Commuting from OC to LA, moving not possible? (Los Angeles, San Francisco: credit, how much)

[kgirlapril]

I'm a SoCal native that has returned to the OC for college. I'm currently living in Huntington Beach with my parents to save money instead of dorming at college. In a year or so I might consider transferring to LA for college and maybe staying there but until then I'm stuck here.

Anyway I know how bad traffic is on the 405 but I am considering some internships in LA that I am REALLY interested in. To my knowledge they don't have similar opportunities in the OC. The thing is that rush hour commute would be over an hour one way.

I actually don't mind the traffic SO much (living in SoCal you just get used to it). But my helicopter parents are concerned about the "safety" of LA (I will be possibly working in Culver City). And because I am a young female college student they think I will be raped driving around Los Angeles. I understand not everywhere is safe but I'd rather be prepped by someone giving me advice as to how to adapt to this city rather than keeping me at home where it's "safe". My parents freak out if I live alone for a few days and I live in a pretty safe neighborhood with a lot of old people not too far from the HB Pier.

As you can see I have no money to move out on my own and no degree (yet). I figure if I want to eventually move out there I will need to start networking with potential friends/roommates/support system/etc early on.

I know my teacher makes the commute from OC (Costa Mesa) to LA (Studio City). He says it's insane but he loves his job so he does it anyway.

Should I just give up on this internship? It has relevant skills to my dream career and I'm willing to drive the distance/make the time.

[thelopez2]

Just allocate 1hr 20 minutes and you should be fine. I'd do it for my dream career, but at some point in the future, you might have to accept it is only a dream.

[andrecle]

I'd say go for it. Even if your commute is 1.5 hours, you're gaining skills and experience that will benefit you for the rest of your career. In the grand scheme of things, a temporary long commute for an internship is no big deal.

[timtemtym]

Rush hour commute is well over an hour and bank more on 2. My bf works in Santa Monica and occasionally he stays with me on a Sunday night in Long Beach. Getting from LB to SM on a monday morning, even if he leaves here by 6am, he is usually to SM (south side of santa monica) around 8am. So coming from Huntington Beach would add to that even though Culver City is a tad south of SM. If you want to be there between 8 and 9am, count on two hours to get up there.

The 405 connects so many employment centers that it really does need its own light rail line. Downtown Long Beach to Torrance to the Manhattan Beach tech corridor to Loyola to Venice to Santa Monica, jog up Santa Monica or Wilshire and then up over the hill to Sherman Oaks. That is my dream, please build it.

[BRinSM]

I grew up in oc and now have a family in LA. There is a lot of misunderstanding of LA in oc even though they are so close. Safety in HB would be just as much of a concern in Culver city. The biggest differences between the two areas is cleanliness and food options, oc wins the former and la wins the latter. Other than that, weather is great, traffic sucks, and there are people of every size, shape and color in both areas. Good luck!

[hken]

Take the internship. Just don't leave during rush hour. If you start at 9am, leave at 6 get there early and make yourself look good. Hang out in LA till after rush hour to go home. You're a student so you have time to burn, plus I am sure you will meet friends and have options to crash as places once in a while if you don't want to drive.

[SpaceMonkyPunks]

IMHO your parents are kind of crazy, Culver City is easily one of the safer parts of LA, and as long as you drive with your doors locked...lol.

I agee with hken - you should just make a point to make the drive in during off-traffic hours, and your commute won't be so bad. If it's a regular 9-5, drive in really early and grab a coffee before work, and hang around somewhere semi-late after work. Go hang out with your coworkers after work - internships are just as much about networking as the actual work, after all. (Also make sure you're getting school credit for your time.)

Used to occasionally drive from Palms/Culver to Santa Ana, and with no traffic it's only 45 minutes.

[ExeterMedia]

Huntington to Culver won't be so bad. You can at least reasonably can skip the 22 slowdown by taking Bolsa onto the 405.

I used to do nearly the same commute to MDR and Santa Monica from South County. The biggest slowdowns you'll encounter are near the 22, a 5 mile area near the exits for LAX, and then pretty much Inglewood to the 10. Those slowdown areas will probably account for half of your commute time.

If you exit at Howard Hughes Pkwy and take Sepulveda/Jefferson into CC, it might save you some time. It did for me when I needed to get to MDR.

[buzzkillb]

After being at UCI for 5 years I thought I would never want to come back to LA. But I did and forgot how much I missed LA in general. LA is not as bad as your parents are making it out to be. LA is just grittier looking. I am positive I can go to many bad parts of OC or LA and make it out alive. Though, I wouldn't suggest walking around skid row at midnight.

[kgirlapril]

Thanks so much everyone for the encouraging answers!

I think my parents are weird about LA generally because 1) they're super crazy strict and 2) my grandma lives in Rosemead and she's paranoid about being robbed, I guess that rubbed off on them...

All my extended family live in nice places like Cerritos and Irvine and such, they're used to swanky green neighborhoods. My mom also drove me once to see the Disney Concert Hall and we went through a bad part of town where there were a bunch of people just loitering around on the streets... not to mention that we drove through Compton (during the day though) to get to downtown LA.


Anyway, any tips safety-wise for living/working in LA? I know about the "don't drive through sketchy looking places" and don't be out too late at night, lock your car...

Should I carry pepper spray or a taser? I know it sounds crazy but one of my friends even carried a knife with her when she was living in LA. I'm pretty sure that counts as a concealed weapon though?

Also how is parking? My sister and I drove through downtown LA to see MOCA and the parking was crazy. I only paid 10 bucks for a parking structure space but I'm used to the open space of OC parking and huge shopping center parking structures.

Hopefully it's not too much parallel parking like in San Francisco I'm a terrible driver in that aspect.