I missed your question about the Charmont. I know the property from the outside. Based on that, it’s worth a look.
Also, buildings like that (in NYC vernacular, pre-war) will tend to be quiet. They have thick plaster walls. Near the Charmont is at least another Spanish Style building. Both might be on the National Registry.
As I mentioned up-thread, consider seeing if an academic will be on sabbatical for the summer. As I recall, UCLA’s Spring Quarter ends mid-June.
I’ll repeat- traffic has gotten significantly worse. For example, “rush hour” is longer in time and across a wider area. My old shortcuts or alternate routes are not necessarily faster. Keep that in mind for your son.
Feel free to PM me if you have questions about an area. I only notice threads that are on the first page so can easily miss comments.
He found an apartment! Located right in Santa Monica, about three blocks from the beach and a 20 minute walk to work. Lease is signed and everything is all set. A smallish building owned by a family corporation that owns a hotel and a few other apartment buildings - they’ve been very professional and great to work with.
We ended up using Westside Rentals as a resource. Interestingly, several of the apartments listed on Westside also appeared on Airbnb as shorter term rentals for double or triple the rent. That really turned us off to using one of those sites. Much of the Airbnb and VRBO action in that area is incredibly overpriced, sketchy and I would be very careful about using them. There was one listing on Airbnb for a mattress on a floor in someone’s living room for $1600/mo.
@teriwtt Many of those I spoke with on Airbnb mentioned the new ordinance, which was also driven by the hotel industry - these short term rentals have really cut into their occupancy rates. I wonder if it will be retroactive - many of the nicer places are already rented - and prepaid for the upcoming summer. It will be easy enough for enforcement to find those who advertise online.
@arabrab He’s closer to Pico - not too far from Shutters Hotel. A great location - I’m happy he’s not in Venice.
If he doesn’t have a car, the Big Blue Bus is a pretty decent bus system that has routes throughout Santa Monica and the Westside (at least that’s what I recall from many years ago as a graduate student at UCLA).
He says that he doesn’t need a car, but I wonder if he’ll feel “stuck” without one. I may rent a small efficient car and just leave it there. The apartment comes with a secure parking spot, so he should take advantage of it. He’s quite frugal - we offered to help him with expenses, but he wants to pay his own way - said that he has “pride.” His salary is decent, but his living expenses will be such that he won’t be able to save much.
He could probably get by without a car, and there are enough diversions in that immediate area that he probably would not feel stuck. But there are so many amazing, inexpensive cultural and natural opportunities in the Southern California area that really are accessible only with a car that it would be a shame not to have one. If he wants to get to know LA in any meaningful sense, he will definitely need a car.