Best Areas to Live in Los Angeles

[M Most]

Well you should really live near your work I'll tell you that.

True, but if you're going to work in production, that's impossible. One day your work will be in Burbank and the next day it will be in Manhattan Beach. Unless you either a)don't work in production, or b) are lucky enough to get on a television series that's largely stage bound and stays on the air for at least 5 years, you're just not going to be able to choose where your work is. And L.A. is an awfully big place.

One should live where one wants to live and can afford to live. Those are often not the same thing, but if they are, they should be the overriding factors.

 

[M Most]

But don't listen seriously to *anyone* who gives you the "dry heat" line. 110 is 110, man.

Wimp.

Of course, as someone who lived in Marina Del Rey for over 10 years, I shouldn't be one to talk.

 

[David Wilson]

I'm finally moving to L.A.!!! :matrix: ... So I was wondering if anyone can recommend some good areas / neighborhoods to live in... somewhere centrally located and hopefully in the middle of all the action for someone involved in our trade. I know that in L.A. there in no there there... but I still figure that there have to be better places than others. So if any of you have good tips / strong opinions on the subject, please don't be afraid to share.

Going back to TheThe's original post - It's not so much that there is no there there - it's really that there are so many many theres there.

I lived here chanting my "I hate this place, I hate this place" mantra for seven years until I found my mantra had change to something much more like "I love this place, I love this place"

I live in Culver City now (OK, across the street) and think it is wonderful.

Takes some getting used to, but at the end of the day Los Angeles is an astonishing city - welcome.

 

[Jonathan L. Bowen]

I live in downtown Los Angeles, it's a very nice area now in the good neighborhoods at least, with high condo values and lots to do. The city is really growing around where I am, the Staples Center, with L.A. Live going in and lots of exciting things happening. It's a nice area, and centrally located.

The beach communities advice, sorry but that's horrible. Filmmakers shouldn't leave near the beaches, it's way too far away from where anything is happening. Beach communities are tons of fun, I love them, but they're expensive and too far away. It takes FOREVER to get to Hermosa Beach, even with no traffic. It's still like 45 minutes from downtown L.A. I hate that place, no parking, miserable streets getting there, it's just annoying. It's pretty once you're there, but if you don't live there, forget it. I won't even go there anymore. If a city cannot be bothered to build parking, I can't be bothered to spend my money in your city and on your city's businesses. It's very simple. No parking, no people. Last time I drove 25 minutes around just looking for parking when I was going to the Hermosa Beach Film Festival, which was a fun event. But forget that city.

If I could live anywhere right now, and it would take no work for me to make it happen, I would live in The Burbank Collection in downtown Burbank. I don't want to sound like I'm promoting them (I'm an investor downtown in Los Angeles, Elleven, Luma, and Evo buildings on this block, so uhh please move here?! Haha), but what I love about that building is its right in the middle of the action. You see it, and you think it should be an office building maybe or retail, but nope, it's luxury condos with 80 restaurants right next to it, three movie theaters, Tae-Kwon-Do studios (matters to me), a nice area, no bums, no people begging for change, great production facilities nearby, my storage facility is in Burbank (24 hour access), it's just a great area. That's where I'd live. The problem is that place is expensive, I don't want to say it's overpriced because I think that's a nonsense term, if people will pay it, it's not overpriced. But my place is about $500,000 for 960 sq. feet, and they have 695 sq. foot units starting in the low $400s? Forget that. I should be able to get an equal size unit for cheaper, it's Burbank, not nearly as desirable an area as where I'm living. But they didn't make many units, that's the problem, and it does have a lot of advantages for entertainment professionals who work in Burbank.

Also, Burbank Armenian? You must be confused. GLENDALE is Armenian, and it's next to Burbank. Burbank is much whiter than where I live, at least, and I see a good mix of people of all cultures and backgrounds. But no poor people, which is great, I frankly get sick of that downtown. I hate driving through crappy areas being exposed to bad construction, losers on the streets, just junky areas everywhere. It's really obnoxious. But in downtown L.A., that's how it goes, these few blocks are luxurious and expensive and nice, the next few are ghetto and trashy. It's also not very white, I will say that, I mean honestly I feel sometimes like I don't see any white people where I live. It's disconcerting to me, because that's not diversity. That's just full on invasion. I like diversity, where you walk into a bar and you see all types of people, that's how it SHOULD be. Not like 100% Asian, or 100% hispanic, or 100% white, etc. But for some reason that's how it goes here, it's like the most diverse city around, except that these diverse groups don't intermingle, they just stick to their own areas or something. I haven't quite figured it out yet. I hear that L.A. is about 49% white, I keep thinking, WHERE?! I see maybe 15% white people.

 

[Tom Lowe]

i live in orange county (as south as you get before san diego).. i make a terrrrrrrible commute to work everyday.. just awefull..
im gunna buy a place in huntington beach soon.. which is still oc, just closer to work than where i am now...
i just hate LA like no other.

me too. i have lived in Dana Point and commuted to Burbank/Hollywood/LA.... it's pure torture. I also tend to hate "LA" and only go there for work or some special event that you can only do in LA.

Long Beach is kind a nice middle ground between LA and OC. Seal Beach is also nice. north of LA, Malibu is awesome, if you can afford it.

 

[Greg Huson]

Oh man... ask a million people, get a million answers.

I live in Culver City, which I love and my family loves. It is a 10-minute drive from the beach and a 15-minute drive from Hollywood. Sony is in Culver City, and FOX is in West LA, so all the Studios are an easy drive. It is also its own municipality. That means its own fire department, police department, and school system. You call Culver City PD with a problem and they are there in 5 minutes. You call LAPD, and unless someone is actually breaking into your house and you see their face, response time is awful. Culver City schools are on the whole, much better than LAUSD. And downtown Culver City is awesome... tons of cool restaurants, cafes, shops, movie theatres, etc.


Lucas

I can't believe you live in Culver City and have never been to our shop. Good lord, you could put a demo system right here, and bring people by any time you want (ish.) Practically walking distance. And we used to be across the street from Sony! I hope you've become a regular at the new FO!

On topic, I'm a paleface from the northwest, so I can't stand the heat- consequently I vote for the beaches. If you're breaking in, then Burbank/Studio City/Hollywood Hills/Silverlake/ something like that. Culver City is really great now, too - they must just be giving Liquor licenses away because every square footage of retail space in this formerly sleepy little town is now a killer restaurant.

Also, if you're adventurous, consider downtown LA. There IS actually a there, there. In addition to the long-lofty warehouse district south of downtown, in the last 10 years many of the 50-100 year old formerly abandoned buidings have been loft-ified. (a while back, downtown LA moved a couple blocks and simply left the old buildings behind- 'old' is something very unusual in LA.) They're working very hard to get youngsters to move in, and with new lack of credit for mortgages, prices are falling fast. It's close to everything- there's even a small studio right smack in the middle of downtown. Subway to Hollywood/universal/ probably even Warner Bros and Par if you don't mind walking a little. Light rail to Culver City from downtown is under construction. It can be a pretty rough downtown- but you're tough, right?

 

[Manfred Lopez]

Thank you all so much for your responses. It's all extremely helpful. I especially loved the details about everyday traffic routs to avoid/use. This info is priceless... Now, to answer some of your questions:


MY ACTIVITIES:

1. I will mostly be involved in two activities: one (the main one), focusing on developing and producing feature films, with the first movie to be shot in Mexico, which is already mostly funded (low budget)...

2. and two, trying to land gigs DP'ing and/or renting out some of my gear that I'll be bringing up (I decided to just bring camera and sound this time around as that will mostly fit in my SUV). The idea is not to eat too much into my production fund while I get the first film rolling.

3. I also plan on taking a lot of meetings with all kinds of segments from our industry: casting, crew, producers, companies, etc...


MY PRIORITIES FOR A PLACE TO LIVE:

1. Parking and easy access is my number one consideration for choosing a place. I have a feeling I'll be loading and unloading camera gear a lot and I don't want it to be a two-man operation each time just because the car is not right next to my door.

2. Centrally located... I am trying to avoid a 'Commute from Hell' created after trying to save a few bucks on rent or because I was trying to live in a 'funner' place. I am coming to LA to work. I already had enough of beaches having been in Mexico for the last 3 years.

TheThe -

What can you afford? Do you have reliable transportation?

Yes on transportation. And I don't know yet on how much I want to spend on rent. I guess it all depends on what the location is. Having lived in NY I guess I won't have sticker-shock like many others might have. But at the same time every extra penny spend on rent is a penny less for my film.

What do you do exactly? Do you have work lined up already?

Like mentioned above, I guess I would classify myself as a 'halfway-there-to-opening-day' Producer moonlighting as a DP / Director / Gear-Renter... I already produced one feature film, but that project is not likely to see the day of light any time soon as the movie is currently all tangled up in bureaucratic Hell as the biggest investor was a state government in Mexico and they recently switched administrations... :ranting2:

On the question of having work already lined up in LA... the quick answer is not right now... but I'll leave that for another thread once I'm settled in.

 

[Tom Lowe]

Find a Cougar in the Hollywood Hills to take you in.

 

[Mark Thorpe]

Find a Cougar in the Hollywood Hills to take you in.

Now thats a plan, shhhh, don't tell the missus :biggrin:

 

[Sarah C.]

Ha! Great thread. I've been commuting to LA daily from Ventura and am looking to move closer sometime. I've been asking the same questions and been getting about the same answers.

TheThe.. be careful about shooting in Mexico. I'm trying to get a feature off the ground too and involving south of the border scenes.. but I will not shoot south (especially cuz it involves gunfighting).

If you make it to LA.. we should do coffee!

~Sarah

 

[donatello b]

find a place that is within a few miles of Hollywood & Vine - the closer to 101 the better to get over the hill into the valley ... something off Franklin drive would be nice .... i lived up Beachwood for a year and it was close to most studio's ..
however, i preferred living in Venice/Santa Monica area ( within 1 mile of beach) ..
freeways are jammed during rush hours and there are back streets you can take to get to hollywood but if you have to go over the hill into the valley then it is 405 from Venice/Santa monica and it is ugly during rush hrs ...

 

[Adam Clark]

i lived on effie street in silverlake for 2ish years and it was amazing. it was on the hill facing west - i had a great view of griffeth park. i could see the ocean on clear days. silverlake has a great energy. great diners nearby - fred62 and eat well. great thai down the road at rambutan thai, probably the best green curry on earth.

 

[dino g]

Ahhh...Venice...nothing quite like it.

artists, beach, production, post, agencies, poor people, rich people, black, white, asian, latino....a true melting pot.

 

[Manfred Lopez]

TheThe.. be careful about shooting in Mexico. I'm trying to get a feature off the ground too and involving south of the border scenes.. but I will not shoot south (especially cuz it involves gunfighting).

If you make it to LA.. we should do coffee!

~Sarah

Hi Sarah

You are right about having to be careful in Mexico. But it all depends on how you approach it. I've had very good luck by involving local and state governments. Mexico can be a harsh place if you don't take the people there into account. But once you 'provide' a proper place for them in your plans I've discovered that the doors magically open up, as most people down there are secretly thrilled to help out a movie production. And lastly, I would always always always avoid the border states... just way too much fear, uncertainty and violence.

Oh, and I would love to do coffee once I get to LA (should be there in about three weeks). I'd be very interested to learn about your project (and to find out what made you run from Mexico ).

 

[Florian Stadler]

I used to live in Venice and moved to Echo Park a little over a year ago. The only thing I miss is the beach itself. Other than that: Better access to bars, restaurants, parks, cultural institutions, downtown, the Studios, the Freeways etc. Plus people are much more neighborhood minded.

 

[reality]

Ahhh...Venice...nothing quite like it.

artists, beach, production, post, agencies, poor people, rich people, black, white, asian, latino....a true melting pot.

and crazy people too

 

[Sarah C.]

LOL.. I might qualify a crazy myself.. the miles of driving and hours of work I do for the love of production???

TheThe.. you know where to find me! I would love to hear your thoughts of shooting in Mexico and trade notes on indie features. I suppose we could even invite other "Reds" to join in if anyone else is interested.

~S

 

[Shawn Booth]

I lived on Franklin, Runyon Canyon - great area, clean, usually quiet, a little more expensive than most places in H'wood.

You should check out westsiderentals.com

Donatello's right though, a few miles away from Hollywood and Vine sets you up close to a lot of things (and the Valley's too hot anyway).

 

[Manfred Lopez]

TheThe.. you know where to find me! I would love to hear your thoughts of shooting in Mexico and trade notes on indie features. I suppose we could even invite other "Reds" to join in if anyone else is interested.

~S

That sounds like a good idea. I'll make a proper invitation to everyone once I'm in LA. In the mean time I have to figure out this moving thing out. Everyone's posts have been a real help so far. It's always interesting to hear a range of opinions.

I lived on Franklin, Runyon Canyon - great area, clean, usually quiet, a little more expensive than most places in H'wood.

You should check out westsiderentals.com

Donatello's right though, a few miles away from Hollywood and Vine sets you up close to a lot of things (and the Valley's too hot anyway).

Thanks for the tips. Well, with both you and Lucas mentioning West Side Rentals, I think that sounds the way to go (plus the ol' craigslist of course). Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Andrew Kimery]

find a place that is within a few miles of Hollywood & Vine - the closer to 101 the better to get over the hill into the valley ... something off Franklin drive would be nice .... i lived up Beachwood for a year and it was close to most studio's ..
however, i preferred living in Venice/Santa Monica area ( within 1 mile of beach) ..
freeways are jammed during rush hours and there are back streets you can take to get to hollywood but if you have to go over the hill into the valley then it is 405 from Venice/Santa monica and it is ugly during rush hrs ...

Argh, I used to live near Beachwood & Franklin and hated it. There is always traffic because of the location (next to the 101, natural bottle neck because you are at the base of the hills, etc.,) parking is horrible, and whenever you drive anywhere you always have to slug thru Hollywood traffic.


-A