Thinking of moving to LA...where is the most affordable neighborhood?

Question

I'm currently working in Boston and thinking of moving to the West coast. Of course, housing there is quite expensive. Are there any specific affordable suburbs in the LA area living on a 35K-40K income?

Answer 1

under the bridge is quiet affordable.

Answer 2

you need to think about nice apartments. rent, rent, rent.

Answer 3

Craigslist is very helpful. click on the city "LA" then go to apt/housing and you can even enter the amount from min. to max on how much your willing to spend

Answer 4

Down town los angeles in a loft

Answer 5

You don't really want to live in the suburbs, unless you're going to be working in the suburbs.  You want to be living in one of the neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles or in one of the small cities inside Los Angeles (e.g., Culver City, West Hollywood) so that you can be as close to work as possible.  Commuting here is a nightmare if you don't live close to work.

There are lots of graduate students at UCLA who live here on roughly $20,000 a year.  Most of them live in safe neighborhoods that are fairly close to campus (within five miles or so).  The most popular neighborhood for UCLA grad students seems to be Palms. Nearly all of them have roommates.  Splitting a 2BR two ways is much more affordable than getting a 1BR or even a studio.

With 35K-40K income, you'd be making a little less than double what a graduate student makes.  If you can find someone to share an apartment with, you're golden.  If you have to get your own place, you should still be able to manage, though it may be tight.  Check out the prices on Craigslist.  Right now, I see 1BRs in Palms in the $1300 range.

Edit: I'm assuming that you have no dependents.

Answer 6

why do you want to move to this dump?

Answer 7

You can rent cheap apartments in the Palms area of LA.  It's near Culver City, about 15-20 minutes from the beach -- a pretty good, central location!! go to Craigslist or, better, join Westside Rentals. Even better, drive around the neighborhood and look for "for rent" signs.  On your income though, you'll probably have to have a roommate. (craigslist is a good option for this).  If you really want to live in the suburbs (and commute into los angeles, which could take an hour to two hours) then try Santa Clarita and Valencia to the north, and San Fernando Valley (except for North Hollywood and Van Nuys, which are dangerous) also to the north. These areas are very suburban, especially Santa Clarity/Valencia. Lots of tract homes, housing developments, etc.  

Answer 8

Malibu

I would move in with a cougar

Answer 9

If it's affordable it ain't gonna be nice.

Answer 10

The cost of rent and houseing is very high here.  It depends on the work you do and the exact amount of income.  Many folks have to double that income and have a sound job after that to make it in a  affordable safe area.  

Answer 11

Long Beach is pretty good. It's between LA and the OC. Best of both worlds without the hellish traffic in LA and the superficiality of the OC. But yeah, in LB you're basically 20-35 mins from anywhere.  

Answer 12

We see this every day in this forum: Everyone wants to move here, and is looking for “cheap/affordable and safe". However, such a place just doesn’t exist; the two terms are mutually exclusive. It's all about supply and demand: If it's in SoCal, then it's not going to be cheap to begin with. If it's a safe area, then it's more expensive. If you need good schools, add a couple hundred bucks a month on top of it.

If you want to live here and enjoy the weather, then you have to pay for it. You put up with the smog and the traffic, enjoy the weather and pay your rent or mortgage. My advice is to start checking out craigslist, rent.com, and apartments.com if you are looking to rent. You’ll quickly see that the minimum rent for a non-war zone is about $1,000-$1,200 per month for a studio or 1BR. Really nice areas (like the West LA area) easily run $3,000 or more. Want to live near the beach? Expect to pay a premium.

"LA" is such a big place, there are so many neighborhoods/cities where you can live. Of course, even within a city or neighborhood, there are safer sections and less-safe sections.

In Los Angeles, some nice sections are West LA, Brentwood, Westwood, Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey, Los Feliz, Silverlake, Eagle Rock, Encino, Tarzana, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Granada Hills, Woodland Hills, Sherman Oaks, West Hills, Chatsworth.

To the east: South Pasadena, parts of Pasadena, Altadena, Arcadia, Monrovia, Glendora, San Dimas, Laverne, Azusa, Rancho Cucamonga.

Along the beach: Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance, Palos Verdes, Rancho PV.

In Orange County aka "The OC": Seal Beach , Huntington Beach , Newport Beach , Corona Del Mar , Laguna Beach , Dana Point , Capistrano Beach , San Clemente , Brea, Yorba Linda, Orange, Tustin, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita, Lake Forest

To the west: Agoura, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Simi Valley, Moorpark.

This is not an all-inclusive list, but it's a start.

Answer 13

first off malibu is one of the most expensive places to live in southern california...so i wouldnt take that advise..if i were you, id move to orange county and check oput places in costa mesa,santa ana and westminster...all those cities border huntington beach, so your close to the ocean and your about 45 minutes from los angeles. good luck  

Answer 14

you could live in east la...rent id usually from 600 to 1500...

but a house is around 1500 to 2000 depending on how you deal with the bank..good luck =]