Living outside of Los Angeles?

Question

I read recently that living outside of the city Los Angeles is smarter and cheaper. What I want to know is, where exactly outside of Los Angeles but near to the city? Being Canadian, all I know is the major cities of the states, so for California I could only think of San Francisco, as a place 'outside of Los Angeles'. Please tell me where to live out of the city of LA but near enough to drive and is cheaper than living in the city and how much it costs. Thanks!

Answer 1

San Francisco is not a good and cheap place. The gas price is even worse there. Same as Ventura Santa Barbara vicinities, gas price is even higher than orange county average, it's house is expensive since it is off the Coast. Think outside of orange county metro area but not San Diego. I'm think Merced areas, brown places off the I-5 not Golden State Freeway, Somewhere off the 99 Freeway in Central inland California. In SOCAL, San Bernardino County or Riverside County is the best bet.

Answer 2

Getting outsiders to understand the true vastness of LA is a difficult thing to do. I don't know where you read that statement, but it really doesn't apply. There truly is NO place to live "out of the city" but near enough to drive that's any cheaper.



You see, the greater LA area extends about 100 miles in every direction from downtown LA. In other cities, you have a defined city center, and can drive 10 minutes and be outside the city limits. You even have space between cities. If you look at a satellite photo of the Los Angeles area, you see nothing but city and suburbs for hundreds of miles. Because of this, rents are pretty much the same in these areas: $1200 or so for a 1BR, about $900 for a studio. You can find prices for less, but they are in the ghetto/high crime areas.



Moving to the outskirts of the LA metro area has its own disadvantages. With the average price of gas now about $4 per gallon, any savings in rent are quickly swallowed up by commuting costs, as well as a hellish commute that sucks out your soul. Such places are Victorville, Hemet, and Lancaster.

Answer 3

I apologize as not many people offered help. Near Los Angeles, areas that would be cheap, nice, closer to the city I would say look into the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys. San Fernando has Burbank, Glendale, North Hollywood, Studio City, etc. San Gabriel Valley has South Pasadena, La Canada Flintridge, Arcadia, Glendora, Monrovia, Walnut, San Dimas, Diamond Bar, etc. Closer to LA, and you get to gentrified areas and older areas--Silver Lake, Eagle Rock, Echo Park, Los Feliz, West Hills, Holmby Hills, etc.



Anywhere closer to the ocean gets more expensive. You can give it a shot in Torrance, Santa Monica, parts of Long Beach, etc.



West LA is also expensive but nicer--Brentwood, West Hollywood, Westwood, Santa Monica, etc.



North LA is a mix between the San Fernando Valley and more affluent coastal areas--which tend to be more expensive.



There is also Orange County--though be prepared for a commute and more expensive housing on average. Orange County is next to LA County however. Try Brea, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Fullerton, Tustin, Anaheim Hills, Placentia, Costa Mesa, etc.



You can also try Ventura County (Moorpark, Simi Valley, Ventura, Valencia, Thousand Oaks) which is a bit farther away north and also somewhat expensive.



If you really don't mind a commute, you can try MUCH cheaper but very nice options in Riverside County (Corona, city of Riverside, Temecula, Murrieta, etc.) or San Bernardino County (Rancho Cucamonga, Claremont, Fontana, Upland, Chino Hills, Redlands, Yucaipa, etc.).



Aside from Los Angeles and San Francisco, there is also Sacramento in northern California not too far from San Francisco, and San Diego in southern California not too far from Los Angeles. Of all 4 major cities I would pick San Diego, because it has the best weather, is right by the beach, compact, lower cost of living/less expensive, cleaner, and is not too far from Los Angeles. If you would rather go with an area closer to Los Angeles, I would pick among some of the areas mentioned above.



One last note: Downtown LA is gentrifying as well--though it is also becoming pricey.

Answer 4

Do you mean living in the boonies and commuting to LA? Unless you are buying a home, it doesn't make sense to rent and commute -- you will make up in gas costs any rental savings. And even when buying it doesn't make sense for most people. Our public transportation isn't very good, so chances are you'd have to drive. It's likely you'd burn out commuting to the boonies just because you wanted to buy a house.



The people I know who somewhat successfully commute from the boonies to LA are firefighters, cops, nurses and other hospital personnel, on 3 x 12 or 4 x 10 schedules. Even those that make a commute a few days a week eventually burn out, firefighters only commute a few times a month. My dh's secretary commutes from the boonies by train to downtown LA and she's burnt out by the middle of the week, even though she's not driving. But she earns more than twice as much working in LA than she would where she lives, and she can afford to buy a large enough home for her family where she lives, so it's worth it to her.



Think smaller rather than further away. You can find an OK single with some searching in an OK area around LA for about $800 - $900, like in Glendale, Burbank, East Hollywood, maybe West LA, and be within easy (for LA) driving distance to jobs in LA. If you can't afford that amount of rent, you're in a tough spot, anything less is likely a sketchy situation.



Good luck!

Answer 5

actually san francisco is about a 7 hour drive from los angeles...

yes you do not want to live in Los Angeles it is very congested and most parts dirty. i live about 45 minutes drive away (without traffic) from los angeles in san gabriel valley (los angeles county) its nicer here and its cheaper, but there are also closer cities that are cheap. i would suggest calling or emailing a real estate company over here they could give more details so they can fit your needs!

good luck!

Answer 6

Imagine driving from Toronto to Windsor. That's a pretty close approximation of what you may face living near Los Angeles.



Anyway, go to www.lalife.com to get some ideas about housing costs in the area.

Answer 7

Unfortunately, you would have to give us which direction you want to be living. Keep in mind that commuting can be horrendous, particularly with gas $4.50 a gal. Living actually down town LA is cheaper than many suburbs. But, you will need to specify exactly what area direction you need to be oriented to.

Answer 8

I guess you can live in Oxnard, but you're about an hour away from LA living there.