Future Loyola Law Student Moving to L.A. in June - Advice? (Los Angeles: apartments, for rent)

[mrg322]

I've been to L.A. many times, but only on vacations. As I've been accepted to begin studies at Loyola Law School in fall of 2009, I've got a big move ahead of me and am looking for any sort of information about living, studying and working in the downtown Los Angeles area.

I've been researching potential communities in which to live and find that I like what I've read about Alhambra and the San Gabriel Valley generally. Hollywood would be fantastic too, but I fear its a bit out of my price range. Any info. on what a 1 bedroom apartment in that area would go for right now? My boyfriend is moving with me, so I'll have a roommate, and I currently make $13.50 an hour at the law firm that employs me here in the Phoenix area. With luck, their headquarters in Los Angeles will accept me as a transfer and I won't need to join the job hunt.

Should I be looking exclusively at apartments or is worth a shot to see whether rooms/condos for rent are available considering my hourly wage? Combined, my boyfriend and I can probably pull in $3500 a month working full-time.

If you have time to reply, I'd love to hear pretty much anything you have to say about Loyola, the communities I've been looking at and the experience of living in a city like Los Angeles generally..

Thanks in advance for your responses!

[BRinSM]

what kind of neighborhood are you looking for? within a 15 mile drive of your future school there is urban, suburban, and everything in between.

[mrg322]

I'm pretty interested in Alhambra. It appears to be north of East L.A. (where I know I don't want to be) and Southwest of Pasadena, which I can't afford. Additionally, my preliminary research shows it to be a small, heavily Asian and Hispanic community that is approximately 11 miles away from the Loyola Law School - Any thoughts on Alhambra or other cities close to the area that aren't overly expensive (Hollywood) or a bit dangerous for my tastes (East L.A.)?

[Todd.LA]

Originally Posted by mrg322

I'm pretty interested in Alhambra. It appears to be north of East L.A. (where I know I don't want to be) and Southwest of Pasadena, which I can't afford. Additionally, my preliminary research shows it to be a small, heavily Asian and Hispanic community that is approximately 11 miles away from the Loyola Law School - Any thoughts on Alhambra or other cities close to the area that aren't overly expensive (Hollywood) or a bit dangerous for my tastes (East L.A.)?

Alhambra is not that close to Loyola, and an 11 mile commute that takes you from east of downtown to west of downtown would be a huge pain. Korea Town or Echo Park would be much closer, and both have reasonable rents (i.e., less than Pasadena). In general, life is more pleasant in LA the closer you live to where your work or go to school, since--as you may have heard--we have traffic "issues."

[mrg322]

I've heard the horror stories about L.A traffic and while I could never compare the traffic there with what we have here in Arizona, it seems as if everyday that goes by, it gets worse and worse. To the credit of most every person driving in L.A, at least they attempt to where they are going in an efficient and safe manner! Here in my home state we have retirees and punk teenagers who think they "gangsta" mixed with soccer moms who clearly can't entertain their children outside of blaring seat back television sets while she yaps on her cell phone going 50 mph in a 60 mph zone on our freeways. I look forward to getting out to L.A., and am planning a trip in February to check out both the schools I've been accepted as well as taking a look at some neighborhoods besides Alhambra that might be closer. I appreciate the heads up on the directional problem, heading from East to West and that being a regular pain in the a**. Thanks for the suggestions, I'm going to need all the help I can get!

[premier soccer fan]

If you don't have a GPS Navigation system, get one. It's saved me HOURS of time when a traffic jam hits.

Stay safe.

[f_m]

How close do you need to be (in terms of time)? People don't really talk in terms of distance, because that doesn't tell you how long it would take. To me, Alhambra would be considered med-far to far from LAX (Loyola area). The nice areas around there are Culver City and places south of LAX (LA South Bay) like Torrance or the beach cities.

Use Craigslist to get an idea of prices. However, I noticed that the range may be large depending on the condition, and the fact that there could be a huge places, tiny places, and luxury places available.

I bought something from a guy in Santa Monica, and his place seemed pretty nice, not sure how much it cost. Although I think Alhambra would be more in the lower price range.

Google maps has the traffic info you can check using the traffic (live or recorded).

[calipoppy]

Originally Posted by f_m

How close do you need to be (in terms of time)? People don't really talk in terms of distance, because that doesn't tell you how long it would take. To me, Alhambra would be considered med-far to far from LAX (Loyola area). The nice areas around there are Culver City and places south of LAX (LA South Bay) like Torrance or the beach cities.

Use Craigslist to get an idea of prices. However, I noticed that the range may be large depending on the condition, and the fact that there could be a huge places, tiny places, and luxury places available.

I bought something from a guy in Santa Monica, and his place seemed pretty nice, not sure how much it cost. Although I think Alhambra would be more in the lower price range.

Google maps has the traffic info you can check using the traffic (live or recorded).

Just an FYI f_m....Loyola Law School is NOT located in Westchester; it is just west of downtown LA.

OP...I am assuming that you are fairly young. If you are, then Alhambra may be a bit too slow and a bit too family-oriented. There are many areas of Pasadena and South Pasadena that would be a better fit (if you really want the live in the SGV)

If you are more flexible, I would actually suggest that you think about a few other areas: Larchmont Village, parts of Koreatown, Mid-Wilshire, Miracle Mile, Los Feliz, Silverlake, Echo Park, maybe even Downtown LA or Westwood.

[dache1987]

The real question is whether going to law school at all in this economy is a good idea at all.

I would strongly suggest taking a look at the following:

The Law Blog Lawyer Of the Year: Loyola 2L - Law Blog - WSJ

The Forecast for Rising 2Ls: Pain - Law Blog - WSJ

Will BigLaw Slash Hiring by 90 Percent? - Law Blog - WSJ

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/09/24/...al-job-market/ (written before the recession began)

Law Firm Layoffs Hit 10K Mark; Thursdays Most Often Bring Bad News | ABA Journal - Law News Now

Above the Law - A Legal Tabloid - News, Gossip, and Colorful Commentary on Law Firms and the Legal Profession

www.jdunderground.com

[motoman]

If you're making $13.50, are you going to be working full-time while going to law school? If you don't, then do you have some other type of financial assistance to help pay for your living expenses?

If you know your budget, then look for a place as close to school as possible. You don't want to spend 2 hours a day driving to and from school.