Encino. Safe area? (Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Monica: apartment complex, living, price)

[jeoore]

Hello all,
I recently accepted a job offer at the Santa Monica UCLA as a RN. I am moving to Los Angeles from Iowa City with my boyfriend the first week of June. We are currently looking at places to live in the Valley. Top areas are Sherman Oaks, Studio City, and Encino. I heard many good things about Encino on this forum. What I am asking is if there are any rough areas of Encino to avoid. We are looking at an apartment complex at 5461 Yarmouth Ave. Since we will not be able to fly out and see the area and apartment complex (we can only rely on pictures), could anyone tell me if this is in an "ok" area?

I have been to Sherman Oaks before, but never to Encino. Just need some information about this part. There is very limited info. about Encino online.

[Charles]

Encino is nice.

I'll be the first (and not the only) to suggest living closer to UCLA. It is a nice area (and is surrounded by nice areas with lots of housing options) and you would avoid a nasty commute.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

That area is the most densely populated part of Encino due to all of the apartment complexes there. I really dont think there are any bad parts of Enicno but I do know in that area there are lots and lots of apartment buildings.

Have you considered searching for a place near work? That would be the way to go.

[jeoore]

I have definitely considered moving closer to Santa Monica. It seems everything I have looked at has been outside our price range (a ceiling of $1400). I have searched in West Hollywood, though. I do like it there and it would be closer to work. I really liked the Valley when I went to visit. I did a trial run, at 3 pm on a Wednesday, from Santa Monica to Sherman Oaks before in order to see how long the commute is. It wasn't as bad as I thought (about 30 min). I only will have to go to work three times a week as well (12 hour shifts). Thanks a lot for the information! This is something I am still considering.

[BRinSM]

before you jump head first into the valley, you should definitely consider areas closer to work ie. West LA, which happens to border Santa Monica. there is so much more to see and do on this side of the hill and the weather is MUCH better. Look for apartments around santa monica blvd or wilshire blvd that are west of the 405 freeway and east of Bundy. You should be able to find something decent for around $1400 or $1500.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by jeoore

I did a trial run, at 3 pm on a Wednesday, from Santa Monica to Sherman Oaks before in order to see how long the commute is. It wasn't as bad as I thought (about 30 min).

But if you did that same commute at 3:15 or 3:30 instead of 3:00 it could easily take an hour.

[jeoore]

Yeah, I suppose that much is very true. I wish my boyfriend got a job before we moved out there, so he would know where he would be working at. We could have easily chosen somewhere to live that was halfway where we both worked. ::sigh:: Apartment hunting is extremely difficult to do when you are more than halfway across the country and don't have much money or time to come back to search for an apartment. If we do decide to live in the Valley, hopefully he will get a job there so at least his commute won't be that bad. Originally from Chicago, I thought I knew what bad traffic looked like. Then, I went to LA. Wow.

[forever]

yeah, the traffic in LA is seriously... bad.. went there last week, and i remember driving for about an hour after i had seen the "welcome to l.a." sign, or whatever.. its ridiculous!

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by jeoore

I recently accepted a job offer at the Santa Monica UCLA as a RN. I am moving to Los Angeles from Iowa City with my boyfriend the first week of June. We are currently looking at places to live in the Valley. Top areas are Sherman Oaks, Studio City, and Encino. I heard many good things about Encino on this forum. What I am asking is if there are any rough areas of Encino to avoid. We are looking at an apartment complex at 5461 Yarmouth Ave. Since we will not be able to fly out and see the area and apartment complex (we can only rely on pictures), could anyone tell me if this is in an "ok" area?

I have been to Sherman Oaks before, but never to Encino. Just need some information about this part. There is very limited info. about Encino online.

Yeah, that's an okay neighborhood, although due to the large concentration of apartments I wouldn't advise a single woman to be walking around between car and apartment late at night. You can see a lot using the Google Maps street view at this link. Your 5461 is on the west side of the street. The area is mostly 2-3 story apartments.

All of Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Encino and Tarzana are pretty much the same, and much of the area between the Ventura Freeway and Ventura Blvd. are filled with big apartments.

I'm not a woman so I don't know how I'd feel about getting out of my car, particularly in a carport, and walking into my apartment at 11 p.m. or something like that. You decide. But your place is not one of the bad-bad areas of the Valley.

You would be facing a fairly stiff commute, perhaps an hour each way. You would use the San Diego Freeway, Sepulveda Blvd., or maybe Beverly Glen. (There's a few more small canyons that I've used.)

You might want to have a look at Santa Monica. The traffic would be just as bad but the distance would be shorter so the time would be shorter too.

[jeoore]

Thank you so much everyone for the helpful advice! This will be a tough decision still, but I will find a way