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Old 05-25-2013, 09:52 PM
 
42 posts, read 89,696 times
Reputation: 62

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LA is pretty much an unknown to me.

I have a good friend who lives in North Hollywood, which I liked - it felt kind of like working class areas of the East Bay. His brother lives in Silver Lake, and I spent one evening there and didn't quite get the hype, considering my affection for other hipsterrific neighborhoods like the SF Mission and downtown Oakland. I also spent some time walking around downtown LA, which I didn't think was as awful as everyone says.

Other than that...I went to a conference right in the middle of Hollywood and it seemed fine. Not sure I'd want to live in the center of a popular tourist area, but open to it. Oh, and I've heard Santa Monica is great, but impractical due to commute reasons. That's all the knowledge that I'm working with here!

Anyway, I have a very promising job lead. Headed down for a final interview in a couple of weeks. The position would be based pretty much right at Union Station. But in order to appropriately plan my new fantasy LA life, I need to figure out where to live! So, some background information: I'm a 29 year-old gay male, mostly an outdoors kind of guy. I don't go out much, but do like access to grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, quiet enough streets where I can run (not necessarily trails, just not stoplights that prevent me from getting a good pace going). I have a garden, which I love but it's not a requirement that I continue the hobby.

Some degree of walkability and bikability is essential, but I have looser definitions of those terms than most. I don't currently own a car, and I'd like to see if I can continue to make that work. On that point I really only want to hear from people who have gone some significant chunk of their lives car-free, because in my experience most people who have always owned cars don't have a clue of how it's possible to live without one.

Based on my initial research, somewhere in the Los Feliz area seemed most promising. Access to Griffith Park, pretty convenient biking to the potential job, street view tour of the area seemed somewhat charming. Good instinct? What kind of rents for a 1 BR should I expect? Looks possibly expensive...though I'm used to Bay Area rents, I also have a pretty sweet deal where I live, so sticker shock is still a possibility. What other areas might seem like a good possibility? And this is sort of a silly question, but can you give me street names that might be characteristic of the neighborhoods you mention so that I can check them out on street view?

Thanks!

Last edited by CFL_City; 05-25-2013 at 11:15 PM.. Reason: clarity
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Old 05-26-2013, 02:20 AM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
2,985 posts, read 4,867,557 times
Reputation: 3419
Basically, you can choose to live economically or pay more for the neighborhood.

For the desirable neighborhoods, check out West LA (Westwood, Brentwood, Century City, etc), Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, or Pasadena. Rent in these cities will run you around 1-2K/month for a 1B1Ba

I particularly don't care for LA and consider SF the superior city and the Bay Area the preferred region, but if you have a job opportunity worth the move, then all power to you.
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Old 05-26-2013, 08:36 AM
 
Location: East Bay, San Francisco Bay Area
23,374 posts, read 23,792,947 times
Reputation: 23788
Look into Pasadena. Old Town has some good shopping and nightlife options and you can take the MTA Gold Line (similar to BART) to Union Station easily. LA is very spread out compared to the Bay Area, so it's hard to live efficiently without a car.
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Old 05-26-2013, 11:20 PM
 
Location: South Korea
5,242 posts, read 13,048,399 times
Reputation: 2957
I lived in the Bay Area for about 8 years and then spent 1 year in Long Beach before jetting off to Korea. Long Beach is kinda sorta like let's say Oakland, due to being relatively walkable, bikeable, and being pretty urban in a low key way. This really only counts from around the beach up to around 7th Street, go north of there and LB gets more suburban-style like the rest of the LA area mostly is.

Anyway, definitely check out Pasadena, its downtown is pretty sweet and it would be a good commute on the Gold Line.
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Old 05-27-2013, 02:30 PM
 
42 posts, read 89,696 times
Reputation: 62
Thanks everyone, I never would have even considered Pasadena. I thought it was on the moon, but then the prospective job location right at Union Station definitely has its advantages.

I had heard about Long Beach, and thought it did sound like a great option, except I suspect the commute would be too much...an hour on the blue line would mean some good reading time, but there's only so much time in the day! And some possible issue with nature deficit...

I'm spending the weekend before the final interview in town. It sounds like I should head up to Pasadena to check out the vibe. The little bungalows remind me a bit of Berkeley. Plus, close access to Angeles National Fores and what appears to be a trail along Arroyo Seco (fully understanding what "Seco" means) are definitely appealing. Is it a bit sleepy up there?

Any thoughts on my initial idea - Los Feliz? Any other neighborhoods I should check out that weekend? Considering I'm unlikely to spend more than $1500 on a 1 br (and would prefer to spend less).
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Old 05-30-2013, 03:23 PM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
2,985 posts, read 4,867,557 times
Reputation: 3419
^Pasadena definitely seems like your best option. I have an uncle who works at a law firm in DTLA and commutes from Pasadena everyday happily. Live near Old Town and you'll have all the city amenities available to you. Very nice downtown. Rather upscale in parts. Most Southern Californians view Pasadena as a wonderful city to live in. Living car-free would be rather easy there, too, since you'll be working near Union Station. An overall fantastic city.

The commute from LB seems annoying. Also, generally speaking, Pasadena is much nicer and safer than LB. The only benefits to LB would be the cheaper rent and the closer proximity to OC beaches. LB is trying to improve and has developed into a very bike-friendly city, but it's not overall as great as Pasadena.
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