Please help a struggling young adult figure out how to get to Burbank (Live/Transportation/etc (Glendale: apartments, rental)

[Sy_Mercade]

Hello all,

I use this site a lot ever since I moved out to SoCal from New Hampshire (big, big change.) to see what places are considered nice/safe neighborhoods to live in. (Thanks for telling me about the Koreatown boundaries of semi-safety, btw)
I'm a 24 y/o white male and ya know, just don't want to live with a lot of crime/gangs, wanna find some place safe and relatively nice, on a budget. And no roach infestations, if that's even possible.

In the past I've done a lot of room/apt shares off of craigslist/padmapper, in Santa Monica, Westwood, and most recently Beverly Hills (but not a particularly great part/apartment). Each place has been 700-800 a month + util, and some have been much better than others. Westwood was great and I miss it dearly.

Anyway, I just recently got a full-time job in Burbank. I don't have a car, so I've been taking my bike to the bus at 2-3am and getting to Burbank around 5am. Needless to say, that's 4-7 hours of my day (back and forth, 2nd through traffic) I'm riding the bus, where I need to change buses twice in the morning, and three times at day. For a 12 mile drive.

Today I took a taxi, and it took $50 and 20mins to get there. Continue that, even one-way and we're looking at $1000 for the month. Coming back, there was traffic, and it cost 80 and took an hour. No more of that.

So I'm looking at some apartments in the Burbank area, but I know almost nothing about "The Valley." I've never been there except for this week, have no idea where good places to live are, but I've heard bad things about North Hollywood, Van Nuys, and Glendale (some parts, but not sure where)

Of course, I'm not sure what "bad things" means. Pretty sure "bad places" in the valley, doesn't threaten on the same scale as "bad places" in downtown L.A area or something.

Anyway, at my first impression, Burbank doesn't seem that great. It looks more like a village with some factories than a city to me, with the exception of the Mall/stores on 1st and Magnolia and the studios. The 3 apartments I checked out today were old and falling apart. Then again, I have only seen downtown, close to the freeway that's close to the mall. I think it's the 5. I'm probably missing a lot.

So, while I do some more research, padmapping, and reading the schedules to the buses to see where I could move (if not Burbank) to be able to be one bus away from work. (near 1st and magnolia) I figured I'd post here and see if you guys could maybe point me in a righter direction, or even advise against moving anywhere, and offer a better alternative (I hear there's some rideshare services, like Sidecar, I've yet to check out.)

I've thought about just renting a car for a month, but on top of the rental cost, there's
-Gas
-Insurance
-Inevitable accident because people can't drive
-Place to park (current place doesn't have a spot)

The hotels in the area seem to charge (at lowest) 100 a day, so that's out.

Perhaps Sherman Oaks? All I know about it is the bus goes there.

Also what's so bad about North Hollywood, Van Nuys, and Glendale?

What's Grand View?

Also budget is like 800-1200 (with util)...provided my job lasts.

I think that's it, forgive the wall! Thanks

[SpaceMonkyPunks]

Congrats on the job - are you by chance working a studio? I ask because, if that's the case, you can probably find a plethora of new coworkers who are looking for roommates. A lot of people who work at studios are contractual, and may move for another gig when their current one is up - hence, lots of roommates that come and go.

I don't know much about Valley housing but I do know that Sherman Oaks can be kind of pricey.

[Sy_Mercade]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkyPunks

Congrats on the job - are you by chance working a studio? I ask because, if that's the case, you can probably find a plethora of new coworkers who are looking for roommates.

I don't know much about Valley housing but I do know that Sherman Oaks can be kind of pricey.

Haha no, that'd be nice though, and I do figure I can possibly transition to one if I'm already in the area. The place I work has about 10 employees, and I've asked them all. Most commute from places like Pasadena and Pacomia (sp?) by car.

[SpaceMonkyPunks]

Originally Posted by Sy_Mercade

Haha no, that'd be nice though, and I do figure I can possibly transition to one if I'm already in the area. The place I work has about 10 employees, and I've asked them all. They commute from places like Pasadena and Pacomia (sp?) by car.

Ah, bummer.

Well, try looking in those supposed 'bad' places and feel it out for yourself, maybe. Personally, I've never felt unsafe in Glendale, North Hollywood, or Van Nuys, but I've only been to certain pockets of those areas and can't really give an accurate yay or nay.

[jessemh431]

I'm not sure how the buses are in the valley, so I'm gonna go off what Google Maps says with directions on public transit lol. If you do Sherman Oaks, you can take a single bus, but it'll be at least an hour commute. If you don't mind an hour commute, Sherman Oaks is the best part of the valley.

However, anything along the southern side of the valley along Ventura Blvd is a great area to live. According to Google Maps, it would only take 30 minutes from Toluca Lake.

Burbank itself is a good place to live though. They have a small downtown area. The valley in general is still very suburban so be prepared for that. It's mostly houses and malls. The only exception is parts of Ventura Blvd especially through Sherman Oaks. Idk Burbank well enough though to tell you which parts to look at and which to avoid.

[kmo20]

Burbank is nice city, except where it borders North Hollywood and Sun Valley on the north/northwest end. Everywhere else is perfectly safe especially compared to other areas of the valley.

[Sy_Mercade]

Thanks everyone for your replies, tomorrow I'll be taking the bus route yet again, with my bike, and looking at about 4-5 apts in Burbank and one nice-looking cheap one in lower NoHo. I'll report back with my findings. In another thread I saw people saying NoHo is ok as long as you're south of Burbank Blvd.

And yeah, I don't mind an hour commute, especially compared to a 3 hr one where I either have to get off and wait in skid row for the next bus, or under a bridge in Echo Park at 4am (but this option is better, and the one I do.)

Of what I've seen of Van Nuys, I'd say it's a bad place. Only been on Van Nuys Blvd, no further north than VanOwen, though.

[jessemh431]

You don't want Van Nuys. I would say Burbank itself. It's a nice city. If you can't find anything you like there I would say Sherman Oaks then.

[Cream1]

Just live in Burbank. Sherman Oaks is nice but not worth an hour commute on a bus.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by kmo20

Burbank is nice city, except where it borders North Hollywood and Sun Valley on the north/northwest end. Everywhere else is perfectly safe especially compared to other areas of the valley.

North Burbank isn't unsafe by any means. Just run down, noisy (due to the airport), and in close proximity to some bad neighborhoods. Burbank has no truly bad neighborhoods.

Burbank is a great place to live with great services and a great location. Live there if you can...