Zynga wrote:
C5z06 wrote:
Don't live downtown then. You can live in Brentwood, Santa Monica, Westwood, Venice, marina del Rey etc.
All the neighborhoods you mentioned are too far away from USC. The ones you mentioned are ideal for UCLA ...not USC.
Any of those places would be a bad commute everyday on I-10 freeway
I have spoken with quite a few current students who agree that most first year students live either in downtown LA or on the west side (Santa Monica, Westwood, Culver City) with a few commuter students living in Hollywood, Pasadena or the south bay (Manhattan Beach, Redondo, etc). Apparently, the majority of students then migrate to the west side for their second year in order to be more centralized between campus, fellow students, the beaches and other activities the west side has to offer. In order to skip this first step, I intend to move directly to the west side this summer. I currently live about 25 miles south of campus through some pretty rough areas so my current location would make for a hellish commute.
I believe the best "bang for your buck" is either Culver City, West LA or Santa Monica in that order (all considered on the "west side"). These areas are relatively cheap, only 5-10 miles from campus (accessible via surface streets if the I-10 is a nightmare during rush hour) and close to plenty of great shopping, dining/drinking and out door activities.
Downtown LA has cleaned up quite a bit over the last 10 years and is perfectly safe now but is very expensive (in comparison to other, nearby options) with minimal proximity to "extra-curricular" activities. While only a few miles from SC's campus (5-10 minute drive on surface streets), I do not think it is worth the price.