social scenes (Abbot Kinney or Culver City) and situated between the beach and my job.

Would it be worthwhile to just suck it up and lose one or two of the criteria above and go with a place in Santa Monica/Venice or downtown Culver City; or will I be able to still enjoy a "central" location while being able to access things with relative ease? My budget is around $1400/mo looking for a 1 bedroom.

Any and all insight is appreciated!

[JohnG72]

???? We are talking about around a 7-8 minute drive. Or am I the only one confused?

[bakerc13]

Sorry, my point was to ask if it's worthwhile to be in a spot as opposed to being near it. I'm from Chicago so the concept of getting in a car to drive 2 miles and park is a little weird to me (but if that's the norm here, I guess the onus is on me to adjust). Plus, being new in town, I honestly don't know what the public parking/transit situation is like in any of these places.

[jm1982]

I agree that it is good to stay near your job, traffic gets really bad here .

Yes getting in car and driving 2 miles is the norm here. It seems people that have a car don't really take the bus much or possibly the subway.

Being in Culver City area is nice now because the subway is there now, a culver city station was just added . You can take the subway to downtown, hollywood and lots of other locations.

Culver City or Mar Vista are going to be a lot cheaper than Santa Monica/Venice for rent and they are not very far from those areas as well..so I'm not sure it would be a big deal.

I would stick to the place close to your work as that is going to remain in the same location. You might find out that you don't like the Venice/Santa Monica "scene" and prefer going to Hollywood area or something to hangout later on.

L.A doesn't really have a central place like some cities, which makes this a bit difficult..especially with traffic added to the mix. Not everyone that lives in L.A goes to Venice or Santa Monica to hangout at night for example. Some go to Hollywood or West Hollywood, some go to downtown, some go to the Los Feliz area. Actually I would say Santa Monica/Venice are more daytime places to hangout versus the area mentioned above. There are definitely bars and places but Santa Monica/Venice isn't really known for it's nightlife compared to many other areas of the city.

I think that it's pretty rare that people just live and hangout in one area. I could see it being convenient because you don't have to drive all around, but I think that might get a little old after a while.

Hope that is helpful..

[Dunbar42]

Originally Posted by bakerc13

Sorry, my point was to ask if it's worthwhile to be in a spot as opposed to being near it.

Parking can be a bear on Abbot Kinney and around Main St in Santa Monica during the days/hours the nightlife scene is busy. Traffic near the beach gets to be abominable on warm weekends when everybody flocks to the beach so it's best to avoid driving then. Most of the areas you're asking about are an easy bike ride to the desirable spots. If you want to be walking distance than you obviously need to be physically much closer. And yes, making a 20 minute R/T drive in your car to get a latte 2 miles away is no fun. I stayed in Venice for two weeks and there isn't a huge difference between Venice, Mar Vista, Marina Del Ray and the area of Santa Monica south of I10. The closer you get to the 405 (i.e., Mar Vista / West LA) tend to feel more working class. Anyways, you're in CC right already so I would start exploring the areas you're interested in and see what you like. All of these areas are no more than a 20-25 minute commute to your job.

[jaypee]

At that budget, you wouldn't be able to find anything great in Santa Monica and the unreasonable increase in rent is not worth it, IMO. I would, however, consider moving closer to downtown CC.

[jm1982]

The other nice thing about downtown Culver city is that Culver city is it's own city. This is why you don't see a bunch of homeless people and it's a lot cleaner than Venice. If I had the choice I'd prob choose Culver City, a lot calmer too and more liveable than dealing with all the tourists of Venice/Santa Monica.

[disgruntled la native]

You'll have a hard time affording santa monica. Venice is possible but hard.

Culver City and Mar Vista it is. My general rule is that it's better to live in an independent mini city within LA than an adjacent neighborhood in City of LA (if that makes sense).

So I'd choose Santa Monica over Brentwood/Palisades, Beverly Hills over Bel Air, West Hollywood over Hollywood, and in your case, Culver City over Mar Vista/Venice.

The city of LA is notorious for inefficiency, they don't solve your problems, the police force and fire is too spread out, and good luck ever getting heard. Most of the smaller cities are cleaner, have a budget surplus,a nd resources for anything you could imagine.

Mar vista is a little closer to the beach if thats so importnat, but culver city isnt far at all, and you benefit from the city of culver city. Mar Vista is a basically forgotten about neighborhood in the city of LA - the city of LA spends alll its resources in the poor areas while the rich areas like Bel Air have the resident pay their own bills, so Middle class areas like mar vista are left in the dust

[xcalgal]

Some of the areas in CC and Mar Vista have gang activities. I would swing by the police dept and have a chat as to where the areas are from where you might want to stay away.

[BRinSM]

i would consider marina del rey, especially around washington blvd. it's a short drive/bike ride to culver city and you'll have the best of the beach communities nearby with a short commute to work. $1400 is on the very low end for apartments, but i'm sure you could find something. culver city's downtown is a neat area with plenty of options, but it's an island surrounded by nothing but residential for miles. the beach will offer many more options for food/drink/fun. good luck!