<p>Commuting on a motorcycle…my mother considered it penny-wise and pound-foolish. The money you save is not worth the risk you take.</p>
<p>Our son (now 28) just moved from Santa Monica to Denver, after living in SM for about 3 years. He also went through Westside rentals for both apartments he had. He did not like to use Craigslist as there are a lot of flakes out there. His last apartment was a 2 bedroom he shared and he was paying $850 a month. He parked his car on the street with a permit. He was 10 blocks up from the beach. He commuted into Beverly Hills for work (Cedar Sinai) and it sometimes took 1 hour. He loved SM- said it was the best area around for his age group. Marina Del Rey is a little older, more boring, Venice is a little sketchy, Westwood is expensive and too far from the beach… He did ride a bike around SM on the weekends and especially along the boardwalk -they often rode down to Venice. He rode to work a few times, but he would leave at 5:30am so there was no traffic. Coming home was too scary so he quit. He did get hit by a car in a crosswalk not too long before he left, but fortunately no injuries. Driver flipped him off and kept going. Drivers around the area are not necessarily bike friendly. While you can get around LA w/o a car, our public transportation is not very direct, so it can take a long time to get where you want to go. The schedules do not always match what you need either. Alot of people do use motorcycles and they definitely are faster on the freeways, but I always told my kids I would disown them if they bought one.</p>
<p>SM is great in the summer. There are always concerts and other activities at the pier on the weekends, a lot of great inexpensive restaurants…just always something going on. Third Street Promenade is there, so always a lot to do. SM is close enough to other concert venues, museums, great parks.</p>
<p>If his job is south of LAX, then if he lives south of LAX, he will avoid mucho traffic.
From my previous list, I will narrow it down to: El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach. He won’t have to get onto a freeway, so motorcycle would be less heart-stopping. On the 405 fwy travelling north, the traffic gets bad at around LAX thru West LA then up to the San Fernando Valley. So if he is both living and working south of LAX, traffic will be much better. Lots of young professionals in Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo (these are listed as most expensive to cheapest). Also, parking is a pain in those cities (some apts or studios don’t have associated places to park), so motorcycle would be a good option for parking as well. Marina Del Rey is north of LAX.</p>
<p>Also, traffic moves a lot better around these beach cities than on the Westside (West LA, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Westwood, Bev Hills)</p>
<p>The South Bay would be perfect for him. The Beach cities have a lot to do and are very popular with the just out of college set.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for all your help. He is staying in Hermosa Beach for the weekend so he will certainly be able to check it all out. And with the Frankenstorm bearing down on us here on the east coast, he may never come home. I’ll just ship what’s left of his stuff after the storm gets done with us!</p>
<p>He got the job! It’s all very exciting and he starts sometime after Thanksgiving. Thanks everyone for all the help and advice – it’s appreciated.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son! Now you can visit somewhere warm when it storms there!</p>
<p>Congrats, cnp! Hope he loves the job and California!</p>
<p>Congrats & good luck! </p>
<p>Hope he finds a place he LOVES. S went to school in LA & then moved to VA/DC for his job. He was lucky that his employer paid significant moving expenses, including the cost of shipping his stuff and driving from LA to VA/DC. When he was a student in LA he & D (who also lives in LA) used word of mouth to find their rentals. In VA/DC, S used PadMapper and Craigslist. </p>
<p>I also think that riding a motorcycle with the heavy traffic is too high a risk in LA. Have him explore what transit options may get him from wherever he moves to and his workplace or he can buy a car.</p>
<p>He seems to have a plan – which includes finding a house share on Craigslist, buying/leasing a car, maybe a weekend apartment hunting trip, etc. I like the car idea, I don’t like the Craigslist roomie idea without at least a week in the area to check things out.</p>
<p>This is a kid who has never lived with strangers – all his college roommates – and his current roommates – were part of his athletic team. He’d met them before freshman orientation and (practically by definition) were very similar to him demographically. He’s working the alumni connection but coming up short on the west coast at the moment!</p>
<p>I am sure he will figure it out while sitting on the beach – while I sit under piles of snow and worry!</p>
<p>Congratulations on the new job.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your S. My S moved up to SF and used Air B&B to find an apt for a short stay (you can book by the night, week, or month) while he searched for a more permanent roommate/apt situation. Perhaps your S could try that first. Because Air B&B listings often have many reviews, he can feel relatively secure in where/with whom he stays at first.</p>