Commute to Santa Monica (Los Angeles, Downey: condos, home, neighborhoods)

[hellosmartcat]

Hi,
My husband works in Santa Monica and I work in downtown LA. We're looking to buy a home in the area that we both can handle the commute (< 20 miles each way) and the price is in our budget.
We look a round in west LA, Sherman Oaks and Studio City area and we could not afford it..the recession is not in the westside
So we expand our search to other areas but we are not sure about the commute.
Could anyone please give us some comments about the commute from/to these locations in regular business hours to Santa Monica and downtown LA?
- Van Nuys
- Encino
- North Hollywood
- Temple City
- Downey
Sorry about the long message. Thank you.

[BRinSM]

commuting from the valley will be very slow. same with commuting from anywhere east. encino would be the closest neighborhood to santa monica, but still atleast a 45 minute commute each way, probably longer to downtown. van nuys is deeper into the valley, so the commute will be even longer. NoHo is great for someone commuting downtown because the red line subway is nearby, but getting to santa monica is a completely different story. downey and temple city are even farther from santa monica, i would take those of your list.

did you look into culver city? would you be interested in a condo? if so, playa del rey has an abundance of condos at reasonable prices compared to other westside locations. did you look in the mid city area (east of beverly hills). there are a few single family home neighborhoods in that area that are probably much cheaper than the westside.

[timelesschild]

Temple City would be a nightmare for you both, and especially for your husband.

[SurekRZA]

I used to live in Encino and worked in Santa Monica. The commute was a half hour with traffic. Without its a ten minute drive. From Encino to Downtown with traffic its about an hour but much less if you take the red line from North Hollywood. Look into Valley Village, Van Nuys or Lake Balboa. They are in good locations not far from downtown or Santa Monica.

[Clnconcpts]

Culver city might work for you.Almost in the middle.Closer to santa monica though

[BRinSM]

Originally Posted by SurekRZA

I used to live in Encino and worked in Santa Monica. The commute was a half hour with traffic.

maybe a half hour on the 405, but that won't get you to santa monica, you still have deal with either the 10 or the surface streets (olympic, santa monica, wilshire) which are absolutely horrendous during rush hour.

[CESpeed]

I'll second Culver City. It's close to Santa Monica and you have the option of commuting to Downtown via street which isn't as bad as the freeway.

[hellosmartcat]

Thank you everyone for your comments

[EricJess123]

Temple City
-Santa Monica: 36 mins
-Traffic to Santa Monica:1 hour and 50 mins

-Downtown Los Angeles 24 mins
-Traffic to LA 40 Mins
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Van Nuys

-Santa Monica 23 mins
-Traffic to SM 1 hour

-Downtown Los Angeles 24 mins
-Traffic to LA 1 hour
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North Hollywood

-Santa Monica 22 mins
-Traffic to SM 38 mins

-Downtown Los Angeles 17 mins
-Traffic to LA 34 mins
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Downey

-Santa Monica 49 mins
-Traffic to SM 2 hours

-Downtown Los Angeles 25 mins
-Traffic to LA 30 mins
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Encino
Way too FAR!!!!!!!!

I would Reccomend North Hollywood Or Culver City