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Gary
climber
"My god - it's full of stars!"
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Apr 24, 2012 - 08:59am PT
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I'm going with the Pasadena crowd: Pasadena, South Pas, Sierra Madre. All on the Gold Line, you can take light rail to USC. Very soon, anyway, the Exposition line is almost open.
It's quick get away to the Sierra, and Josh, although we find it best to leave for Josh early Saturday morning, or late Friday night. In Sierra Madre we walk to the mountains, no driving needed. If you have a few days to spend, you can walk anywhere in the San Gabriels from the foothills.
The light rail system allows you to get to some cool places without driving, which is a big plus. There's a lot to see in LA, good music, museums and food everywhere.
As mentioned above, you just got to watch out for hipsters. They're everywhere!
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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Apr 24, 2012 - 12:02pm PT
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you ask a lot, nutjob, but you already seem to know a lot.
some minor notes:
there is no "scrap" in pacific palisades.
good schools? rich people with spoiled children send them to harvard-westlake when the LAUSD magnets are full.
just plop down anywhere in l.a. county. there will be plenty of amusement and nature and the freakery and smog can't be escaped.
you must have done something terrible in the bay area. we want to know what it is.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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Apr 24, 2012 - 12:23pm PT
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Maximizing the items on your list of wants and prioritizing them properly [family and kids 1st]:
Good Schools [who wants to pay for private schools, if you have kids in school, almost always figure to pay higher real estate costs -- instead of private tuition]
Safe for Family
Near Outdoors
Commute
La Canada, La Crescenta areas probably offer the best of the above. Close to San Gabriel Mts and decent climbing bouldering, great Mt Biking, etc. Decent schools, fairly safe, not a hideous commute. Can get a tad smoggy though.
Fairly easy access to get out of Town (whether North or East]
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Jordan Ramey
Big Wall climber
Calgary, Alberta
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Apr 24, 2012 - 12:57pm PT
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I lived in Pasadena and South Pasadena to commute to UCLA. I off-commuted (10:30 am to 7ish pm) and it wasn't that bad. Driving through downtown was always the slow spot (10-110 intersection). If you're going to USC though, the train might be a great option. The LA trains are awesome if they go where you want them to and it's super easy to catch them in the Pasadena area. Pasadena was really nice in that it didn't feel like gangland or the crazy no parking stress-fest that is the LA experience.
Also, it's a reverse commute to Stoney Point in the morning, meaning at 8am you can fly there on the 210 - 118 with zero traffic (45 minutes) while watching the other side of the freeway in complete gridlock :) Being near the 210 makes it super easy to exit LA to goto JT (2:15), Idylwilde (1:50) or even Red Rocks(3:30) since you're already past the bad parts of LA.
And for those that want a thorough appreciation of the commute, here is a video I shot at 10x (I think) speed of my commute with a rooftop cam.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
South Pasadena 110 to 10 to 405 to UCLA
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Apr 24, 2012 - 06:41pm PT
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I have young in-laws in LA and both families have young kids. They also both live just north of LAX in a very staid and buttoned-down Westchester (north of Manchester / west of Sepulveda). Might be a bit pricey for what you get as what would go for $250k here in PDX goes for $800k there.
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nutjob
Gym climber
Berkeley, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 24, 2012 - 07:04pm PT
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That was the first time I saw the Reardon buildering video. Thanks, and Cool!
Thanks all for so much feedback and info.
Will post a mini trip report of LA communities first in-person impressions after this coming weekend :)
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Fluoride
Trad climber
West Los Angeles, CA
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Apr 24, 2012 - 07:14pm PT
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Don't listen to fattrad. Rampart has gone upscale (I am not kidding). As Silver Lake got more pricey the hipsters moved to Echo Park. What was once 90 pct Latino and poor is now about 60 pct poor white hipsters who got out priced in next-door Silver Lake.
Jordan Downs on the other hand.........
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Fluoride
Trad climber
West Los Angeles, CA
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Apr 24, 2012 - 07:22pm PT
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Fatty, the valley is really area dependent. West Valley, anything south of Ventura, etc you're okay.
The northern valley's got a lot of violence. NoHo and Foothill LAPD have their hands full.
Yet Burbank is fine. Would never want to live there but their PD keeps sh#t tight. And the residents seem to love the place.
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Fluoride
Trad climber
West Los Angeles, CA
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Apr 24, 2012 - 07:33pm PT
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Nutjob - how are you with heat/temps?
Anything coastal can and will be 30 degrees cooler than other inland areas. There are days in summer where Manhattan Beach with it's marine layer is 58 and Santa Clarita is well over 100 degrees.
One of the main reasons I Iive on the Westside. Never need air conditioning in summer cause it never gets too hot, never need heat cause it doesn't usually get that cold in the winter. I like 70 and sunny all the time.
Just something to keep in mind. Temps vary wildly here depending on where you live.
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nutjob
Gym climber
Berkeley, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 24, 2012 - 07:59pm PT
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Hmmmm.... I'm not so into heat. Anza Borrego or Jtree dry clean heat is fine, but that muggy orange haze summer eastern LA basin heat is a little sketchy.
Is La Canada/Montrose/La Crescenta above that stuff? Is it more clean desert type heat, or the muggy smoggy basin sticky dirty heat?
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rincon
Trad climber
SoCal
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Apr 24, 2012 - 10:01pm PT
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As a climber, I think living in L.A. would suck if I wasn't so close to Stoney Point. The San Fernando valley gets hot in the summer, but no other area in L.A. has a climbing area (besides Tick Rock), with worldclass bouldering to boot.
Without Stoney, a climber in L.A. is stuck with nothing to climb except plastic. There's a lot more than Stoney too, we have lots of hills to hike and be outside away from the city noise, just minutes away. We can go for a quiet hike after dinner, or even go bouldering, or mountain biking, or birdwatching in real live mountains.
Then when the weekend comes and it's time to exit the city, we are halfway out the door compared to those on the westside who will spend an hour in traffic just getting over the Sepulveda pass heading towards The Sierra.
I could be happy living in Malibu though :)
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Apr 24, 2012 - 10:30pm PT
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nutjob, nothing is above the heat or the smog. folks avoid the smog by paying huge money to live at the beach, then they deal with the damp and the commute and the costs.
foothills do not get you out of the smog layer. some of the most intense concentrations can get generated right at that foothill level along the mountains.
july to early september is essentially the la basin's version of winter-- indoor sports, go out mostly in early morning or evening, escape to the mountains or beach on the weekend.
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Apr 25, 2012 - 12:56am PT
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cybele
Ice climber
the hell of grad school
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Apr 25, 2012 - 01:44am PT
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Brian posted "I think LA is poor for after work climbing, decent to good for day climbing, and world class for any time you have 2+ days in a row."
Yes!!
I found the Tujunga area, near La Canada and Montrose, to be fairly smoggy icky heat, though not as bad as the eastern SF Valley (ie van nuys, north hollywood, etc). In Pasadena, La Cresenta, Sunland/Tujunga, the smog gets trapped up against the mountains. But that total exit from town is closer at hand, and decent days are many. Glendale has nice spots near the 2. I knew someone who commuted to downtown and thought not bad, but maybe it wasn't rush hour.
Plus if Williamson opens back up, just think how great those northern areas will be be again!
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Fluoride
Trad climber
West Los Angeles, CA
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Apr 25, 2012 - 06:57am PT
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Fatty, Glendale is a city in and of itself. Probably 80 pct Armenian. Not as diverse like Burbank is.
If you want to live up in that area, La Canada is the place to be. Pasadena is great too.
But they're all HOT in the summer. Very hot. I'd love to live in Pasadena but LA heat and smog keep me away.
The Westside is the right side. :)
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Apr 25, 2012 - 09:01am PT
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Glendale... more like 90% Armenian these days and good luck getting anyone to rent to you.
If you aren't into heat, posers and traffic and you aren't a millionaire...You'd best just stay the hell away from here. ;)
As a 40 year veteran of LA... I say: embrace it or die.
I second/third not listening to a word Fattie says..
I'm thinking La Canada/Los Feliz area is going to be your best compromise in terms of location, more reasonable cost of living, nice neighborhoods and tolerable commute. Definitely cooler temps there than in the SF Valley or down town.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Apr 25, 2012 - 12:27pm PT
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Big Tujunga - the body dumping canyon of choice for the discerning practitioner.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Apr 25, 2012 - 12:36pm PT
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Nutjob,
I think Beth fairly accurately describes the differences in climate between inland and coast, but I would add this caveat. I spent 6 years in the west side, and never had a place with adequate air conditioning. While the area tends to stay cooler in the summer, it isn't always comfortably cool. Eighty degrees with coastal humidity is something I find more uncomfortable than 95 degrees with Fresno (or Pasadena) humidity.
In contrast, my apartment in Pasadena had excellent central air and heating, although I seldom used the latter except when it was exceptionally cold and I needed to practice on my piano.
Finally, most of the time, I found the Pasadena air quality something I could work around. I'd ride my bike up the Angeles Crest Highway very early in the morning. Still, I never experienced the really bad air quality days of Pasadena on the west side. For that reason, I would recommend that you wait, if you can, for July to look for places. That will allow you to see the east side at its worst, and you can decide for yourself what you can tolerate.
By no means should you go to Pasadena in January. Doing so has caused untold masses of midwesterners to move to LA!
John
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