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Old 02-12-2014, 09:50 PM
 
2 posts, read 1,944 times
Reputation: 10

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Hello everyone. I'm new to these forums. Back in April of 2013 I moved to Glendale CA to stay with my father for a bit until I found a job and got money to move out. It is now getting close to where I must move out to my own place. Only problem is... I don't know what towns are decent and what ones are not.

Here is basically what I am looking for:

I am in the video game industry (currently a game tester) so I'd like to move a little closer to the companies... LA (itself), Santa Monica, El Segundo or closer to a place like Irvine and Newport beach.

I'm looking for a Bachelor or Studio apartment for 500-650 at most a month.

But my biggest question is about the towns. Any advice on what towns are decent/affordable to live in? I mentioned to a friend that I was thinking of Santa Ana and he said it was a bad/gang type city. So I found this forum to see if anyone knows a bit about the towns in LA or Orange County. Thanks! Any additional info is welcome also.
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Old 02-12-2014, 11:24 PM
 
Location: Dana Point
1,224 posts, read 1,823,805 times
Reputation: 683
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimfyre View Post
Hello everyone. I'm new to these forums. Back in April of 2013 I moved to Glendale CA to stay with my father for a bit until I found a job and got money to move out. It is now getting close to where I must move out to my own place. Only problem is... I don't know what towns are decent and what ones are not.

Here is basically what I am looking for:

I am in the video game industry (currently a game tester) so I'd like to move a little closer to the companies... LA (itself), Santa Monica, El Segundo or closer to a place like Irvine and Newport beach.

I'm looking for a Bachelor or Studio apartment for 500-650 at most a month.

But my biggest question is about the towns. Any advice on what towns are decent/affordable to live in? I mentioned to a friend that I was thinking of Santa Ana and he said it was a bad/gang type city. So I found this forum to see if anyone knows a bit about the towns in LA or Orange County. Thanks! Any additional info is welcome also.
Cross off Santa Monica, El Segundo, Irvine and Newport Beach for a studio Apartment at that budget. It's not going to happen. I have a 1 bed unit in SM right now that is being rented for nearly 3x the top end of your budget.

Your only option would be a shared living situation, and even then I think you would have a hard time finding that in SM, El Segundo, Irvine or Newport Beach. Your best bet is to look at cities outside of those areas. For SM, think Inglewood. For Irvine/Newport think Santa Ana, or Costa Mesa.

Santa Ana can have shady areas, but it's honestly a lot better than it was just 5 years ago. The area near South Coast is good. The area contained by MacArthur, Edinger, and Bristol/Main is cheap, and has gotten better in terms of crime. I honestly wouldn't be afraid to live there.

Apparently Inglewood bordering Culver City is now a gentrified, nice area. I don't know from personal experience, maybe jm1982 can shed more light on that.
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Old 02-13-2014, 01:36 PM
 
2 posts, read 1,944 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by ExeterMedia View Post
Cross off Santa Monica, El Segundo, Irvine and Newport Beach for a studio Apartment at that budget. It's not going to happen. I have a 1 bed unit in SM right now that is being rented for nearly 3x the top end of your budget.

Your only option would be a shared living situation, and even then I think you would have a hard time finding that in SM, El Segundo, Irvine or Newport Beach. Your best bet is to look at cities outside of those areas. For SM, think Inglewood. For Irvine/Newport think Santa Ana, or Costa Mesa.

Santa Ana can have shady areas, but it's honestly a lot better than it was just 5 years ago. The area near South Coast is good. The area contained by MacArthur, Edinger, and Bristol/Main is cheap, and has gotten better in terms of crime. I honestly wouldn't be afraid to live there.

Apparently Inglewood bordering Culver City is now a gentrified, nice area. I don't know from personal experience, maybe jm1982 can shed more light on that.

Yeah I knew I wouldn't be able to live in those cities right now. I'm more looking for surrounding decent commute locations. Thanks for this info, also a friend said Downtown LA isn't that bad for prices right now? Not sure personally but keeping my options open. I have 2 jobs lined up waiting to hear from one of them. One is in El Segundo and the other is Santa Monica. Thanks again!
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Old 02-13-2014, 02:38 PM
 
1,319 posts, read 2,196,022 times
Reputation: 651
Quote:
Originally Posted by ExeterMedia View Post
Apparently Inglewood bordering Culver City is now a gentrified, nice area. I don't know from personal experience, maybe jm1982 can shed more light on that.
Inglewood does not border Culver City. You are probably talking about northern part of Inglewood that borders Ladera. That area is in transition, I wouldn't say it's fully gentrified.
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Old 02-13-2014, 03:25 PM
 
Location: Dana Point
1,224 posts, read 1,823,805 times
Reputation: 683
Yeah that's why I asked for someone else to chime in. jm1982 brought up some interesting factoids about that area of Inglewood, and it was kind of shocking to read that the area had come up so much (at least in terms of RE prices).
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Old 02-13-2014, 10:01 PM
 
Location: California
37,121 posts, read 42,189,292 times
Reputation: 34997
I know some people doing exactly what you're doing but it's not something they fully support themselves on. They take other jobs too, and share a bedroom, in Playa Del Rey. It's 4 people in a 2 bedroom apartment.
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