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Omnivore

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I thought I was fairly prepared, but after reading England's (old)post about renting in NY, I figured I should ask advice from some people who know a little more than me.

I will be moving to LA in May when I graduate. My girlfriend has been living in Echo Park (sunset and echo park blvd and pays $1000/mo and I cannot afford that) for about 5 months, living in la for about 1.5 years, and a good friend moved just up the street from her (paying $750 w/ a roomate).

I feel pretty comfortable with LA, visiting about once a month for 3-10 days at a time for the past year or so, and I was pretty certain that echo park was where I could afford to live/want to live. But craigslist legitamacy came up in the nyc thread and I was wondering if it is truly possible to get a place in that hood for less than $800, or is there somewhere better? or what price am I looking at for a studio? I don't want to live in koreatown, althtough the location is great, there is a good chance i will have a car and parking is FUCKING nightmare. I will most likely get a job in westhollywood / miracle mile area (but who knows).

any and all advice is welcome and appreciated. And if you are wondering why I am not moving in with my girlfriend lets just say things are complicated and I really like my own space as does she.

some LA eye candy header_clean.jpg

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Yeah, Westlake/Historical Filipino town.

When I moved down to LA, I pulled a trigger on a Westside Rentals subscription. There were a ton of listings, but the ones that I considered 'deals' seemed to go the day they went online. For where you're looking, it might not be all that helpful. Is it still $60 for 90days? If you're not having such great luck, might as well give it a shot, could get lucky.

FWIW, neither of the places I've lived in here have been off Westside Rentals or CL.

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is there a name for that hood? is it decently safe? I would rep for the help but i can't.

edit:

nevermind, I figured it out, westlake. I can't seem to find anything on CL. does anyone know if westside rentals is worth it?

Yeah, Westlake/Historical Filipino town.

When I moved down to LA, I pulled a trigger on a Westside Rentals subscription. There were a ton of listings, but the ones that I considered 'deals' seemed to go the day they went online. For where you're looking, it might not be all that helpful. Is it still $60 for 90days? If you're not having such great luck, might as well give it a shot, could get lucky.

FWIW, neither of the places I've lived in here have been off Westside Rentals or CL.

Don't use Westside Rentals. It is a good resource but isn't really worth the money and time it takes sifting through their listings. Craigslist is a much better resource. I bought Westside Rentals membership twice in the past, but have always found the places I've lived in on Craigslist; I've successfully used it on 5 separate apartments I've lived in here in LA.

what's rent in silverlake like? cheaper than west LA?

Depends what part of West LA we're talking and what type of apartments we are talking about. A nice 1-bedroom in a newer property development around W. Hollywood / Century City / B. Hills can run you anywhere between $1800-2300, whereas 1-bedrooms in older buildings can occasionally be had for as low as $1350 (these are generally always closer to the Hollywood / W. Hollywood border or down near the 10). At the same token, newer apartment complexes in Silver Lake can easily command $1700 for a 1-bedroom......so it's much of a muchness. Of course, there are alot more older buildings and properties in Silver Lake, and certainly more deals to be had, but it hasn't been a 'cheap' neighborhood for a good 3-5 years now.

Your best bet is definitely a roommate. Without a good job, living on your own in this city is very difficult.

If your girlfriend is in Echo Park, why don't you look for a roommate in Los Feliz? Or, if you want to be close to a job in West Hollywood, try Culver City. I would say that a fairly average price for a decent studio in a decent neighborhood is about $1050 (which is above what you want to spend). Hell, when I was living in Inglewood 2 years ago the new apartment complex next door was charging $1000 for a miniscule studio. Nothing comes cheap.

Another option to consider is a guest house. Good deals can occasionally be found if you're willing to live in a hut in someone's back yard.

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Serious? You try an stay west of La Brea too prolly?

i don't really think it's a good idea to recommend the rampart area for someone who is new to the city especially if he is white. if you disagree you probably haven't lived here too long. zing!

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i tend to agree. i lived south of sunset blvd in silverlake 4 years ago and it can get sketchy real fast. too many people have a false sense of security and forget how gang infested the rampart/silverlake adj. area is. i saw way too much ill shit from my front porch and i had my car broken into waaaaay to many times. ahhh memories.

i don't really think it's a good idea to recommend the rampart area for someone who is new to the city especially if he is white. if you disagree you probably haven't lived here too long. zing!
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Yeah, yeah- keep your nose clean, mind your business and you'll be fine. I used to live a block and a half off Skid Row; Rampart/Westlake/HiFi doesn't have anything on my experiences there.

The dude wanted Echo Park and there's plenty of relative 'sketchieness' there.

Didn't mean to turn this into a 'my neighborhood is worse than yours' convo, tho-

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I really appreciate everyone's help, and although some of the above statements are subjective, they still help inform me of my options. Although eagle rock is farther out than I want to be, I am seriously considering it, and often enough, it seems good stuff in los feliz and echo park pops up.

thanks everyone!

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Yeah, yeah- keep your nose clean, mind your business and you'll be fine. I used to live a block and a half off Skid Row; Rampart/Westlake/HiFi doesn't have anything on my experiences there.

i don't think you could reasonably suggest that you wouldn't have a problem living in that area if you lived there for a couple years unless you have secured parking. i can't stand living in places where i'm worried about getting broken into, i have too much expensive gear.

so were you living on san julian or what? a block and a half from skid row to me is more like los angeles/main whatever which is pretty nice esp considering the shitloads of cops downtown now and how they're trying to keep the fashion district to staples center/south park safe+clean for us "yuppie" types. har har

since i am in that area the majority of working days anyway i've been looking for lofts. anyone have any good leads?

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Yeah, I most assuredly had secure parking, that is always a deal breaker for me.

I was living in a loft on San Pedro, between 4th and 5th. The Old Bank District lofts up around where you're talking about (Los Angeles/Main + 4th) are pretty nice, and a much more gentrified area then I was at. My place was called Little Tokyo Lofts and they switched from rentals to condos at the height of the bubble. Since the switch though, management changed and I wouldn't recommend as is. I think Redfin.com has like 36 listings for them currently? Not so good.

If you're looking to buy, I would wait for the bottom; prices are gonna continue to drop for a while.

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I'm moving out of my place in ktown, maybe you can take the 2-3 months I have left on the lease?

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pm if interested

Dude I walked by your place and took pictures of that weird castle like building almost 7 months ago I recognize that intersection right in the middle of the picture cuz that's where I stood. CRAZY.

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Yardsale yooh have a pimp clean place man, wish I had room-mates like you back when I lived in K-town. I lived nearer to the action though right up a block away from Wilshire/Western. Which is your fav. K-bbq or late night K-food joint?

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Lol.

All the places you guys mentioned are "safe" for you guys, alverado is safe enough just dont act retarded. No you wont find a place that isnt a pit in the ground for less than 1000 in echo park if that.. you better act soon on a lease too because rent is only skyrocketing these days

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As long as you don't cause the thugs any trouble you should be cool. shit my old roommate would walk to his car dressed in false eyelashes, a shiny gold lame womens blouse, and tights and the hood rats never bothered him when i lived in Lincoln Heights.

there are some old studio apartments on hollywood near the los feliz AA store that i have seen go for about 900-1k for a studio on craigslist though this was about a year ago. they seemed well kept and spacious.

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i woudl not recommend cinespace. it is based on second hand info though. my girlfriend went out there and said the environment was kidna crappy. they 'played the same music all night: mostly mainstream crappy music.' could still be worth a shot though; maybe it'll turn out awesome. we're big music fans though, so that always plays a big role in our take on things.

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