The area around USC is much better than it used to be. In fact, Staples Center (for the Lakers and Clippers) is not that far away; 3/4’s of the area surrounding is fine; just some to the south to avoid. As someone said, though, if you have not been to the school, it makes it tougher for someone to recommend going without your seeing it. Carnegie is well known in the Northeast and by older people. Most in the West (students for sure) have not heard of it and even many adults outside of academia. It’s a west vs. east thing, just like many in the East have not heard of the Claremont schools, etc. We asked for current location just to see what your background is on rural vs urban, east/west, that sort of thing.