Moving to LA and I have some questions
 

I am moving to LA (work will be in Glendale) in a couple weeks. I was wondering what a good location for an apartment might be. I'd like to have options for cycling and also secure parking.

Any ideas?

As long as there is room in the apt for you to bend over and grab your ankles in preparation for repeated anal assaults by the state of California you'll be fine.

PS: Good luck with the traffic. I Hear it is other-worldy in LA...my 2nd partner moved there about 6 years ago(and quickly moved to Texas after that)

LOL!

I love Philly. When I lived in NYC I almost moved there a few times.

Don't?

oh man, you guys are tough tonight!

First of all, welcome, James. It will be good to have you here. Man, Glendale is in the heart of things. I'll have to make it up to Bob's Big Boy in Burbank on a Fri night to hang with you and some of the Mulholland gruppe. As well as some runs. Sherwood has a coffee thing in La Canada once a month which will be right in your back yard.

I can't give you many specific tips about the area. But, depending on your needs, I'd look for a rental in the foothills. A back house, garage top apt, granny flat; something a bit away from the high density neighborhoods. Craigslist is your friend.

Just looked at Google Maps. Eagle Rock is an old community and offers some cool locations. It's a funky place. Some of it looks like Topanga Canyon. Mount Washington even more so.

thanks Milt!

Basically I need a place where I can live pretty reasonably (still have the house in Indiana) that has a safe parking place, good access to bike riding, etc.

You think those areas are good for that?

It depends on what you mean by affordable. Glendale has a lot of apartments, so vacancies are more apt to appear. Atwater Village is just south of Glendale (north of 5 Fwy). It's an old neighborhood that's slowly revitalizing, but still affordable. Both areas are close to Griffith Park, the 2nd largest suburban park area in CA (about 4200 acres). Great for cycling. You'll find many doing the same especially during the weekends. The Rose Bowl area is nearby and great for cycling too - famous for the weekly pack rides around the 3 mile facility. Unfortunately, the housing prices in the RB area are pretty high.

However, many cyclists ride without venturing into or living near the park. There's lots of city streets that are more or less bike friendly. Mt. Washington, as Milt says, is an interesting area, but it's hilly if you like that type of riding terrain. Give me a holler when you reach ellay. We'll get Milt to join us.

Sherwood

I used to work in Glendale - don't sign anything until you get a feel for the neighborhoods around there. They're not "bad" per se, but there is a HUGE Armenian population in Glendale, and if you're not one of them, you'll feel extremely out-of-place.

Most of the stuff right off of Brand Boulevard is okay, also the stuff slightly north of there near the elementary school. But definitely get a feel for it first.

Glendale isn't cheap either. You might get some serious sticker shock.

thanks Sherwood.

I am trying to find a place, not in a hurry, I have temporary housing so I have time to look around. I have two 911s, one I am bringing with me, one I will bring later, so parking is important. I think I just need to get there and figure it out being there.

looking forward to meeting up

Jeff is just a tad bitter ;)

If you're working in Glendale, then try to live close. I second suggestions for La Canada, Montrose, La Crescenta, or Pasadena. Do you have school age kids? That complicates things greatly. With no kids, Pasadena is a great place imho. The schools suck though.

thank you for that advice. actually the area by the park, the area near and around Malibu are those I like the best.

Tyson gave me some points too. I will look into all of them before doing anything.

Keep the advice coming guys, I need it.

Nothin' whatsoever against the Armenian folks - all the ones I've ever met have ended up being extremely nice people, but it's like moving into any ethnic neighborhood you're not part of. You'll just feel weird and out-of-place. Shop around. Look for the parts of town with the "average joes". There are a number scattered about. But there honestly are a TON of very definitely "Armenian-only" neighborhoods in Glendale.

It's a nice town overall, if a little "yuppified" (Brand Blvd. area in particular).

thanks for your post.

No kids, wife won't be coming for a bit, she is going to stay out here. I am going to be on the road all over the country during the weeks anyway.

I will investigate your ideas, thank you!

Indiana will miss you, but come back for the Indy 500 (The Brick yard), Kruse Auto auction, James Dean museum, Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum, Studebaker museum, Hudson museum, and Home to Hoosier race tires, Cole, Marmon, Stutz, American, Apperson, Haynes, Crosley and McFarland car manufacturers.

thank you Sir.

I'd second a vote for the Pasadena area. I lived there for a year. We'd ride our bikes over to the Rose Bowl. People do laps around the parking area. There are some pretty big packs of roadies that ride together. I'd also ride my bike up on fireroads in the hills behind JPL. In general, there's stuff to do in Pasadena. It's fairly safe. But remember, unless you're in a house with a locked and alarmed garage, there's no such thing as "safe" parking.

It beats the shyt out of living in Philly, at least according to everyone I've ever met who moved here from there. Traffic is no worse than any other American city.

If you want advice, stick with the people who actually live here and know their ass from their elbow. This guy knows nothing. There are so many different good places to live here that it's hard to know where to start. It's also a very individual thing, for example some people love Silverlake and others hate it because they're *westside-type* people. Completely different worlds within the same city. Different people/culture/topography/etc... I'd vote for Los Feliz for working in Glendale, meets all requirements and still in L.A. Glendale is not a bad place at all, just not my cup of tea.

Most of the people who respond to these threads are close to 100% clueless, IMO. :cool:

I've lived in two different apartments in Los Feliz, both with garages. Look south of Los Feliz Blvd. and east of Vermont. Quite a few very good ethnic restaurants, used to have a great book store (Chattertons) and an arthouse movie theater. Close to Griffith Park with good hiking and your choice of hilly or flat bike riding.

It may have changed since we lived there, but we loved the neighborhood.

The problem with Los Feliz is garage space. And parking tends to be a nightmare. But it has a vibe. Unfortunately the artists have been priced out of Los Feliz and Silverlake so some of the funkiness has gone away with the increase in housing prices. But the courtyard apartments can be very cool.

www.lalife.com

www.city-data.com

This will give you a very good impression. I would go with safety data over "watch out for the Armenians" ;)

Generally the rule at the foot of the San Gabriel mountains is: The further north and the higher in elevation, the nicer the place. I recommend you get into those hills. That will give you great access to trails and mountain biking.

George

James - figure it this way. Griffith Park is the center of L.A. You can go south and in five minutes, be in Downtown L.A. The southeast section of Griffith Park is in Glendale. Northeast is in Burbank, and northwest by Universal City is back in L.A. City proper. Of course where you work in Glendale will depend on where you might want to live. But don't limit yourself to Glendale. Los Feliz is a great area; very eclectic, cool old architecture, and many places to hang out. Silverlake is just down Sunset Blvd., and might definitely be a place to look to live. Atwater Village, which is north of Los Feliz is a cool little area, and on the border with Glendale. Then you have Burbank, which is very nice, even portions of Sun Valley aren't too bad. When you get into Studio City, then Sherman Oaks, you'll have a bit of a drive down the 101 to 134 freeways to get to Glendale, so you should think about that.

As for cycling, Griffith Park is a very nice place to ride. There are some good hills, fast descents, a couple rollers and fast flats. An entire lap around the park will take you through some very nice, rider-friendly terrain. It's also possible to ride through the valley, then up and over Sepulveda to the Westside, where you can continue to the beach, and, if you wanted, ride to at least Ventura County.

There are tons of club rides in Griffith Park. There are also tons of bicycle shops in Burbank and Glendale, Los Feliz, Hollywood and Universal City.

Unless you're Turkish, don't let the "Armenian" thing affect you. One of the best bike shops in L.A. is owned by a former Armenian National Champion cyclist. SmileWavy

All of the places mentioned are close to Griffith Park. It's the largest urban park in the United States, imagine a park with (3) 18-hole golf courses inside of it and all of them together don't displace 20% of the park. It's HUGE. I would have to disagree with Todd's parking remarks, it depends on where in Los Feliz. If you are in between Vermont and Hillhurst in the really dense part near the restaurants it's crowded but the more residential parts with single-family homes are not crowded. Plenty of street parking and garages.

years ago I found a decent, affordable, and safe place in Burbank, which is just a few miles down the road from Glendale

no current info except I have a very good hook into where to go for entertainment and restraunts on the west side

Do NOT rent a place within 75 miles of Los Angeles that doesn't have at least one (preferably more) garage space. I don't care how good of a deal you think it is. Don't do it. Period. End of discussion. You have been warned.

Here's my $.02 I grew up near Silverlake whick is 5 minutes outside of Glendale. Now I live in Mt Washington. love to have you as neighbor. there are a couple of pelican brothers up here in the hills. Milt, you let the cat out of the bag. Every home that was for sale were bought up from people from the Westside. I grew up here, so I know these areas really well. log thousands of miles training on my road bike during my racing days the past 20 years.

first of all, what are you looking for, San Francisco type of a place? Walk to everywhere. LA is not really the place for that. There are small pockets like that. forget public transportation. If you like the quiet family type of neighborhood, they try Montrose and La Crestcenta. It has a real sururban feel to it. Save, very safe. My sister lives in montrose, which is really Glendale. Eagle rock is about 10 minutes to Glendale, nice, depends on where in eagle rock. Pasadena, for the most part is very nice, stay away from the north western part of the city. Silver lake is hip, green, tree huggers, wine and cheese type. Los Feliz, is crowed. Parking is not so good but lots of apartments. At water is nice, but be careful which side of the blvd you choose. Still there are some gang / punks around near the river. for the most part, its very nice. I know a real Porsche nut that lives there. He leaves 2 of his 911s outside. The nice ones are inside.

It all depeends of what type of neighborhood you need/ like. Let me know I will tell you if they are ok or not. I work between Pasadena and the ocean so I know a lot of the good and bad pockets.

Be careful with those big common parking areas with gates under those big apartments/ condos. They look safe to an outsider. They aren't that safe.

Within 5 miles to glendale, expect to pay 16-2000 bucks for rent. That's 2 bed 1 bath. I am keeping an eye out for that because I am after some rental property.

The Armenians are ok. They are just a little different. the young and aggressive type you will find in every group.


He rode for the USSR as a young pup. Grew up through the eastern block cycling school like Jan Ulrich. Real tough cookies. Are there still club rides in the park? I have to get back on my bike. I had a mini stroke 4 sundays ago so I gotta do some exercise. I still haven't had a chance to get you the roller. If I find it, I'll pm you and let you have it for a song because I took so long.

Sorry for going off topic.

Jeff

Mini stroke. Yeow, dude! That's scary. Hope you're recovering well.

No worries with the rollers - get 'em to me when you can. I've been blowing tubes like crazy - three in one week - since the rains. I guess the water washes up all sorts of sharp-edged detritus that I manage to run over. :rolleyes:

Just finished an hour on the trainer. It's funny how hot the wheel gets when connected to my rear tire. :D

Affirmative. On Wednesday mornings, the group rides usually comprise out-of-work screenwriters with more bike than they can handle. :D

The Barry Wolf ride from the studios or Riverside Drive?

Yeah, I was in the hospital for a week. thanks, I am do fine. I lost little bit control of my left leg for a few days. Now I am back to about 99 % normal. I just need to take it easy and let things get back to normal, then I will get back on the saddle and not worK so damn much. What piss me off is that there is nothing worong with me. they can't find what cause it. I think its stress.

Milt mentioned a monthly Porsche coffee meet earlier. Since the LA types responded to this thread, I'll mention that the next one is this Sunday, 2/22 at 7am at a Starbucks parking lot in La Canada. Everyone's welcome to sip coffee and kick tires.

More info here:
http://www.early911sregistry.org/forum/showthread.php?t=25322

Sherwood

I live in Eagle Rock, have for 10 years; we really like it here. Lots of old LA still seems to exist in Eagle Rock - it almost has a small town vibe. Got to say I am not a big fan of Glendale, it's gotten awful crowded. I would avoid Southeast Glendale - it gets pretty hairy - maybe some of the most dangerous gangs in LA own that territory. Northern Glendale in the hills, Montrose, La Crescenta are all nice. In Eagle Rock, north of Colorado is nice, near Occidental College can be nice, generally when you are in the hills the neighborhoods seem to get nicer. Eagle Rock seems to have been "discovered" over the past decade or so; lots of folks have invested in the area. Pasadena can be nice as well; we prefer going to Pasadena to Glendale, but then we live about 200 yards from the Pasadena/Eagle Rock border.

Everything others have said is good. In LA drive time is really important. Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank, La Crescenta, Silver Lake, Eagle Rock are all areas you should consider. They're all within 20 minutes of Griffith Park. You're life will be a lot easier if you consider those areas. You want Malibu expect 90 minutes each way to Glendale and back at rush hour.

I live in Santa Clarita which is a mostly planned community and it's northwest of Glendale and you take the 210 Freeway it's a very nice, safe community and it's a 25 minute drive to Glendale at rush hour.

I lived in north Glendale at the Montrose border for years. It is a nice neighborhood, very safe, Honolulu ave has the small town strolling street feel. Convenient to the 210 fwy which is a fast way to the San fernando valley and to Pasadena and points east. Also convenient to the 2 fwy which shoots you to downtown. The surrounding hills have fire roads for mountain biking, and you'll be 15 min from the Angeles Crest Forest which has lots of hiking, some fishing, very rugged spots. I would recommend the North Glendale and La Canada area. Houses run $600K or so in the former, more like a million in the latter. There are some apartment buildings in Montrose too.

I didn't get one notification about these posts, sorry fellas. WOW! Lot's of great advice, let me read through and then post my questions. One thing is clear, I will get a parking space :-D

There are five common parking situations for apartments here:

your own garage (I have a one-car garage at my place - secure)
your "own" carport (unsecure)
your own spot in a underground or equivalent lot (semi-secure)
your own spot in some off-street parking area (unsecure)
free for all on street parking

Parking should be one of the first questions you ask about a place. Depending on the area you could see all 5 options within a few blocks. Note that most (all?) areas have "street sweeping", usually one morning a week so you have to think ahead when you park on the street lest you get a ticket.

what do you guys think about this place and location

http://hollywoodhills.riverstoneres.com/Apartments/module/amenities/company_property[id]/12871/

Place looks decent; location is reasonable. I know the stuff right around Los Feliz (near Griffith Park) is very high-dollar and nice and the stuff closer to Hollywood Blvd. tends to get a little bit trashier, so that area might be kinda' hit-or-miss - probably nice from the look of things, but I'd check it out first-hand to make sure you're not too close to a dumpy area or something.

You won't be able to work on your car(s) in a place like that for certain - just a consideration (maybe). I'm sure you know what a nightmare that can be in/around socal.

Los Feliz and Hollywood Blvd. can get VERY backed up in rush hour (I used to do a lot of work around that area so I know). If it's close to your work it's probably fine. Even better if you can walk/bike to work and avoid driving around there entirely. If you go slightly west and south (towards Hollywood & the 101 freeway) it gets kinda' ratty.

Anything on/near Hollywood Blvd. is going to be very noisy - just another consideration if you want quiet (get an upper floor and make sure it's very well-insulated). You can probably do a lot worse though.