Need advice on moving to Los Angeles (Glendale, Pasadena: apartments, for rent)

[Pirouline]

To the ones who have done it with experience or guru of Los Angeles work force and commuters . . .

I am looking to move out to Los Angeles soon from MD and I am moving out there without my car and I will be financially stable for a few months (at least in my terms).

I had roommates here paying around 700-800 a month for rent and other bills here and there . . .

I was wondering if anyone out there or with experience can recommend a good SAFE place to live without a car and being able to commute with public transportation if I were to work in downtown LA or about 10-15 miles from my future residence in LA. I hear Glendale / Cerritos / Miranda are some few places that are SAFE to live and commute is accessible. (I am looking to have roommates in LA)

thanks in advance

[woodsart]

If your work is close to a Metro stop in DTLA, you should look at living on the metro gold line (Highland Park, South Pasadena, Pasadena). These areas are easily commutable to DTLA through Union Station. Highland Park and areas closer to DTLA on the gold line are cheapest, though less safe than South Pas/Pas. But I have felt safe in Highland Park (I lived the last year with my partner and a roommate, and we are all women).

I am moving to South Pas this weekend due to other factors, but safety isn't one of them.

If you can afford it, South Pas and Old Town Pasadena (both have metro stops) are lovely.

You'd have a 15-45 minute commute on the metro depending on where you live on the gold line. It's about $3 round trip, though you can buy a monthly pass. And you don't have to deal with the awful DTLA (lack of) parking or the rush hour commute.

[Pirouline]

Originally Posted by woodsart

If your work is close to a Metro stop in DTLA, you should look at living on the metro gold line (Highland Park, South Pasadena, Pasadena). These areas are easily commutable to DTLA through Union Station. Highland Park and areas closer to DTLA on the gold line are cheapest, though less safe than South Pas/Pas. But I have felt safe in Highland Park (I lived the last year with my partner and a roommate, and we are all women).

I am moving to South Pas this weekend due to other factors, but safety isn't one of them.

If you can afford it, South Pas and Old Town Pasadena (both have metro stops) are lovely.

You'd have a 15-45 minute commute on the metro depending on where you live on the gold line. It's about $3 round trip, though you can buy a monthly pass. And you don't have to deal with the awful DTLA (lack of) parking or the rush hour commute.

Well as a person living in LA - do you think it's reasonable to get around - going to work, going out, and such without a car without too much trouble compared to having one? obviously better to have it but I hear the public transportation isn't great compared to other states.

You mentioned Highland Park - and where you live was it more residential and private near local shopping centers? like i have mentioned before - safety and feeling "at home" compared to thinking about oh this place is something i need to worry about will be a big part even if the rent were to be cheaper.

[ccm123]

Agreed about South Pasadena and Pasadena, great areas and accessible to the Metro Gold Line.

[woodsart]

Originally Posted by Pirouline

Well as a person living in LA - do you think it's reasonable to get around - going to work, going out, and such without a car without too much trouble compared to having one? obviously better to have it but I hear the public transportation isn't great compared to other states.

It's reasonable if you have a workplace easily accessible to public transit and you live right next to public transit. Otherwise, no. Also, "going out" in LA pretty much requires a car unless you want to spend 3 hours getting everywhere.

The commuting public transit if you position your workplace and home on major metro routes is not bad. The general public transit (i.e., you feel like getting to this concert or to the beach or whatever) is bad.

You could survive OK without a car if you lived and worked accessible to the metro lines. But your social/recreational life would not be all that great unless you don't like going many places. I'd see having no car as something you survive while you rapidly sort out buying a car.

And I'm not a "car culture" person. I very happily lived in Seattle without a car. It's just that here, the city is sprawled out and most things depend on people driving.

You mentioned Highland Park - and where you live was it more residential and private near local shopping centers? like i have mentioned before - safety and feeling "at home" compared to thinking about oh this place is something i need to worry about will be a big part even if the rent were to be cheaper.

I don't find Highland Park unsafe, but it isn't exactly pretty. It's "gentrifying," which means it still has a lot of lower-income people there. That said, they are nice and friendly and it has a local culture to it that is heavily influenced by Salvadorean and Mexican shops and restaurants. Tons of great cheap food, little cheap markets (dollar stores, Mexican supermarket, and a Vons that is bikeable), graffitti art (as well as tagging, you have both). HLP has a community garden and some community parks and a small farmer's market. York Blvd. has the Mexican supermarket and a great little art walk and a lot of indie shops and art galleries. There is a wonderful bar on Figueroa, The Cave. Ultimately for me, it was just too urban and gritty and noisy. But the neighbors are really friendly and the rent is cheap. Happily, I will soon live one neighborhood over that is much quieter and cleaner, but is just a short metro stop away from the things I love about HLP.

South Pasadena is more residential, quaint, and charming. It is cleaner and quieter and has a lot of intellectual families. It is also a lot more expensive. Especially in the highly desired downtown area where the metro station, farmer's market, Trader Joe's supermarket, and a variety of small shops and parks are located.

By comparison, I was paying $1900 a month for a large house in HLP (equivalent of 3 bedrooms plus den, plus open concept living/dining/kitchen) and I am paying $1500 a month for a small cottage in South Pasadena (one bedroom, about 650 square feet with a small garage). There are small 2-bedroom apts that might work for you in South Pasadena that run $1400-1500 and are only a couple blocks from the metro station.

Old Town Pasadena is more urban with a very large downtown area of indie and chain shops and restaurants and apartments built on top in a more conventionally metropolitan fashion. It is more upscale and less small-town. It is also more expensive.

So far as I could tell, after you get past Old Town on the metro gold line, the rent goes down a bit.

All of these areas by the metro stops are also by the 110 or 210 freeways.

If you are not used to urban gritty life, you might feel uncomfortable or even unsafe in Highland Park, even though I didn't. If you are looking for "homey" and sort of small-town feeling, but very commutable to DTLA, I'd say try South Pasadena first.