Tarzana and other SFV towns--close to beach? (Los Angeles, Vista: apartments, renting)

[scargo]

Hi there,
We are moving from East Coast and trying to determine the closest town to a. the beach (preferably north of Sunset) and b. the Lycee de Francais on Overland.
Need a family friendly location and thinking seriously about Tarzana, Malibu, Calabasas, Sherman Oaks, Studio City.
Which place would be the best commute to the beach and the French School?

[Naomi Manischewitz]

Closest to the beach is Malibu and Calabasas.
Closest to the school is Dherman Oaks followed by Studio City.
I actually like Tarzana the most though of all those cities.
If you needed a compromise based on location of all of them, I would go with Sherman Oaks.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by scargo

Need a family friendly location and thinking seriously about Tarzana, Malibu, Calabasas, Sherman Oaks, Studio City.
Which place would be the best commute to the beach and the French School?

Are the beach and the school the only two places you'll be driving to? What will be the typical drive times (of day)?
Where will the job(s) be?
Will you be renting or buying?
What is your budget?


All those towns you mentioned except Malibu pretty much require you use the 405 to commute on. That's a tough freeway. Malibu would mean PCH.

If the the beach and the school are the only places you really will be driving to and if you can afford it, then why not Santa Monica, West Los Angeles, Bel Air, or Pacific Palisades?

[scargo]

well money is an issue--would love Pacific Palisades, have friends in Bel Air...
but trying not to break the bank. If Tarzana and Sherman Oaks are a tie, how would you break it?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by scargo

well money is an issue--would love Pacific Palisades, have friends in Bel Air...
but trying not to break the bank. If Tarzana and Sherman Oaks are a tie, how would you break it?

Sherman Oaks is closer to the 405. Not sure about cultural and demographics and economic differences - probably not too much different. Sherman Oaks might have slightly more people who work downtown or in Beverly Hills or Hollywood whereas Tarzana might have slightly more people who might work in the valley itself or the 101 tech corridor, not really sure - just a hunch. Sherman Oaks is a little older with homes dating back to the 1930s and 1940s, Tarzana is a little newer, maybe the 1950s. I might be a little off on this too.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by scargo

Hi there,
We are moving from East Coast and trying to determine the closest town to a. the beach (preferably north of Sunset) and b. the Lycee de Francais on Overland.
Need a family friendly location and thinking seriously about Tarzana, Malibu, Calabasas, Sherman Oaks, Studio City.
Which place would be the best commute to the beach and the French School?

So your priorities are being close to the beach and being close to the Lycee Francais in Palms?

Seems you want to be on the west side not in the valley. West L.A. or Brentwood would be probably the midpoint between Pacific Palisades (where Sunset hits PCH) and Palms. Much of those areas are family friendly enough, although my definition of family friendly might be more expansive than some of the people here. For example, many people here think that apartments and condos are by nature not family friendly, and I disagree. Sometimes single family residences are worse for children than apartments, and vice versa.

[scargo]

Thanks for all of the responses. Is Brentwood and PP out of reach? Trying to keep the spend at/under 1 mil...

If you live in Tarzana/Sherman Oaks do you get to beach in 30 minutes? 60?
is there a canyon road you can take?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by scargo

Trying to keep the spend at/under 1 mil...

If you live in Tarzana/Sherman Oaks do you get to beach in 30 minutes? 60?
is there a canyon road you can take?

Google Maps: Topanga Canyon, Malibu Canyon.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by scargo

Thanks for all of the responses. Is Brentwood and PP out of reach? Trying to keep the spend at/under 1 mil...

If you live in Tarzana/Sherman Oaks do you get to beach in 30 minutes? 60?
is there a canyon road you can take?

PP definitely would be out of the question. So would virtually all of Santa Monica (and since schools aren't an issue for you there's no point to paying the extra $$$$$ to live in SM)

Brentwood isn't out of the question, although if you want to go SFR you'd look at something tiny, or otherwise you could go condo (in which you'd have far more to consider getting).

West LA and Mar Vista would also be good ideas for you since schools aren't an issue. More to choose from than Brentwood.

Getting to the beach from Tarzana is very difficult and there are no canyon shortcuts as alternatives to the 405. From Sherman Oaks you could take Sepulveda, Beverly Glen, or Coldwater Canyon to get over the hill as an alternative to the freeway. Still it'll take you awhile to get to the beach, esp. considering the congestion around the 405

[Charles]

Originally Posted by majoun

Getting to the beach from Tarzana is very difficult and there are no canyon shortcuts as alternatives to the 405.

Tarzana to the beach is 16 miles, 24 minutes using Topanga Canyon. I know it doesn't seem that short; But one day, at 5PM, rush hour, I made it from the intersection of Topanga and Ventura to the beach in 20 minutes.

Tarzana, CA to CA-27 S/Topanga Canyon Blvd - Google Maps