Moving to NW Los Angeles area for work, where's a good place to live?

Question

My boyfriend and I are considering moving to the NW Los Angeles area, as he may be pursuing a job opportunity in Simi Valley. What cities would you recommend in that area for 2 young professionals to live? We would like a place that is not too terribly expensive. Please be specific and provide details about why you would recommend a certain city!

Thank you!

Although he would be working in Simi Valley, I will probably be working in downtown LA, so we would like a place that would be easily accessible to both areas.

Answer 1

If you are going to be working in downtown LA and he'll be working in Simi Valley, I'd look at the map for the Ventura County Line of Metrolink, the regional commuter train, as that is a rail line that goes both places. That way, if you lived near a station one or both of you could commute by train instead of drive. Driving to/from work is a pain in the rear and if you live near the Metrolink one or both of you could liberate yourselves from the daily driving commute...read or surf the internet instead of driving.

I've done it both ways (drive and Metrolink) and Metrolink is way easier.

Burbank, Glendale, Simi Valley, Camarillo would be nice areas to live in, and all have Metrolink stations. All would have reasonable commutes to Simi; Camarillo would be close to Simi but far away from LA. You'd be on Metrolink for a long time to get to downtown, but I know people who work downtown and live in Camarillo because they love Camarillo so much.

For addresses of the Burbank, Glendale, Simi Valley and Camarillo Stations, see this link and click on "line by line listing of stations"...then look at Ventura County Line Stations listed http://www.metrolinktrains.com/stations/ .

By the way, Camarillo is pretty close to the beach area but will cost less than say Santa Monica. Glendale, Burbank and Simi are more inland, lots hotter in the summer for that reason. They have different feelings to them.

Simi is pretty white, upper middle or middle class, extremely low crime rate...lots of cops in the LAPD live there. It's a little too boring for me but families love it. Politically it's very conservative.

Burbank collects a lot of people who work in the entertainment industry; lots of nice shopping in the area; the metrolink station there stops right at the Bob Hope airport. There are some older areas of the city with more reasonable rental rates.

I like Glendale, hard to describe it exactly. It's in the foothills, some areas very hip and others pretty straight. Great shopping there at Glendale Galleria and other locations. Large number of Armenians in Glendale. Some very interesting and eclectic communities in town; rental prices more reasonable than other areas. It's close to Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles, yet because it's in the foothills hiking is pretty close by.

Someone mentioned Thousand Oaks....it's a nice community but quite expensive. Very safe crime wise...very white, upper middle class and wealthy.

Hope you make a trip to the area and check out communities before you settle on a location as that's the only way you'll get a feel for the place.

Answer 2

I'm a frequent visitor to LA, my grandmother used to live there, I have friends in the San Fernando Valley, I go to LA for museums and theater mostly. Glendale or Burbank would be my choice of LA to live in. It's a good location - central, safe, clean - for a lot of the fun stuff I like doing. If you're going to downtown and he's going to Simi Valley it's kinda in the middle, I must admit it's been a long time since I've had to drive to downtown LA.

Seriously, if you could afford it (and I have no idea how much it would be to live there) the Toluca Lake area of Burbank I think is one of the more charming areas that I know of in the northern LA area, definitely worth taking a look at.

Answer 3

All that area is nice (compared to the rest of LA). From Santa Monica to Burbank is full of nice neighborhoods (Beverly Hills/ UCLA/ Bel Air, etc...). They call it the westside. Hollywood has a sort of seedy side with punk kids and whores hanging out (but its still okay) so I think that has the best deals for renting. If you can afford Santa Monica or Venice Beach, then go for it. Culver City is a little cheaper, older, and not as nice. It used to be really nice. Burbank, out into the San Fernando Valley, is nice. Take your pick. You have to check out each property individually because some parts of Santa Monica are really nice (near the beach) and some parts aren't the nicest neighborhoods. You have to look around in person if you don't know the area. It's been many years since I've lived around there. I hope that helped. Maybe you'll find a better answer from somebody who has lived there recently. Good luck.

OOPS - My mistake. Simi Valley is a little NW of that. Santa Monica has a really nice farmers market though. On certain days, they close down the 3rd St. Promenade and open it to farmers. The boardwalk along the beach is nice, too.

Answer 4

Well, if he's going to be working in Simi Valley, then that's what I'd recommend. It's safe and clean, and they're building new malls and restaurants as we speak. Here's the Simi Valley city web site:

http://www.ci.simi-valley.ca.us/

If you want to be further inland, but close to Simi, you may also consider Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, and Moorpark.

Nothing personal towards Robuttox, but you definitely don't want to live anywhere he mentioned and be commuting all the way to Simi Valley or downtown. Since you will be working downtown, you may want to consider Burbank or Glendale- they'd be kind of in the middle of your commutes...

Answer 5

Its hard to give general recommendations to someone who has never been to the area. Im positive you will have sticker shock. Socal has a high cost of living. and traffic is a beast.

simi valley to LA is only 37 miles but 1.5 hours on average in traffic, 2 hours in bad days. So you have to decide who is more willing to do the drive. halfway in between is the valley - areas best recommended by others. Burbank/Glendale would give you the short trip, him the ugly one. Simi/west side would give you the ugly drive. (all not the cheapest of areas)

might as well move out to Santa clarita (the boonies) and make everybody have a drive.

Answer 6

"Good" really depends on what you are looking for. Houses are way, way more difficult to find than apartments even if you are looking for a room in a house it is much more difficult and complicated. Although, being a student makes it more difficult to get a rental in your name unless you have other work? If not you might consider the option of renting a room as your best bet. At least initially.