Walkable area to live near Beverly Hills job (San Diego, Santa Monica: apartments, living)

[Holly_CA]

I am moving from downtown San Diego where I can walk to EVERYTHING I need. I literally drop my car off on Friday after work and do not see it until Monday morning. Being a single straight female in my early thirties , I enjoy hitting the gym, local bars, restaurants (casual - fine), museums, shopping, meeting awesome people, etc. Oh, and I HATE driving in traffic ... again I am moving for a good job hope to be worth the misery of bumper to bumper hell.

Is there an area close to Beverly Hills that offers the same walkability that I am used to? I am willing to commute up to 30 min. in rush hour traffic to get to work and can afford $1400/mo living by myself or with roommates.

Thanks a bunch!

[disgruntled la native]

Yes, absolutely. West Hollywood and Miracle Mile are your answers. West hollywood is next door to beverly hills and is probably the most walkable area in LA county. Literally eveyrthing you could possibly need is within a half mile walk. Miracle Mile is a few minutes past West Hollywood and the area by the Grove mall is equally walkable to West hollywood.

[subPrimeTime]

Congrats on the new job, and the location. Beverly Hills is quite central, and there are a few different urban walkable areas nearby.

Probably the most popular answer on here would be West Hollywood. It's a dense area with lots of restaurants, coffee shops, bars...and it's also the gay capital of LA, so keep that in mind. You'll likely see a good amount of celebrities in the area. Commuting from there is very easy, maybe 15 minutes depending on where in BH your job is.

I'd also recommend the Miracle Mile area off Wilshire Blvd. The areas in between Wilshire/Fairfax & Wilshire/La Brea have tons of apartments. Wilshire has plenty of restaurants and museum row.

As far as commuting, if you live somewhat close to Wilshire & work close to Wilshire in BH, you could even take a Metro Rapid Bus to work, and not have to deal with driving in traffic.

But I wouldn't expect not needing your car during an entire weekend in this city, simply because there are lots of different areas to explore. Other than that, it sounds like all your specifications are reasonable (30 min or less commute, $1,400 rent).

[BRinSM]

my parents live in downtown SD so I can definitely say you won't find anything like that in LA. downtown LA has a totally different vibe than downtown SD and the scale is also much different. the closest thing in LA IMO would be santa monica around the 3rd st promenade. SM to BH in 30 minutes sounds about right, you wouldn't even have to take the freeway. there are 3 major boulevards that will take you from SM to BH: Wilshire, Santa Monica and Olympic (all of which also have rapid bus service if that's your thing). west hollywood as others have mentioned would also probably be a good fit, but the ocean isn't too close. others also mentioned the miracle mile. this area does have lots of museums and restaurants, but i never found it that walkable. wilshire is a huge, loud streeet, not much fun for walking. head north to the area around 3rd st or Beverly Blvd for a better walking experience.

remember though that LA is more expensive than SD. $1400 isn't going to get you very much in the more desirable parts of town (like those mentioned by myself and others). you'll either be stuck in a studio or have to share a unit with at least one other roommate.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

my parents live in downtown SD so I can definitely say you won't find anything like that in LA. downtown LA has a totally different vibe than downtown SD and the scale is also much different. the closest thing in LA IMO would be santa monica around the 3rd st promenade. SM to BH in 30 minutes sounds about right, you wouldn't even have to take the freeway. there are 3 major boulevards that will take you from SM to BH: Wilshire, Santa Monica and Olympic (all of which also have rapid bus service if that's your thing). west hollywood as others have mentioned would also probably be a good fit, but the ocean isn't too close. others also mentioned the miracle mile. this area does have lots of museums and restaurants, but i never found it that walkable. wilshire is a huge, loud streeet, not much fun for walking. head north to the area around 3rd st or Beverly Blvd for a better walking experience.

remember though that LA is more expensive than SD. $1400 isn't going to get you very much in the more desirable parts of town (like those mentioned by myself and others). you'll either be stuck in a studio or have to share a unit with at least one other roommate.

1400 seems like an appropriate amount for West Hollywood - though maybe want to boost that to $1500. If it was me I would look for someone to go in on a 2-bedroom and make the 1400 dollars go a little further because 2800 for a two-bedroom should get you something pretty nice in quite a few places in the city.

As far as the OP's question, I would have to go with West Hollywood too. Also the area down Fairfax, usually called Mid-City West is a good area - basically that area around 3rd Street or Beverly that BR is referring to.

[disgruntled la native]

1400 can definitely get you a studio in West Hollywood, and some one bedrooms. If you want your budget to encompass the majority of one bedrooms you gotta increase it to 1500 or 1600. This applies to the Mid-City west/miracle mile area too

[bpeeps]

Working in Beverly Hills and just put in an apartment application for a place at Santa Monica and Crescent Heights. There are PLENTY of apartments under 1400 that are nice. I know because I've been looking.