Accepted an offer at a startup in the Santa Monica area for a SWE role, so will be moving down there in a few months (can work remote for now). Which area do you recommend I move to? My budget for rent is no more than $2000/month. So far I’ve looked on the west side of LA (Mar Vista down to Torrance). I’m ok with doing a 30 min one-way commute. Any advice is greatly appreciated! 🤗 New TC: 180k #tech
Live as close to work as possible.
+1, best if you can walk or bike, otherwise you’ll be miserable in no time
+1 The option to walk and bike is so liberating if one can afford it.
East side is much more interesting than the west side IMO, but commute can suck. Check out the Palms neighborhood on the west side. It’s one of the more “affordable” areas on the west side. Otherwise, Torrance might be a decent option. Most of the other neighborhoods have a premium for being so close to the water.
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll look into the Palms area. Would you say that place is safe?
I’ve lived there for 13 years, I would say it’s safe (or maybe in desensitized to LA). Mar Vista is also great but expensive
Is close-in Valley such as Sherman Oaks or Encino out of scope? Sawtelle would probably be one of the better commutes outside of SaMo itself.
Unfortunately Sherman Oaks is a bit too far. I mean, it’s relatively close(r) to Santa Monica but far from everywhere else. I’ll look into Sawtelle. Do you have any experience living there?
Live in Santa Monica, Brentwood, or sawtelle, Culver City. I wouldn’t go too far out otherwise you’ll have a bad commute. Definitely not as far south as Torrance. I wouldn’t do further south as marina Del Rey if you want to keep within a 30 minute commute.
I’ll try to stay around the areas you suggested. The only problem is that it’s a lot more expensive in general. Do you have any suggestions on the more inland areas like Los Feliz or Glendale? Would it be too far and/or unsafe neighborhood?
Inland is going to be an hour plus commute. Absolutely would not recommend it.
Could be a 2 hour commute from los feliz or glendale, esp if there’s an accident. (Before pandemic, there was traffic on 10 fwy weekdays at 9:30 pm.) Torrance is pushing it if you want 30 min. Street traffic is bad on the west side, so stay as close to office as possible. Get a studio if have to
2 hrs?? 😩. F* that. I guess I’ll have to put studios on the table then…
The major east-west streets with exits to the highways (Wilshire, SM boulevard, Olympic, Pico) are going to be jammed every morning/evening. Same as south-north streets between them and near the exits (Cloverfield, Bundy etc). Other streets between them will get the jam overflow when the highways get especially jammed (repairs, accidents). Can spend 30 mins driving 10 blocks east-west under the bad conditions. Try to live to the north/south from work.
Wow, thank you for the awesome tips, @Naughty Dog! Definitely writing this down.
If there's an EXPO line station close to your office, I would consider living near a station. The palms/culver area would be a ~30 min commute, and much cheaper than living in Santa Monica.
Thanks, @Cornerstone! Will look into this as well.
Mar Vista is great and close to SM, Culver City's also not too far. If you can't find anything in your price range...get a roommate :) unless you absolutely can't stand anyone, sharing a 2bd/2ba with another young professional is going to be more tolerable than a 400sqft studio.
Thanks, @Facebook. Will keep that in mind.
Beverly Hills
Thanks will definitely look into it. Do you have any experience living there?