Commuting from Santa Clarita to downtown Los Angeles. Is this doable or a nightmare?

[Mister 7]

Originally Posted by vincenze

HHills - is it Holmby Hills?
Why wouldn't you just hire a chauffeur with a limo?

I wish, it was an apartment at the base of the Hollywood Hills. Nice apartment but nothing to write home about. The area, however, was awesome. I could drive up through Outpost Estates and be on Mulholland Drive in less than 5 minutes. We were walking distance from the Red Line.

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by TexasBound19

If you can't live within 5 miles of where you work, you shouldn't be living here.

Move close to your work or if you can't afford it, find a job in a cheap area.

Commutes that are longer than 30 mins absolutely destroy people's health (mentally and physically).

Five miles? That's a dream for many in the Greater LA area. It would be ideal, but we're not always dealing with ideal situations in employment and life.

Probably better to time when one leaves for work. Admittedly easier when one is single than when dealing with a family and all that that entails.

And the commentary about commutes longer than thirty minutes may not apply to everyone.

[scg949]

Originally Posted by California121

My fiance and I are looking to buy a house. I work in downtown Los Angeles. He works in the San Fernando Valley. We are looking at the Santa Clarita area because it is clean, family-oriented, has good schools, and can provide a decent-sized house for what we would be paying. Looking at Burbank, Sherman Oaks, etc., my commute would be better, but we would only be able to afford a shoebox-sized house. Ideally, we would like a house with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, which is impossible in most parts of Los Angeles for our budget.

My job provides me some flexibility in that I may be able to work from home 2 days a week, which is good. But would I be hating my life making the drive the rest of the time?

Thanks.

I work in Santa Clarita and used to live there for 3 months before moving to Sherman Oaks where I live now. I think that Santa Clarita is more of a city for families, and there are lots of nice trails for hiking, etc, but besides that, there is not much else going on.

I think that whether this would work for you'll or not can be best decided by a test run for a week (or two). Maybe book a room at the Extended Stay in Santa Clarita or an Airb&b and try this out for a week. You'll probably have the answer to your question at the end of the test run. (It takes time to adjust, so 2 weeks test period would be ideal, imo)

I know people who take the train from SC to downtown, and they say it is doable. But it takes a huge chunk of time out of your day.

One thing to consider is to see what job opportunities are available for you in Santa Clarita or in the Valley; this would make life easier, imo. Also, a small place in SO or Burbank where you'll have more time to do fun stuff instead of spending that time commuting, is something to consider as well.