Attention anyone who lives near Beverly Hills area??
 

My 22 year old single daughter just accepted a job in Beverly Hills and will need to relocate. Any suggestions for a city with safe,affordable apartments that is within a 15 commute to Beverly Hills?? Maybe she could find a roommate since her budget is limited...??
I really appreciate any suggestions.

Believe it or not, there are affordable apartments in Beverly Hills itself. However, she should be looking in areas such as West Hollywood, Westwood, West Los Angeles, Mar Vista, Palms, and maybe as far west as Brentwood. There are some iffy areas of every place I mention, but also some great areas. She will need to take a trip out here and check out these areas. Looking in West Hollywood might be a great first step.

Note that affordable is a relative term. One-bedrooms in WH tend to start in the $800/month range. There are roommate services-- have her look on the LA Weekly website (www.lawekly.com) or maybe the LA Times (www.latimes.com) to see if there are listings.

Here's a couple of sites which may be helpful..I have friends who have had mixed experiences.....
http://beverlyhillsca.areaguides.net/apartments.html
roommates.com , also..a ton of listings for our area.....Good Luck!

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.

Another great site for roommate finding and apartment hunting is www.craigslist.org Not as formal as some of the others but does seem to have more of a local feel. Note: It doesn't have lists for all cities, but I'm pretty sure LA is in there.

Update....My daughter seems opposed to having a "stranger" as a roommate. She'd prefer to have her own 1 bedroom for a maximun of around $850. per month. Again, thanks!!

One bedrooms are really going for more like $950-$1000 on the Westside these days. She may have to look further than 15 minutes away for something cheaper.

Have her get a membership at www.westsiderentals.com. This is a very popular service here that lists tons of rentals all over the westside.

Areas she should target that are safe and near Beverly Hills.... the Miracle Mile area, the Fairfax District, the Century City area, West LA, Brentwood, Westwood, West Hollywood, Hancock Park, the Larchmont area, Santa Monica and all the "Beverly Hills Adjacent" areas. Venice, Culver City and Mar Vista are generally safe, but perhaps a little less so than the other areas I listed. It depends on the block, sometimes. Generally, anything on the westside is fine. Good luck!

Hello,

You should really check out Westsiderentals.com. This is a rental/roommates-wanted website. It costs about 50 bucks to join but is well worth it.

I do not work for them BTW. They really have the largest listing of rentals on the Westside.

I have found 2 apartments using this service and have several friends that use the service as well.

Your daughter may prefer to live in the Santa Monica area--near the ocean, lots of nearby places to walk to. It is a bit more expensive so she would really need a rommate there.

Another site to check would be the UCLA Bruin classified section for students looking for roommates.

If, like you said, she is set on living alone, check out Scott Properties in Los Angeles to see what is available on the Westside. I know the move-in is low (no last month's rent, $400 deposit).

Good Luck!

Is it just possible you're putting the cart before the horse? Before signing a lease somewhere, I'd really suggest she do a month to month (executive type housing deal) for a couple of months. Not only will it give her a chance to decide where she might really want to live, but it may also give her a chance to make some friends, possibly a roommate, or get first hand information from people she's going to work with.

I went throughthis when my daughter relocated to LA........first of all - the month to month executive leass were extremely costly - not what we were ready to pay. The previousp oster is correct - unless you are looking at a studio in a "not so great" location, you will not find much in the way of a one bedroom for $850. It's weird, beacuse a two bedroom split, certainly fits the pricing criteria.

My daughter used both craigslist.com and westsiderentals.com....the beauty of these websites is that youcan converse with the people who are posting the apartment....first by email, then by phone if you think it is warranted. You can tell alot about a person in a few short emails!! We were very cautious about a mid-20's female moving all hte way across the country and going into a living arrangement with an unknown person for a fullyear...yes, most of the apartmets are year lease arrangemetns - you will not find much month to month. The roommate portion is helpful to make social connections - and so she is not stuck out there totally alone. Yes there are ways to meet people - but why make it difficult??

My daughter lived in Mar Vista for the first year - it made her commute easier - but she recently found a less expensive place, with more amenities a little further away- she needs to travel a bit further to work - but she thinks it is worth it.

Good luck! Feel free to ask any other questions!!

I certainly don't blame your daughter for not wanting a stranger for a roomate. That is creepy as hell.

How about a month in an extended stay hotel (Amerisuites or Courtyard by Marriott) until she finds an area she likes.

Also let me add that the best located rentals do not advertise in the paper. They stick signs in the yard. I would drive around the area I like and look for "For Rent" signs.

I would say forget the executive rentals. Very expensive and kind of sleazy. The two in West LA are on Sepulveda Blvd and are filled with tourists and other transient types.

Having grown up in L.A. I would choose an apartment on one of the side streets near Century City or ideally in Santa Monica. I think Santa Monica still has rent control. I found some nice yet expensive places for some friends there a few years back. I found them in a local paper I think it was called the Evening Outlook. Again, signs are posted and places are snapped up in a hurry close to Montana Ave. Another poster already suggested the UCLA connection but she might also want to try Santa Monica City College for apartment or cottage/guest house accomodations. I know friends of mine in Brentwood have posted their cottages or guest quarters there. I would feel comfortable having a daugter living in Brentwood, now that OJ has moved away. All of Brentwood is very nice. Pacific Palisades is also very nice, but with traffic on Sunset, she it would become quite a commute. Be sure she checks out potential Beverly Hills apartments carefully. There is an undesirable part of BH and you would not want her living there on her own.

No rent control in Santa Monica and the Evening Outlook is no longer around....Damn I loved those classifieds!

Our West Hollywood 1 BDR cottages range in price from $620 - $820 due to legacy from rent control. My DH and I only have 4 units and they are always rented so I'm sure we're the lowest end of the nearby market. Good luck!