London to Venice (and around...) (Santa Monica, Lincoln: low income, neighborhood, to buy)

[el-ozz]

Hi all,

In moving from London to L.A. in a couple of weeks! Weeeeeee!

My job will be based in Venice and, although I've read tons of useful information in this forum, I thought I'd ask for your opinion regarding living options anyway.

I'm looking for a place for myself in the $1400-1700/mo range, within reasonable distance to Rose Ave. I don't mind driving to/from work but I'd like to keep commuting time to a minimum.

I'm not expecting to walk everywhere but having decent mix of cafes, restaurants and bars close by would be nice. Being close to the beach would be nice but not essential. A park maybe?

Santa Monica and Venice both sound like good options but what about other areas/towns? Let me know what you think.

Cheers!

[CESpeed]

With that budget, you'll be fine in Venice (artsy) or Santa Monica (urban). The only problem with Venice is that the only shopping, groceries, etc. is on Lincoln, so if you live near the beach, you'll have to commute to buy necessities. Otherwise, Venice Beach will fit your needs perfectly and you'll be close to enough to Santa Monica to if you want a more urban setting.

[BRinSM]

Just so you know, Venice (especially the area around Rose) is very grungy. There is still a gang presence there and the housing stock is pretty old and beat up. In fact, you can still find drug dealers selling crack at particular intersections. With that being said, I have a friend who lives in this neighborhood and he has had no issues in the last 3 or 4 years that he has lived there. I live up the street in Santa Monica and visit him frequently, and I have never had any issues there either. Personally, I think you would be fine if you moved to Venice, you just need to be aware that there are many homeless people and a lot of low income housing in Venice. There is also a pretty large yuppie/hipster presence in Venice, but from my experiences, these two different groups (poor and wealthy) tend to keep to themselves.

Anyways, I really like living in this area and have no intentions of moving elsewhere anytime soon. Hopefully this helps you out some.

[el-ozz]

CESpeed, is it really that bad? I'd hate to drive for 10mins just to buy a pint of milk!

BRinSM, grungy I can handle... getting stabbed in the eye or something like that... not so much. Heck, I live in Camden Town and I get approached by 1-4 drug dealers on my way from the tube to my flat every day!

No really, that's good information. I'll keep in mind. Luckily, I get a month of company accommodation so I have some time to explore a bit before settling for an area.

Thanks!

[CESpeed]

I lived half block from the beach and I had to drive up to Lincoln to buy groceries, etc. If I only needed some milk and wanted to pay way more than a grocery store (7-11 prices) there was a corner store but it's not designed for regular grocery shopping.