Any advice on where to rent? (Los Angeles, Santa Monica: apartments, limo, transfer)

[FL80]

Hi,
We've been back and forth on were to move, rent or buy etc. Can anyone recommend an area with reasonably low rents and not a tremendous amount of crime? I had seen several apartments in the following areas that were reasonable in rent, but I live on the east coast and aren't sure of the atmosphere: Santa Monica, Koreatown, and Downtown LA? Any suggestions?

[fastfilm]

Firstly, you've asked for impossibilities like seeking a unicorn when buying a horse. There is no such thing as inexpensive apartments in safe areas in Los Angeles. The reason the rents are higher in safer areas is because they're in safer areas, far more so than having luxury amenities or beautifiul views.

I just answer briefly here, and the rest of the posters can offer their suggestions too for your comparisons.

Santa Monica: beachside community, students, actors, well-paid professionals, ex-pats from places other than Mexico, beach bums, youngish, heterosexuals (I am pro- non-heterosexuals, so this is just an identification to distinguish it from, say, West Hollywood.) I don't know where you've found an "inexpensive" apartment there. That's ... unusual. I don't consider over a $1,800 a month for a tiny studio apt. to be inexpensive. There are rent-controlled apts. with small rents, but this is not transferable to new tenants.

Koreatown is where my husband works as a teacher and I am very familiar with it. It is very typical of what Los Angeles is now: all foreign nationals, some legal immigrants and established U.S. citizens, mostly not. No English spoken anywhere. The Koreans have had the sense to move the second they can afford to. The area features lots of interesting businesses catering to Korean people, but not so many of them live there now. Great restaurants. The main populace is Latino. The breakdown of students in my husband's school is 80% Latino, 19% Korean, 1% from other parts of the globe. The area is very crowded, people and traffic-wise. I can't imagine someone who could afford to live in Santa Monica choosing this area unless they lived above their own business. I would not categorize the area as "safe."

I would also not categorize Downtown Los Angeles as "safe." It is a true business hub that has been trying to lure residents for the last 60 years, after the area lost its appeal and the streets filled up with the homeless. Yes, there are luxury penthouse type apts. on top of those skyscrapers, but unless you enjoy and can afford the Manhattan lifestyle of dashing from your elevator to a your waiting limo and never sullying your life with the locals, this is not the best L.A. has to offer. There are museums and clubs downtown, but the metro transit shuts down early, stultifying nightlife a bit. People want to be able to get home, and there's little car parking there.

Lastly, I had a friend moving to L.A. ignore my advise about location, and she rented a nice-looking apartment near downtown. Within a month a rapist broke in and she narrowly escaped. I let her stay with me until she found a safer location on the Westside. P.S. I no longer live there, I can't afford it (husband is teacher= low pay, I'm a freelancer.) We live in a gang area in the San Fernando Valley. We've had our dogs shot at, our streets are graffitied constantly, and few of our adult neighbors speak English.

[dutchie]

Hi,

Santa Monica has cheaper options, try on Craigslist where I found an excellent apartment and flatmate at the time.

La Brea are is excellent, you may be able to find something you can share.

Hollywood area....can be a bit dodgy at night, but it depends where you stay.

Downtown is ok to go during the day, I do it all the time and am very streetwise, just keep your eyes open. Living in downtown LA I would not recommend, it's the centre of certain activities at night.

Try to stay in the areas around West Hollywood which are fine. Santa Monica is ok, Venice Beach can be a bit tacky but it does have a boho feeling, lots of homeles people which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Good luck !

[dusesean1986]

I'd go with Santa Monica, less congestion, cheaper, better weather and air quality, close to the beach.

[Sorcerer68]

Downtown is for some and not for most others. Those who live there wouldn't live anywhere else. Infastructure is still coming in...it's literally coming back to life. I don't find it terribly scary but others do. It's an urban core, not a pocket neighborhood.

Santa Monica: Pricey. Nice place to live but not my favorite beach city. I love to hang out there but living there...not for me. I'd go north or south.

The only way I'd live in Koreatown would be close to or on Wilshire Blvd. Some of the buildings are stunning. If you're an architecture buff like me, you might dig it. Mix in some crackheads and you've got a little city vibe but the streets seem awfully deserted post dinner time.