Anyone live near OR work in El Segundo?

[Darien]

I just accepted an offer from a place in El Segundo, and I'm not quite sure where to live. Looking at the map, there are lots of apartments near the area. Originally I was looking to live driving distance to a rail connection (yay for train stops in front of all the aerospace companies!), but I figured, well, a place like Torrance isn't all that far.

Can any So. Cal. ATers give me some input on nice (and affordable!) places to live around the area?

Edit: Changed thread title

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: Darien
Can any So. Cal. ATers give me some input on nice (and affordable!) places to live around the area?

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[Darien]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: Darien
Can any So. Cal. ATers give me some input on nice (and affordable!) places to live around the area?

ERROR: Does not compute!

Haha. Yeah, an apartment in downtown LA would completely rape my new salary, but renting out a room or finding a studio away from that area wouldn't be nearly as bad.

 

[sciencewhiz]

What is your definition of affordable?

I know at least two people who live in south torrance who say it takes 30-40 minutes to commute to El Segundo. If that was the case, I'd rather take the train. My commute is about 15 minutes from the far edge of Hawthorne to El Segundo (4.3 miles).

 

[Funyuns101]

good luck man, i go there for work once in awhile (like you said all the aerospace contractors are there) and it's a mighty expensive area.
co-workers do not live near work... definitely look in torrance and hawthorne

 

[Darien]

Originally posted by: sciencewhiz
What is your definition of affordable?

I know at least two people who live in south torrance who say it takes 30-40 minutes to commute to El Segundo. If that was the case, I'd rather take the train. My commute is about 15 minutes from the far edge of Hawthorne to El Segundo (4.3 miles).

How do you like living in Hawthorne?

 

[jmgonzalez]

Hawthorne, Lawndale, Gardena, Harbor City (where I live) should be more affordable than Torrance and in the vicinity of El Segundo

It takes me 25 minutes to make it to El Segundo

 

[Darien]

Originally posted by: jmgonzalez
Hawthorne, Lawndale, Gardena, Harbor City (where I live) should be more affordable than Torrance and in the vicinity of El Segundo

It takes me 25 minutes to make it to El Segundo

How do you like it in Harbor City? Any reason why you chose to live there?

 

[jmgonzalez]

Used to live in Inglewood and looked around the area for a house - tired of renting.

Torrance was out of our price range and they had just built this new community in Harbor City.

It's fine for me at the moment but eventually will have to move somewhere like Long Beach/Cerritos to get my kids into great schools. My son goes to a Long Beach school now with some permits, but would love to not have to worry about that.

A good friend of mine is renting a 1 bedroom apartment for $800/month in Harbor City - a few blocks away from me.

 

[Darien]

Wow thats cheap!

Thanks for the info :beer:

 

[uclaLabrat]

Originally posted by: sciencewhiz
What is your definition of affordable?

I know at least two people who live in south torrance who say it takes 30-40 minutes to commute to El Segundo. If that was the case, I'd rather take the train. My commute is about 15 minutes from the far edge of Hawthorne to El Segundo (4.3 miles).

Doesn't seem accurate, I drive from costa mesa to westwood everyday and it only takes me hour and 15 most days. Of course I leave before 6 :-D

 

[JulesMaximus]

Palaya Del Rey is nice. Marina Del Rey is also nice. Pretty much anywhere in the south bay area from Torrance through all the beach communities is good. I'd stay away from the areas near the 405 freeway and north/east though.

 

[Yreka]

Left my wallet there once...

 

[anxi80]

Originally posted by: Yreka
Left my wallet there once...

did you go there and order enchiladas? and then you ate em? and did your friend have the fruit punch?

 

[sciencewhiz]

Originally posted by: uclaLabrat

Originally posted by: sciencewhiz
What is your definition of affordable?

I know at least two people who live in south torrance who say it takes 30-40 minutes to commute to El Segundo. If that was the case, I'd rather take the train. My commute is about 15 minutes from the far edge of Hawthorne to El Segundo (4.3 miles).

Doesn't seem accurate, I drive from costa mesa to westwood everyday and it only takes me hour and 15 most days. Of course I leave before 6 :-D

There are no convenient freeways access in south Torrance, you either have to go way out of your way east to the Harbor, or by the time you get to the 405 by going north, you're already almost there.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Originally posted by: sciencewhiz

Originally posted by: uclaLabrat

Originally posted by: sciencewhiz
What is your definition of affordable?

I know at least two people who live in south torrance who say it takes 30-40 minutes to commute to El Segundo. If that was the case, I'd rather take the train. My commute is about 15 minutes from the far edge of Hawthorne to El Segundo (4.3 miles).

Doesn't seem accurate, I drive from costa mesa to westwood everyday and it only takes me hour and 15 most days. Of course I leave before 6 :-D

There are no convenient freeways access in south Torrance, you either have to go way out of your way east to the Harbor, or by the time you get to the 405 by going north, you're already almost there.

Damn. Sounds painful....the 405 is bad enough, I'd hate those surface streets.

 

[sciencewhiz]

Originally posted by: Darien

Originally posted by: sciencewhiz
What is your definition of affordable?

I know at least two people who live in south torrance who say it takes 30-40 minutes to commute to El Segundo. If that was the case, I'd rather take the train. My commute is about 15 minutes from the far edge of Hawthorne to El Segundo (4.3 miles).

How do you like living in Hawthorne?

Probably around 1/3 to half of Hawthorne is decent. There are definitely areas to avoid, however. It's close to a bunch of better areas, and I do most of my shopping there, etc. It's quite a bit cheaper then "nicer" cities, however.

The schools suck, so you may not want to settle there permanently.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Originally posted by: Yreka
Left my wallet there once...

Only reason I went into this thread was to post that and you beat me to it!

 

[Darien]

Originally posted by: sciencewhiz

Originally posted by: Darien

Originally posted by: sciencewhiz
What is your definition of affordable?

I know at least two people who live in south torrance who say it takes 30-40 minutes to commute to El Segundo. If that was the case, I'd rather take the train. My commute is about 15 minutes from the far edge of Hawthorne to El Segundo (4.3 miles).

How do you like living in Hawthorne?

Probably around 1/3 to half of Hawthorne is decent. There are definitely areas to avoid, however. It's close to a bunch of better areas, and I do most of my shopping there, etc. It's quite a bit cheaper then "nicer" cities, however.

The schools suck, so you may not want to settle there permanently.

A third eh. Which areas should I stay away from?

<-- Single guy in his mid-twenties. Not looking for a permanent place to call home yet

 

[sciencewhiz]

I usually stay away from areas north east of Rosecrans and Inglewood.

 

[Parasitic]

Man traffic on the 405 is so bad in the immediate south and north of LAX. It's like a quicksand pit that just sucks everything in.

 

[SecretAsianMan]

I'd go with what a majority of people have been saying. I'd say that the best areas to live would be south of the 10 and west of the 405.

If you're renting, I'd recommend starting with these website to get a feel for what's out there and the cost. They are apartments for rent websites that a lot of people use and it's free to do Guest searches. You don't get the exact address of the place but it still provides some good info. If you want to join, it's like $60/3 months (pretty expensive if you ask me) but you get addresses and phone numbers of the places.
www.southbayrentals.com (my favorite) and also www.westsiderentals.com

Hope this helps!

 

[MasonLuke]

Rule of thumb - you want to live west of sepulveda blvd, anything east is ghetto. if money is the biggest issue, you have no choice but to live in inglewood, hawthorne, gardena. Torrance is tricky because some parts are very nice and others ghetto. East torrance is ghetto and scary and you wan to stick with area codes 90503/90505. if you are new to the area, stay in elsegundo, playa de ray, marina del rey, mahattan beach, redondo beach and hermosa beach. a 2bd 2ba cost you about 2 grand a month.

 

[jadinolf]

I vote for my old home town of Torrance but there are a zillion places to live in your new area.

 

[Darien]

Originally posted by: MasonLuke
Rule of thumb - you want to live west of sepulveda blvd, anything east is ghetto. if money is the biggest issue, you have no choice but to live in inglewood, hawthorne, gardena. Torrance is tricky because some parts are very nice and others ghetto. East torrance is ghetto and scary and you wan to stick with area codes 90503/90505. if you are new to the area, stay in elsegundo, playa de ray, marina del rey, mahattan beach, redondo beach and hermosa beach. a 2bd 2ba cost you about 2 grand a month.

Interesting rule of thumb. I'll have to check out these areas later. I've lived near USC for a while now, so I'm used to what most people call "ghetto". Doesn't seem all that bad here, though.