Living in LA

Set to move to LA from Texas and have some questions. Office is in Century City 


1) Is the commute from Santa Monica / Mid-city to Century City viable? Or is it much better to live in the Wilshire corridor right next to century city? It just seems like theres much more restaurants / grocers / bars in Santa Monica / Mid-city compared to the wilshire corridor. Is West Hollywood an option for you finance people?

2) Is not having a Washer and Dryer in your apartment that bad? I’ve always had my own in my apartment (Thx Texas), but SF / LA / NYC it seems pretty common to have a shared laundry room. If I only look at apartments with W&D, options are limited.

 

Get a w&d in unit. Pay as much as you need.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Yeah I had no w&d in unit for 4 years in NYC. As someone who works out 1-2 times per day this is not advantageous. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I didn’t do my own laundry - I gave it to the laundromat for everything.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

1) It's viable. You'll have some coworkers whose commutes are much longer. Obviously the more east you live in Santa Monica, the shorter the commute will be. You could live in West LA (near Sawtelle) too. WeHo is an option, although the more east you go, the worse the commute will be of course. I used to live ~2.5 miles from Century City where I worked, and it'd often take >20 minutes to get to/from. Keep in mind 5 miles in LA is a pretty long way on weekdays - very different than Texas unless you live in the middle of Austin.

2)  No opinion here. Personal preference.

 

I live in WeHo and work in century city. The commute isnt bad, and there is tons to do in WeHo. One thing I will note though is that it is a very busy and eclectic area, so its definitely not for everyone. Plenty of coworkers live in various spots in SaMo and seem to like jt. Either option is what I would go for.

 

I don’t think it’s bad, I think it’s great. Tons of fun bars and good restaurants. But some people just don’t like the weirdness. It’s also the most gay friendly neighborhood (and some people are still stuck in the 50s and aren’t comfortable with that)

 

Why did you have to walk outside? Most buildings have basement W&D especially with IB money.

 

Most california apartments are garden-style. You open your apartment door and it's already outside. Not too many buildings have interior corridors. The ones that do tend to already have W/D in the units and are newer build. And apartment buildings don't really have basements either. Again the newer ones do, but that's where the parking is.

 
Most Helpful

1) You'll be fine. I'd say your commute will probably be about 20-25 minutes from Santa Monica. Maybe longer if you want to live closer to the beach itself. Your commute will probably be going east on the 10 and then north on 405. You might hit a little traffic on 405there but you'll likely be taking the first or second exit which is Santa Monica Blvd or Wilshire to get to Century City.

Right now I live in West LA/Brentwood area and commute to Beverly Grove/Fairfax area for work. I'm about 20 to 25 minutes. No freeway, and I pass through Westwood, Wilshire Corridor, and Beverly Hills. I'd say the most traffic i hit is around westwood but it's not too bad. I used to live in Santa Monica and took the freeway to work for part of it. and the commute time was about 30ish minutes. Traffic was totally opposite for that. I wouldn't really live in Wilshire Corridor, mostly just high-rises no real downtown with cafes, restaurants or bars that are walkable. WeHo is a good option. It's a more artsy/creative crowd, people mostly in entertainment, fashion and arts. On the westside, people are little bit more of the yuppie types, engineers, lawyers, financiers. I also feel like parking is more of a pain in WeHo in general compared to the westside. I found rent to be more expensive in WeHo and it still didn't include parking for the unit.

2) my previous place had a w/d so i was pretty thankful for that and found it extremely convenient. It was something i wanted in my next place, but my current place doesn't have it. I'm getting used to it. Laundry is on the ground floor around the corner, so it is a bit of a pain to go up and down the stairs since you've got load up the washer then go back and toss it into the dryer, then pick it up once done. I'd say in-unit w/d is most convenient when you are working long hours and need to do a load late at night or while doing some other home chores.

 

Yeah, echoing the above don't live in Century City, it's mainly a business district. Another neighborhood that I'd recommend looking into is Culver City, probably similar distance to CC from Santa Monica and a bit more a chill vibe. If you live anywhere near downtown SM you get a ton of tourists for the pier/beach/3rd street promenade, and after having lived in Washington, DC for 7 years, you get sick of tourists real quick. Obviously there are other parts of SM, but if you're north of Santa Monica Blvd it's pretty much residential and the downtown, south of the Blvd is what natives consider "real Santa Monica" which is pretentious as fuck, but also fairly accurate, although you also edge closer to Venice which is a world into itself. I live in WeHo and commute to Brentwood, it's probably 25 min in the morning and like 45 at night. It's not the best, but I don't mind it, I really enjoy my apartment location, lots of restaurants and walkable to the major comedy clubs in the area (Comedy Store, the Improv, Laugh Factory).

And I wanted a in-unit W/D too... I've had one the last 4 years, but I just couldn't swing it this time around. I had roommates for the previous apartments and I'm doing a 1BD now. I'll probably just bring it to a wash and fold. A lot of the housing stock in LA is old buildings (the real estate industry in this county is so fucked, speaking as a developer in LA) so many of them don't have the hookups and they won't retrofit it in when they rehab because it's just not worth the cost. You get the rent for location with old stock, not amenities. If you can find it in an area you like that has an actual kitchen then go for it, kudos, but I don't think it's the end of the world, especially since the economics are totally fine if you plan it out like someone else mentioned. 

 

I spent two years in Sawtelle doing my MBA and enjoyed it, I love the west side, but the cliché once you're on the west side you don't leave the west side holds very true in my experience. It's just such a pain to get anywhere else you end up just staying west of the 405. I wanted to be a bit more centrally located, see more of the city and understand it better. If I stay in LA long term (and can afford it) I wouldn't mind moving back and having a family in West LA.  

 

NYC has pick up and delivery for laundry - LA is probably similar if you want to pay an extra fee.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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