Moving to L.A - new faculty at CSU-Los Angeles. Where to live? (San Diego: real estate)

[BewicksWren]

Hi - I will moving to L.A this summer (2015) starting a faculty position at CSU-Los Angeles. During my interview I stayed in Old Town Pasadena, and that was awesome. The commute to the interview was okay (surface streets), and this seems like it would be a fantastic area to move for a year or two (renting) to get a good feel for the area prior to buying. However, I am wondering about other options also? Where would some locals recommend for a young-ish (mid 30s), single guy to get started? It would be great to live in a safe community with all the amenities that a young person would be looking for. I am active and very outdoorsy, so it would also be great to live near open space for running/exploring/etc. Any advice on renting/buying would be welcomed. Thanks!

[ccm123]

South Pasadena, very close to CSULA and safe.

[drunk on kool aid]

Originally Posted by BewicksWren

Hi - I will moving to L.A this summer (2015) starting a faculty position at CSU-Los Angeles. During my interview I stayed in Old Town Pasadena, and that was awesome. The commute to the interview was okay (surface streets), and this seems like it would be a fantastic area to move for a year or two (renting) to get a good feel for the area prior to buying. However, I am wondering about other options also? Where would some locals recommend for a young-ish (mid 30s), single guy to get started? It would be great to live in a safe community with all the amenities that a young person would be looking for. I am active and very outdoorsy, so it would also be great to live near open space for running/exploring/etc. Any advice on renting/buying would be welcomed. Thanks!

First off, congratulations on the appointment.

Many of your criteria are subjective (degree of safety, how close to outdoors) so it's hard to make a perfect match, but I'll throw out some suggestions.

Alhambra is adjacent to CSULA and has most amenities and is pretty safe. Depending on where you lived, you could easily bike to work, so I think this is the best location if the commute is a priority. It's heavily Asian and Latino, and if you're into those genres of food, it can be great. The main arteries such as Main, Valley, Atlantic, Garfield have tons of shops and eateries (although during the recession, I saw a lot of closures). Downtown LA (DTLA) is pretty close to the east and easily accessible via the 10 (unless it's slammed) or surface streets (Huntington Dr, Valley Blvd).

If you liked Old Town Pasadena, that would be a great choice. That opens up the possibility of taking public transportation. The Gold Line (two stops in Old Town) goes to Union Station in DTLA. From there, you could take the Silver Line (bus rapid transit) directly to CSULA. There might be an additional fee, depending on which Metro Pass you have. There are probably regular buses that go from Union Station to CSULA and there might even be a university shuttle (check). Pasadena is just a few miles south of the San Gabriel Mountains and the Angeles Forest, which will satisfy most people's need for a hiking/wilderness fix.

You might really like DTLA. Certainly, the most urban part of LA in the traditional sense. Lots of dining, bars, clubs and events. Huge contingent of your demographic. Expanding system of bike lanes and it's the convergence point for LA's transit system. You can take the Purple Line subway to Koreatown or the Red Line to Hollywood and North Hollywood (the Valley). Gold Line (northeast) to Pasadena or (east) toward Monterey Park. The Blue Line goes all the way to Long Beach (some people don't like that it goes through poor neighborhoods in South LA). By the end of next year, you'll be able to take the Expo line to Santa Monica.

Hollywood is urban and bustling, and you could take the aforementioned Red Line to DTLA and then transfer to another conveyance to CSULA. For some people, Hollywood is gritty and feels unsafe. For many others, it's perfectly fine, walkable and convenient.

Koreatown is also urban and bustling and is connected to DTLA via the Purple Line. Heavily Latino and Korean but ialso ncludes Little Bangladesh. It's probably the latest night neighborhood in LA as well as the most densely populated. Like Hollywood, its grittiness turns off some people.

The Los Feliz neighborhood was the ignition point of LA's gentrification wave. Lots of nightlife options but you might like best that it's right next to Griffith Park, a giant urban park with tons of wildness. Unfortunately, commute will probably be by car and not the best.

Silver Lake is synonymous with "hipster," which may or may not be a positive for you. Lots of dining, drinking and music. It's closer to CSULA than Los Feliz.

Originally Posted by ccm123

South Pasadena, very close to CSULA and safe.

South Pasadena is a great, safe, small city, with a Gold Line stop so you can take PT to work. It's sandwiched between Pasadena and Alhambra. The only drawback is that it's sleepy with very little nightlife aside from some restaurants. OTOH, it's only a mile or two from Old Town Pasadena and a short Gold Line ride to DTLA. If you pick judiciously (e.g. near Mission & Meridian or Fair Oaks), you can live within a few blocks of the Gold Line, supermarkets, drugstore, farmers market, library and the second oldest Trader Joes. South Pas has a very good public school system in case you're planning on generating kids.

I didn't mention prices since I'm assuming that you'll be able to afford a 1bd apartment almost anywhere.

Good luck.

[BewicksWren]

Wow! Great info Kool Aid. Thank you for taking the time to offer that. I am originally from the Bay Area and have family in San Diego. I have driven through L.A a million times, but have never lived there. So I am super excited to move next summer.

A bunch of friends have suggested Los Feliz and Silver Lake to me. But, I have been pretty cold on that due to the potential for a terrible commute. But, I honestly know next to nothing about public transportation in town, so that was all really great information. It certainly opens up that part of the city as living options. Also, just yesterday, a friend mentioned to me that DTLA is great and 'up and coming'. But, I wouldn't know where to start looking there. Are there neighborhoods you would recommend checking out in that part of the city? Thanks again!

[drunk on kool aid]

Originally Posted by BewicksWren

Wow! Great info Kool Aid. Thank you for taking the time to offer that. I am originally from the Bay Area and have family in San Diego. I have driven through L.A a million times, but have never lived there. So I am super excited to move next summer.

A bunch of friends have suggested Los Feliz and Silver Lake to me. But, I have been pretty cold on that due to the potential for a terrible commute. But, I honestly know next to nothing about public transportation in town, so that was all really great information. It certainly opens up that part of the city as living options. Also, just yesterday, a friend mentioned to me that DTLA is great and 'up and coming'. But, I wouldn't know where to start looking there. Are there neighborhoods you would recommend checking out in that part of the city? Thanks again!

LA Metro Home | Getting Started is your starting point for LA public transportation. There are at least a dozen additional municipal bus systems (e.g. Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus) that are meshed with Metro.

Silver Lake might not be too far from the Red Line for a possible park and ride commute to CSULA.

I don't live in DTLA so I can't be too helpful. Much of the activity is centered roughly around 7th Street on Spring and Broadway. This is the historic core and has more hipster appeal. There is a bunch of recent and ongoing construction in the South Park area (near Staples Center, the Convention Center, etc.) This area is newer and more corporate in feel. The Arts District is east of Central or Alameda and between roughly 1st and 3rd. There are a lot of new apartments and eateries but it is at the periphery of DTLA and might feel a bit isolated, although it's adjacent to Little Tokyo.

Barry Shy is a major DTLA landlord and I've heard a lot of bad scuttle about him so I would just be a little more attentive when dealing with his properties. Geoffrey Palmer is a developer of Downtown apartments who also seems to wear a black hat. He's been in the news lately since his massive Da Vinci apartment complex was totally consumed in a spectacular arson fire while under construction.

Here's a City-Data thread on the fire: Massive Fires Break Out In Downtown & Westlake Areas Overnight

Skid Row covers a pretty huge area and lies east of Los Angeles or San Pedro St. and approximately 5th to 7th.

There are several forum members who live in DTLA so it'd be nice to get their opinion. Otherwise, there are a ton of DTLA related threads in this forum to give you an idea of the pros and cons.

A long thread about DTLA: Los Angeles Gets Serious About Its Downtown-WSJ ARTICLE

A lot of people read DTLA RISING with Brigham Yen for the latest in DTLA.

Of course, there's Curbed Los Angeles for real estate info around the LA metro.

Hope that's a start.

[HarryKerryJr]

My I suggest you AVOID living WEST of the 110 freeway and stay on the east side of it. Believe me, you will be doing your self a GREAT favor. Pasadena area is good. Also CSULA has both transit bus station (served by Metro and Foothill Transit) with EXTREMELY frequent service and a Metrolink commuter train station with frequent rush hour service that can open up the entire EASTERN portion of LA County and even San Bernardino County further east for more housing options that could save you money.

Metrolink San Bernardino line serves the CSULA station. please go to www-dot-metrolinktrain-dot-com for more info.

Metro (also know as the MTA) has some bus lines service the CSULA bus station. go to www-dot-mta-dot-net for info.

Foothill transit provides most of the buses serving CSULA station. Google Foothill Transit for more info including their frequent SilverStreak service (not to be confused with MTA's Silver Line that also serves the CSULA station).

The CSULA bus stop is along the El Monte busway. This provides an express type service to and from CSULA.

From Pasadena, the Gold Line is an option, but you will have to transfer at Union Station and walk to the bus stop with express buses that will take you to the CSULA station in about 5 minutes. The MTA is construction a NEW stop for these services that will be at Union Station MUCH closer to the Gold Line and Metrolink trains, but that will not be complete until 2016, over a year from now.

Good Luck.