smithk993

My daughter is being relocated to the LA area for her first job and we know absolutely nothing about the area.

Her job will require her to go into an office in the La Palma area once or twice a week with somewhat flexible hours and the other days she will work from home.

She is trying to decide where to live, and thinks she wants near the beach (imagine that). My question is, would the Santa Monica, Redondo Beach area be an impossible commute once/twice a week? Other areas I guess would be the Long Beach, Irvine area?

When I look at sites like Google Maps/Traffic and sigalert.com they show travel distances of around 32 miles and I've seen anywhere from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. Are these close or am I kidding myself?

Also does anyone know of a good Realtor to use for helping with looking for a 1 bedroom apartment.

Any comments would be helpful.

steakfat

you are usually going against traffic if you are leaving from santa monica. southbound on the 405 is usually pretty good -- I can get to Seal Beach in about 35 - 40 minutes during the normal morning rush hours. i'm not sure about the eastbound 105 but i expect that traffic should be moderately light as well.

i do know that santa monica to cerritos is about a 35-40 min drive without traffic, probably closer to an hour or possibly more if it gets congested for whatever reason (usually an accident).

if she plans to spend about an hour or so in each direction to/from santa monica, she would be in the car for at least 2 hours every day. sometimes sucks to look forward to the long drive home after an already long day.

another factor to consider if picking one of the other beach cities (redondo, manhattan, long or seal beach) is distance to the freeway. street travel time could range from a few minutes to 30 or even 45 minutes if you live far from the freeway (this is especially true in palos verdes)

hope that helps a bit, and good luck =)

fivepointnine

Santa Monica has some pretty rough areas and is really crowded, Manhattan beach is very nice. Travel distances in LA are not covered in miles, rather time with/without traffic, for example, I lived about 30 minutes from Hollywood with no traffic, 1+ hours with traffic.

violation

i dont know how she feels about commuting; personally, i try to do as little of it as possible. My theory is that M-F, at a minimum, will be spent at the office so may as well live near the office.

That being said, LB seems like a good choice for her, though be careful of where in LB. For one, the nice areas quickly turn bad. I can give you a list of better areas. For another, the beaches of LB aren't beaches by california standards. Sure, there is water and there is sand. But they are protected beaches with no surf.

Irvine would be a bit far, plus she'd be traveling the 405. ick.

SM is also far, there isn't a very direct route.

Redondo and Hermosa - lovely areas, but a pain in the buttocks to get from the beach areas (assuming she lives near the beach) to the freeway.

Is she a surfer? If so, take a look at Seal Beach. That beach is particularly beginner friendly. In fact, looking at g.map now, Seal Beach and surrounding areas would probably make the most sense.

For reference, I lived in Orange County for years prior to moving up to LA about a year ago, and was also born and raised locally.

As to realtors, generally in LA we just use craigslist (for privately owned condos or houses) and rent.com (for apartment complexes). Reply to this thread (or PM me if I don't reply) and I'll be happy to give you comments on neighborhoods, etc. if you two pick out a few places that look particularly good.