Early 20s West L.A. (San Diego, Santa Monica: real estate, crime, lawyers)

[jccarson]

Hey I may land a job at an architecture firm in Culver City which I believe is in West L.A. My trouble is that I hear and read that Culver City is more for the newly married or older single crowd in terms of living.

I still would love to live the young 20s lifestyle for a few more years without living in a bedroom community. I have been to and experienced Silverlake and Korea town lifestyle and I really liked that vibe, the great concerts, tons of young fun people around, etc.

My sister lives in Silver lake and used to live in Echo park, so at least I have someone to help me around L.A. some of the time.

Where are the places near Culver that I could find housing that emit a similar vibe for young people? Or even where would I go to hangout and meet new young people around that area?

Or is it worth posting up in downtown and driving to Culver every morning? Is the traffic really bad on the 10 west in the morning? Is it easy to not use the highway in the morning to get to Culver?

Any help would be very much appreciated!

By the way I grew up in San Diego and went to school in San Luis Obispo so I have been used to the very chill easy going lifestyle but I also enjoy the fast paced hip scene + indie music.

[jm1982]

Plenty of singles in and around culver city I'm sure ...it's not a bedroom community .

Best thing would be to be near the downtown culver city area . It's not the same vibe as silverlake echo park or Korea town ,but you also have lower crime and its cleaner ..more livable I think .

Personally I think it's best to be as close to work as possible la traffic is worst in the nation. A long commute can be a buzzkill and not too conductive to a chill easy going lifestyle.

Do you imagine yourself needing to be in that indie music scene almost every day mon-fri ?

There are plenty of places to go out in culver city and you are near Venice and Santa Monica too and other areas .

Definitely not some isolated suburbs area where a young single person will feel out of place .

[jccarson]

Haha no I don't think I will be out for shows all the time, but every week or two would be nice.

I am just trying to get more information about Culver City, the surrounding areas and how to live in L.A. because I am sure there are many similarities to living in San Diego but at the same time the two places are very different.

I've been looking on craigslist for housing and reading about the area and it does look like downtown Culver is the place for young people and I also was looking at a place near by called the Palms, and lastly I was looking into Mid-City.

Thanks for your input so far though.

[ltjazz]

I'm kind of looking for the same vibe. I'd be moving from NYC. I want to be around young and fun people and get that vibe, but I also want the chill/beach vibe as well. If there's anything with a community feel kind of like Brooklyn...

[Ingenere]

Santa Monica would probably be good if you are into hipster types.

[5pyg1a55]

Originally Posted by Ingenere

Santa Monica would probably be good if you are into hipster types.

Yes.
Or Silver Lake.

Though I heard they're going to be setting up hipster traps around town...better be careful.

[hjt123]

Originally Posted by Ingenere

Santa Monica would probably be good if you are into hipster types.

if hipster means 35 year old lawyers, graphic designers, and real estate agents. nowhere on the westside is truly a "hipster" neighborhood. culver city is nice but is more of a trendy gastropub & expensive art scene

You should check out downtown if you want to skip the car on your commute to work; you can ride the expo line to culver city from 7th & Flower. Otherwise I'd go for koreatown - very dense, walkable, and inexpensive and not terribly far from culver, though with density and grit it loses that SoCal beach vibe you're after

[ltjazz]

Thanks for the tips.

Originally Posted by hjt123

if hipster means 35 year old lawyers, graphic designers, and real estate agents. nowhere on the westside is truly a "hipster" neighborhood. culver city is nice but is more of a trendy gastropub & expensive art scene

You should check out downtown if you want to skip the car on your commute to work; you can ride the expo line to culver city from 7th & Flower. Otherwise I'd go for koreatown - very dense, walkable, and inexpensive and not terribly far from culver, though with density and grit it loses that SoCal beach vibe you're after

[jccarson]

Yeah this is good stuff thank you for the help. I would probably be looking at the downtown area, korea town sounds good and it really isn't that far from Culver. I am just okay with living away from the beach for a few years because I've had it my whole life in San Diego and I can go back to San Diego on the weekends to go surfing and play in the sun.

And not having to drive would be really nice too. What is he expo line? Is that a bus or the metro?

[hjt123]

Originally Posted by jccarson

Yeah this is good stuff thank you for the help. I would probably be looking at the downtown area, korea town sounds good and it really isn't that far from Culver. I am just okay with living away from the beach for a few years because I've had it my whole life in San Diego and I can go back to San Diego on the weekends to go surfing and play in the sun.

And not having to drive would be really nice too. What is he expo line? Is that a bus or the metro?

It's a light rail line. Probably about 30 minutes to Culver. Driving to work would be quicker if you live in Koreatown but you could also take the Purple Line subway to 7th & Flower and transfer to Expo if you don't wanna drive, which would probably end up being around 50 minutes