Relocating to LA from NYC: Advice on where to live
 

Hi Everyone,

I am an actress based in NYC who is relocating to LA in January.

Can anyone very familiar with LA give me the pros and cons of living in the following areas:

1) West Hollywood;
2) Santa Monica;
3) Los Feliz

I know Santa Monica probably is the most expensive area. But I've heard that there is more casting happening in Santa Monica these days. And West Hollywood is suppose to be very convenient to the studios, agents, etc.

Please comment on average rent for a large one-bedroom or a two-bedroom in these areas.

THANK YOU!

Santa Monica Apartments are hard to get.
Los Feliz area is the least expensive and least safe. West Hollywood/Fairfax area is good. I would suggest looking as far west as LaCienega, east as 6th street, west as Highland and North as Santa Monica. There are plenty of old apartment buildings there are safe.

You will need a car here!

Park La brea apt. is a well known apartment complex in a very good area,in the Mid- wilshire area, close to everything. rents are about $1350 for large one bedroom including parking and some utilities. address 6200 west 3rd. st. LA

Thanks to you both!

The Park LaBrea complex has a website with photos. I recently visited a friend in her darling two story unit with hardwood floors and a patio garden. Very hard to get those, I imagine.http://www.parklabrea.com/

Santa Monica isn't necessarily expensive; there are plenty of affordable places to be found, some even close to the beach. However, if you're going on auditions, it's better to live farther inland, or in the Valley. Los Feliz is close to Hollywood, Burbank, Universal, etc. and it's uber-trendy. West Hollywood is probably the priciest of the three. It's well worth paying the $60 registration fee to use www.westsiderentals.com, which is the best resource by far for finding apartments in greater L.A.

Lots of actors live at Oakwood up on Barham Blvd towards Burbank...known mostly as "corporate housing", the apts are month-to-month with no lease I believe, convenient to the studios, on the bus line....and I think that L.A. is an area that you really need to get to know before you decide where to live. You certainly wouldn't want to sign a lease on a place in Los Feliz and then find out you've gotten a steady acting job down at Manhattan Beach Studios.

You guys are awesome...thanks!

I will take a look at the LaBrea apartments.

Tracy: Yes, as an actor, one's job could be anywhere so it's harder to pinpoint in the beginning.

Happy Holidays!

cwill & Mommar:

The Park La Brea apartments look terrific! Thank you for mentioning them to me!!

The only thing that sounded weird was the parking situation. It sounds like there is parking, but that you have to fight with other tenants over the actual parking spaces?? Hmmmm (scratches head).....

There is plenty of free parking around each tower building and else where in the complex, I have never not found a parking space; however people who come in late might have a problem, so those people pay about $45-50 dollars for a reserved space. Hope this helps clear the confusion.

Casting will be all over greater L.A. (which is the size of Rhode Island, BTW). So will the jobs. Pick where you live based on where you want to live. Buy a car (if you don't already own one) and a Thomas Brothers Guide (maps).

The San Fernando Valley is generally cheaper than places "over the hill" and home to Warner Brothers, NBC-TV, ABC-TV, DreamWorks, Disney.

Though not high on the hip quotient, Culver City is relatively reasonable and close to Sony, MGM, Fox and (slightly farther) Paramount and Manhattan Beach Studios.

Indie production companies and smaller live theaters are all over the place.

Excuse me but Los Feliz is least safe??.. where are you coming from? I live in Los Feliz and unlike when I lived in West Hollywood I have yet to see stabbings or have my car broken into!
You must be confusing Los Feliz with Echo Park..but that is way east.
You should come to town and check out a few areas they all have ups and downs..

i think a poster above meant 6th street to the south and highland to the east.

i'd recommend miracle mile area- vaguely fairfax at the west end, olympic at the south end, highland at the east end and santa monica at the north end. great, central location. rents not too bad. we pay $927 for our 750 sq ft 1bd (under market) - $1200- $1400 is more typical for this area for a 1bd.

good luck!

Forgot to say the parking fee is per-month added to your rent.

First of all, let me say that I live in Los Feliz and it is not cheap and is actually quite safe. It is a wonderful area full of hip shops and nice restaurants and close to the park. It is close to Silver Lake and Echo park, which I might not prefer to live, but there are still many nice places there to rent as well. Unfortunately, none of the rents are low in LA anymore. Santa Monica is under rent control, so it is hard to find an apartment to rent there. West Hollywood is very nice too, but not cheap. The average cost of apartments can range anywhere from 900-1500, depending on where you want to live. 900 would be the low end. Park La Brea is not cheap either if you looked at their website. Like another poster said, you need to figure out where you will spend most of your time. LA is huge and commutes can be a drag. I know. I work on the westside, so I have a long drive from Los Feliz.

cwill: Yes, I think for now...La Brea Apts. will be out of our range since the cheapest one-bedroom is $1,400, and that does not even include the added-on parking fee.

I just heard from a friend in WeHo about a two-bedroom there for $1,400, including two parking spaces. I'M GONNA JUMP ON THAT ONE!!

Cheers, Everybody!

I don't want to be negative, but the apartments at Park La Brea are often described as having the appearance of upscale projects. They're these uniform buildings all stacked up around one another - just plain garish in contrast to the beautiful old Spanish and Mediteranean smaller apartment buildings in the area. I don't really see Park La Brea as being a "warm" environment to relocate to.

We live in one of the old (built in 1929) Spanish style buildings in the surrounding neighborhood, with only 8 units, and in a building so small, we know all of our neighbors really well despite only living here for 2 years. LA is a notoriously difficult place to meet people and make friends, so it helps to get to know your neighbors at least. Just my $.02.

Another poster mentioned the ungodly commute. Yes, beware. Some parts of the city are easier to navigate from than others, as a starting point. For instance, IMO, Miracle Mile is *very* convenient because it's easy to get downtown, to the 110 (a main freeway intersecting the city going North and South), to the 10 (main freeway intersecting the city heading East and West), to the 101 (NW) making connections to other freeways also convenient. It's close to Beverly Hills, close to WeHo, close to downtown, and only 20 min to Santa Monica.

Also, Culver City is a friendly, underpriced neighborhood, close to Sony for one. Though rents are climbing quickly there with the new media center. I think of Culver City as the "friendly, convenient, inexpensive" Westside.

Best wishes to you! LA is a great place, once you get used to it ;)

Lynn,

Thanks for your well wishes! Yes, I've been warned about the "isolating, spread-out" feeling of LA.

A few friends mentioned that Park La Brea looks like a "hospital" from the outside, but from the inside the apartments are suppose to be quite nice -- especially the ones facing a garden.

The WeHo apartment I'm investigating is off of Fairfax.

If you happen to hear of any nice apartment deals in the neighborhoods you have mentioned, please feel free to post back here. I'm making a list!

Cheers from NYC,
Betty

The City of West Hollywood posts apartments for rent each week on their website. This should give you a good idea about the range in this area:
http://www.weho.org/index.cfm?fuseac...1&mode=Web

Thanks, John!!!