NY to LA Transplant Question
August 10, 2012 12:44 PM Subscribe
I was just offered a job in Los Angeles starting April of next year. We are considering it, and just starting to look around on Craigslist etc at housing/ neighborhoods. I am wondering which areas are good for our "prerequisites" which are really just things that are ideal and are in no way deal breakers:
We have a 3 month old daughter and would love to find a nice, quiet/ safe neighborhood to live in that is either near the beach (doesn't have to be ON the beach) or is farther east, but has a pool in the backyard.
We are only interested in houses, since we are moving from Brooklyn and the whole appeal of this move would be not living in an apt building anymore.
What are some nice non-astronomically expensive neighborhoods on the coast, or farther east where we could find a 2-3 bedroom house with a yard or pool for $2500 a month? I like the idea of Silverlake or Echo Park but from what I remember the houses are small and pretty packed in. Do you get to have fun stuff like a big yard or a pool in those neighborhoods? Any advice is appreciated!
We have a 3 month old daughter and would love to find a nice, quiet/ safe neighborhood to live in that is either near the beach (doesn't have to be ON the beach) or is farther east, but has a pool in the backyard.
We are only interested in houses, since we are moving from Brooklyn and the whole appeal of this move would be not living in an apt building anymore.
What are some nice non-astronomically expensive neighborhoods on the coast, or farther east where we could find a 2-3 bedroom house with a yard or pool for $2500 a month? I like the idea of Silverlake or Echo Park but from what I remember the houses are small and pretty packed in. Do you get to have fun stuff like a big yard or a pool in those neighborhoods? Any advice is appreciated!
Where in LA are you working? Would living in the Valley be a deal breaker? The houses are bigger and more likely to have a pool. Traffic will be suckier, but it really depends on where you need to go on a daily basis.
Craigslist is okay, but try Realtor.com.
My cousin lives in Glendale. I like Hollywood off of Melrose. The houses are small, but have great character. For example, the house my cousins grew up in was a Duplex (my aunt and her sister owned it) Each unit had 2 large bedrooms, 1 bath with a separate shower and tub, a dining room, a living room, an eat in kitchen and a utlity porch. Now a 2/1 sounds small, but my sister lived on one side of that duplex and she turned the dining room into an office, so there was plenty of room.
Your budget is tight, but a bit of searching should yield something you'll like.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:01 PM on August 10, 2012
Craigslist is okay, but try Realtor.com.
My cousin lives in Glendale. I like Hollywood off of Melrose. The houses are small, but have great character. For example, the house my cousins grew up in was a Duplex (my aunt and her sister owned it) Each unit had 2 large bedrooms, 1 bath with a separate shower and tub, a dining room, a living room, an eat in kitchen and a utlity porch. Now a 2/1 sounds small, but my sister lived on one side of that duplex and she turned the dining room into an office, so there was plenty of room.
Your budget is tight, but a bit of searching should yield something you'll like.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:01 PM on August 10, 2012
To get a 2-3 bedroom house with a pool in a nice/quiet/safe neighborhood, you might end up looking at a lot of the same place mentioned in this post (particularly if Silverlake or Echo Park are interesting to you).
Where is the job? That is an extremely relevant detail to this discussion...
posted by milqman at 1:02 PM on August 10, 2012
Where is the job? That is an extremely relevant detail to this discussion...
posted by milqman at 1:02 PM on August 10, 2012
Here's a great looking place in Van Nuys.
6952 Colbath Ave
Van Nuys, CA
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:05 PM on August 10, 2012
6952 Colbath Ave
Van Nuys, CA
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:05 PM on August 10, 2012
But if you're already looking at Silverlake/Echo Park, cross the freeway over to Atwater Village/Glendale.
More LA Neighborhoods from the LA Times' Mapping LA Project.
posted by notyou at 1:52 PM on August 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
More LA Neighborhoods from the LA Times' Mapping LA Project.
posted by notyou at 1:52 PM on August 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
For that money, you can live in a 1 or 2 bedroom house in Palms, much of the SF Valley, some of the SG valley or in the South Bay. Pool will be unlikely but big yard is possible.
posted by Ideefixe at 2:24 PM on August 10, 2012
posted by Ideefixe at 2:24 PM on August 10, 2012
A friend of mine just moved to a house out in Mt Washington with 3 bd and a pool. Again, whether this is accessible depends on where you're going to work.
posted by gimletbiggles at 2:47 PM on August 10, 2012
posted by gimletbiggles at 2:47 PM on August 10, 2012
As a data point, there are a lot of 2-3 bedroom houses for rent in the Melrose/Fairfax/Hollywood area in that price range (at least as of early 2011 when I found my current place here).
However, few will have a pool or much of a yard to speak of.
posted by wildcrdj at 2:48 PM on August 10, 2012
However, few will have a pool or much of a yard to speak of.
posted by wildcrdj at 2:48 PM on August 10, 2012
Just anecdotally, I believe a higher percentage of reasonably priced rental homes with pools are located in the Valley. Don't let the image of old-skool Valley girls dissuade you - there are cool neighborhoods. But like everyone's been saying, tell us where the job is so we can make recommendations.
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:50 PM on August 10, 2012
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:50 PM on August 10, 2012
Response by poster: Great info all, thanks! Job would be in West Hollywood on Sunset and San Vicente Blvd.
The Valley is by no means a deal breaker, I figured that would be where the houses with pools would be predominately located.
We love the beach, and would be excited to live close to it but I dont want to spend 3 hours a day battling traffic to get to and from work. I know very little about LA, so any suggestions are very helpful.
Hope that helps with a more targeted pool of recommendations!
posted by rubyeyo at 4:31 PM on August 10, 2012
The Valley is by no means a deal breaker, I figured that would be where the houses with pools would be predominately located.
We love the beach, and would be excited to live close to it but I dont want to spend 3 hours a day battling traffic to get to and from work. I know very little about LA, so any suggestions are very helpful.
Hope that helps with a more targeted pool of recommendations!
posted by rubyeyo at 4:31 PM on August 10, 2012
West Hollywood has a lot of cute houses but is probably out of your price range. There are residential neighborhoods all along San Vicente, which is a fast commuting street. The further south the cheaper the real estate. San Vicente is sort of a diagonal street and cuts through a lot of interesting areas. Try looking in the neighborhoods along San Vicente south of Wilshire down to Pico. Lots of multi-ethnic middle-class streets in there.
posted by conrad53 at 5:12 PM on August 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by conrad53 at 5:12 PM on August 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
If the valley's an option, you could try looking at places like Studio City or Sherman Oaks. It's right over the hill from West Hollywood and with canyon roads you can avoid the highways completely.
posted by fishmasta at 7:33 PM on August 10, 2012
posted by fishmasta at 7:33 PM on August 10, 2012
I commute from the valley to the westside and use canyon roads as a backup, but its not really any faster at rush hour, sad to say. However, if you want a house with a pool, then I think the valley is a good place to look, as that will at least get you the house you want.
Really most communities around your workplace are expensive, but other places to look would be Palms, Mar Vista and Culver City. I am biased towards the westside because I'm familiar with it, along with the valley.
Check out padmapper.com to get an idea of price ranges.
posted by Joh at 8:23 PM on August 10, 2012
Really most communities around your workplace are expensive, but other places to look would be Palms, Mar Vista and Culver City. I am biased towards the westside because I'm familiar with it, along with the valley.
Check out padmapper.com to get an idea of price ranges.
posted by Joh at 8:23 PM on August 10, 2012
Check out Universal City, the southernmost part of North Hollywood, and the northernmost part of zip code 90068 (technically still Hollywood, but "over the hill," meaning in the Valley & along the Cahuenga pass).
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:29 PM on August 10, 2012
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:29 PM on August 10, 2012
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posted by Justinian at 12:52 PM on August 10, 2012