Moving to LA (Huntington Beach, Torrance, Orange: living in, beach, public transportation)

[MrBoz]

Help. I'm taking a job in El Segundo (LAAFB) and am thinking about living in Huntington Beach / Costa Mesa. Are there any thoughts on the communities and/or the commute? Thanks!

[jdavid93225]

The major route from the Orange County beach communities (Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa) to the LAX area (El Segundo) is the 405 freeway. This freeway has about the worst reputation in L.A. for traffic. It's even been said that it was named the "four o' five" because, on a good day, you can go "four o' five" miles per hour. I would not recommend living in those areas if you're going to commute to El Segundo.

With that said, I would suggest looking for housing in the "South Bay" (Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Redondo Beach, etc.) area, rather than the O.C. beach communities. El Segundo is also in the South Bay, and the commute from those areas would be very easy. Other areas with an easy commute to El Segundo include Marina Del Rey and Santa Monica.

If you have your heart set on living in Orange County, I think you will find that the commute to El Segundo is difficult, even on good days. You will want to look at planning several routes for your commute, so you can find alternates when the traffic is bad or there's a bad accident. Another thing to look into is public transportation. I don't really know what options there are in the areas you'd be traveling, but with LAX being so close, I imagine there would be several options for public transportation.

[artichoke63]

Originally Posted by MrBoz

Help. I'm taking a job in El Segundo (LAAFB) and am thinking about living in Huntington Beach / Costa Mesa. Are there any thoughts on the communities and/or the commute? Thanks!

That's a heck of a commute. If you are planning to work in El Segundo, you want to think about living in Manhattan, Hermosa, or Redondo beach. Keep your commute as short as possible. Huntington Beach is nice, but it's an insane drive to El Segundo. I sure wouldn't want to spend that many hours of my precious life on the 405 freeway locked up in traffic.

Artie

[Sorcerer68]

Yes, check out the South Bay first. You don't want to deliberately sentence yourself to up to 4 hours a day in your car. I personally prefer Santa Monica to the South Bay, lots more to do.