I'm moving out to L.A. from the east coast in August for grad school at USC and I haven't been to L.A. for several years (and I spent most of that time just doing the tourist stuff.) I would SO appreciate information from people who live there about good areas to live in, etc.

Basically, I'm looking for an apartment that's not more than 30/35 mins from USC's campus and that's somewhat affordable. I'm into the punk scene and am really looking forward to going to shows in the Hollywood area (House of Blues, etc), and I'd like to live in an area that doesn't feel too suburban.

PLEASE feel free to share your thoughts/suggestions!!

house of blues in on sunset so it'd cost you a FORTUNE! west hollywood is one of the most expensive areas in LA.

instead, you can get an apartment on hollywod blvd for much cheaper. how much do you think of spending? if you don't wanna feel too suburban, you'll end up paying at least 900 for an apartment. try craigslist. that's how i got my apartment and i'm very lucky

Santa Monica is one of the best areas to live in but it's quite expensive.... Venice is a bit cheaper...
you really just need to look around (on the internet and such)
good luck

I'd be willing to spend $900. I've heard some good things about the North Hollywood area--if anyone has any info about it, please share!

north hollywood isn't that close to USC. are you gonna drive?

i'm not very knowledgeable (yeah, i can't spell) about north hollywood. i've been there a couple of times. it's very hot. (i'm talking about the temperature, not the scene) if you're willing to spend 900 dollars, you can find a better place at a better location.

craigslist is very helpful.

usc is kind of in a shitty area so it will be tough getting a place that's close by that is also in a good area.

some okay so-so areas close by are in los feliz and silverlake (cute apt buildings) but i hear it's nearly a guarantee that if you live in silverlake your apt will be broken into. so i guess forget silverlake. park labrea apartments are sort of further away but the area is good (west hollywood near 3rd and fairfax, right near the grove shopping center/farmers market). it may be hard to locate a $900 place though unless you live somewhere that is a little shady. it might be worthwhile to find out if the university can help you locate other grad students looking to share a place. that way you can get a great 2 bedroom place (hollywood blvd between fairfax and highland has some gorgeous apt buildings and it's right at the foot of the hollywood hills) and still stay within your budget.

as teen spirit said, craigslist is great so i'd check that out. and if at all possible, come out to LA to find an apt instead of relying on the net because a place can make itself look fabulous online and then turns out it's a shithole.

USC students have gotten robbed (and worse) so I wish you luck. Unless you want to pay an awful lot of money, it will be rather difficult to find a safe area. Yeah, USC is by the Shrine...sharing a flat with someone else who is of like mind would be a good bet.

park la brea apartments have great location. it's very pricey tho. one of my friends just rented a 1-bedroom apartment for 1700 dollars. 2-bedroom apartments are at least 2400 but like cherry nebula said ou can always share it with other usc students.

if you're planning on living near the grove area, you're gonna pay at least 1100 for 1bedroom apartments which is not so bad considering it's one of the safest areas in LA.

holy shit i didn't realize the prices had gone up that much. i remember when i first moved to LA, a friend of mine moved into those apartments and got a 2 bedroom for 1500. that was in 2001.

it's crazy right now. the apartments are very big and comfy but they're also incredibly pricey.

thanks for all the responses! i know that the usc area isn't considered safe at all, and i'm definitely planning on finding roommates. i've been looking on craigslist and have seen some interesting options but they're all for june/july and i'm moving out there in august. once it gets a little closer there will probably be more places available.
hollywood blvd. sounds like an interesting spot. any more thoughts on that?
also, yes, i'm going to have a car, and to be specific, i'm looking for a place that's less than 30 minutes from usc. can you guys think of any affordable places that would work?

thanks!

oh okay then if you are going to do the roommate thing i'd DEFINITELY look at moving to that hollywood blvd area that i mentioned. even though it's only a few miles away from usc, with traffic it will take you about 30 minutes or so to get there. i wouldn't recommend anything east of highland and anything west of fairfax will not only get pricier (i think) but will lengthen your commute. there are a ton of apt buildings in that little area so hopefully you'll have luck landing a place there if that's where you should choose to go. actually you may also want to look at melrose area (west of vine/rossmore and east of fairfax) which may be a little more pricey (might be $1000 or so if you guys get a 2 or 3 bedroom place per person) but your commute would be pretty simple - melrose to vermont and vermont runs right into the university. also try hancock park and larchmont village. expensive again, but like i said if you get a few people to share a place with, you should be able to stay within your price range.

i've heard that koreatown is affordable and kind of safe. any thoughts on that? also, is it a largely asian area, as the name implies?

i've driven through koreatown several times but never really spent much time there. from what i assume (and i don't know where i get this from but i either heard or read or saw) the area is not as largely asian as say chinatown in san francisco, but i'm sure there is a sizable demographic of asians there. however, because so many people move to LA looking for affordable places to live, there is probably a pretty diverse community there. and as weird as this is going to sound, i feel like in all the time i lived in LA, i really didn't feel that there were many asians in any part of the city. well i didn't go to alhambra much but that's near pasadena and i think that area had a larger concentration of asians. anyway as far as koreatown, it didn't feel completely unsafe to me the few times i was there but again, since i didn't spend a whole lot of time there, i'm probably not one to judge.

anyone have any info/opinions on whittier?

p.s. cherry nebula, thanks for all your input!

I'd say a lot of Los Feliz is really nice, I mean Gwen Stefani lives there, how bad can it be? When I was looking in that area, I was finding cute 1bd apts in cute buildings for nothing too outrageous.

Also, Pasadena & Glendale are other options.

You can shoot right down the 110 freeway to USC from Pasadena (South Pasadena) or if you're in Glendale you can get on the 5 fwy for a short distance then catch the 110 fwy. I'd say both of those would be about 30-35 mins.

West Hollywood is awesome, I've seen studios for like $600 before. So, if you look, you can find good deals in West Hollywood.
Other area's of Hollywood can be decent to live as well.
The area where out Teen Spirit lives is decent as well.....just east of Beverly Hills (for you T_S stalkerz).

Rent is insanity out here, I pay $2000/mo. So, Good Luck! I would look on craigs list though....I know some people who found really cute places for pretty reasonable rent.

Watch your ass once you get around USC/cross the 10 freeway though


Edit: Uh, just say no to Whittier. Anything east or south of downtown LA aren't really the safest areas.

Oh & about Santa Monica & Venice, those are great places to live as well, but to get to USC from there you have to take the 10 east & taking the 10 east should be avoided at all costs. It's a parking lot most of the time. So what's about 15 miles away turn into a 1 hour drive.

i want to move to L.A there are so many more options for eating not like here pay £4 for like 200g of strawberries radiculous and they aren't even organic

I guess my question is where are you moving from? I currently live in the Eagle Rock/Highland Park area and though I have been thinking about getting my own place, I doubt I'd get an apartment in any other place. You'll be fine around USC as a student. You'll be in and out and the campus itself is really lovely. I have plenty of friends who have gone there and who live around there. Don't hang out there at night, though. This weekend I was reminded why I never leave the house without a car in this city (anywhere) if I am going to be out late.

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"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation," she told the crowd.

I'm from Boston, MA.

I think at this point I'm most interested in looking for a place in either W. Hollywood or Koreatown.

Also, what are Culver City and Inglewood like (i.e. are they close to USC, relatively safe, how expensive)?

And just a general comment, I'm looking for a more urban environment so please let me know if any of those places are pretty suburban (I'm pretty clueless!).