UCLA students, places to live?

[Weeble]

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Do you guys have any advice on neighborhoods near (walking/biking distance) campus?
Loud areas (looking for quiet)? Affordable areas? Are there any posting boards on campus I should look at?
thanks much! 😀

 

[Jalby]

So the places most medical students live is way off campus (driving). The places nearby that Med students normally live which are quite and walking distances is on Tiverton and Club california in south westood. You could also live just south of whilshire, where this a bus that leaves every 10 minutes that will drop you off right next to the main classrooms. It's a bit cheaper and nicer there (right next to the FBI building.

 

[kafshar]

If you want to live walking distance from UCLA and feel like you are in the collegetown of Westwood.... I recommend living in the off-campus apartments area where most of the undergrads move to after they are kicked out of the dorms. The street names are Kelton, Landfair, Glenrock, Ophir, Strathmore, Veteran, Levering and Roebling.

<a href="http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?BFCat=&Pyt=Tmap&newFL=Use+Address+Below&addr=430+Kelton+Ave&csz=90024&Country=us&Get%A0Map=Get+Map" target="_blank">Map</a>

If you look at the areas enclosed by Le Conte, Gayley Ave, and Veteran Ave.... that is where I would live.

You are in walking distance to the campus and the collegetown of Westwood. You dont have to look for parking on campus (since you dont need to drive.... parking is scarce and expensive and not guaranteed).

PROS
-Nice area.
-Close to campus.
-Close to Westwood.
-EVERYONE LIVING ON THOSE STREETS GOES TO UCLA. That is why I would recommend that area. There are no families or non-students in that area.

CONS

-Rather expensive
-Mostly undergrads. I think the medical students dont live there because it is too expensive.
-Parking on the street is not that pleasant.

Alternatives would be living away and driving/bus. I personally dont like that and therefore... dont know what is good. Others should know. Good luck.

 

[Jalby]

Parking is gaurunteed for med students, so don't worry about that. Also, let me re emphasize tiverton, just South of the med school. It is not rowdy, right next to westwood on the other side of where the students live, and easy to walk to. That is where I would go if I was going to UCLA med school

 

[FU....CMS]

student housing for graduate/professinal students is another alternative for the more "serious" students who don't really want college-town and frat boy distractions. they are pretty nice, and i'm assuming they have a bus/shuttle to campus.

otherwise...it's LA, and you should expect to do some driving. and that way, you can live further away for cheaper, too. the further shouth you go, the cheaper it is. Palms is kinda ghetto. but then south-er than that, you would have to get on the freeway, which...no es bueno. otherwise....south of wilshire, south of SantaMonica, Brentwood, etc...are good places. but you have to do lots of footwork and browsing to get apts. LA kinda sucks in that respect.

 

[Weeble]

Hey, I just wanted to say thanks so much to everyone who's replied so far! Your responses have been SO helpful and practical. No housing office, no matter how good, is going to be straight with you and come out and admit 'Palms is kind of ghetto.' Thank you! 😀

If anyone else has anything to add, I'd love to hear that too!

 

[Spiderman [RNA Ladder 2003]]

there is still some space open under the bridge though. It is really cheap: $5 a week.

 

[barb]

Just for kicks and giggles (on the off chance I ever get off the waitlist) I was checking out apartments online in the LA area and found 1 bedroom apartments for about $1000/month in the following areas: Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, Santa Montica, Culver City, Palms, and Beverly Hills. Any recommendations?

 

[CaliBoy]

i need to emphasize: only live in westwood village (west side of UCLA) if you WANT to live around all the noisy undergrads and frat row with their loud parties. i've lived there for two years and CAN'T WAIT to move elsewhere. Tiverton is OK though, it's on the south side of UCLA across the street from the medical center, so it's very convenient. it's a small street though, one side of which is occupied by a Best Buy and largest convalescent home you have ever seen--so you won't have too many options and availability will be very limited. contact managers on tiverton NOW if you are interested in living there.

Palms is *kind of* ghetto, but it's no south central. i know alot of people that live there and it's not too bad... but I wouldn't live there.

I'm currently looking in the west LA area. Go below wilshire toward. bundy/santa monica area has lots of very nice, quiet apartments, and its about 10 min from UCLA (non-rush) or 20-30 min away from UCLA (rush). It is a little less expensive than westwood village and 10X nicer!!!

please feel free to IM me with any more questions! I strongly urge you to run by any prospective locations with LA native before you sign a lease, just to be on the safe side!

See you in August!! 🙂

 

[CaliBoy]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by barb:
•Just for kicks and giggles (on the off chance I ever get off the waitlist) I was checking out apartments online in the LA area and found 1 bedroom apartments for about $1000/month in the following areas: Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, Santa Montica, Culver City, Palms, and Beverly Hills. Any recommendations?•••••Barb: great deals for LA! Marina del rey is very fancy shmancy but relatively far from UCLA south on the 405 so you wouldn't want to live there. same with Playa del rey except it's NOT fancy shmancy, and slightly ghetto-- it's a beach city but the planes from LAX take off over your apartment every 2 minutes. Culver city and palms are very affordable but kind of ghetto. they are a reasonable distance from UCLA-- maybe 25-30 min drive in the mornings with traffic. santa monica and beverly hills are great (i can't believe you found a 1BR for 1000 in beverly!). they are pretty close to UCLA (although beverly is much closer), so I would go with one of those. i'd pick beverly for 1000!

 

[encee]

As an LA native, plus I have a few friends who go to UCLA med and live in Palms:

It is not "ghetto"--unless you actually live in the ghetto, it is not fair to stigmatize it as such. There are nicer areas and some areas that are not as nice, but the cost of housing is much cheaper. The streets might not be tree lined, and the homes are not the kind you would find in Beverly Hills or Brentwood, but there are plenty of nice places there. Like anything in LA, you gotta look around. In fact UCLA even has a graduate housing building right off of Sepulveda & Venice Blvd (not exactly Palms, but adjacent).

I would say that Palms is a student appropriate place to live, however it probably takes about 15 - 20 minutes to commute to UCLA since traffic is the sad reality of the city!

 

[barb]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by CaliBoy:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by barb:
•Just for kicks and giggles (on the off chance I ever get off the waitlist) I was checking out apartments online in the LA area and found 1 bedroom apartments for about $1000/month in the following areas: Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, Santa Montica, Culver City, Palms, and Beverly Hills. Any recommendations?•••••Barb: great deals for LA! Marina del rey is very fancy shmancy but relatively far from UCLA south on the 405 so you wouldn't want to live there. same with Playa del rey except it's NOT fancy shmancy, and slightly ghetto-- it's a beach city but the planes from LAX take off over your apartment every 2 minutes. Culver city and palms are very affordable but kind of ghetto. they are a reasonable distance from UCLA-- maybe 25-30 min drive in the mornings with traffic. santa monica and beverly hills are great (i can't believe you found a 1BR for 1000 in beverly!). they are pretty close to UCLA (although beverly is much closer), so I would go with one of those. i'd pick beverly for 1000!•••••Thanks for the info Caliboy! If I ever get off this damn waitlist I'll probably be moving to Beverly or Santa Monica. Actually, in addition to the ones I saw on the internet, one of my friends just moved into a great one bedroom apartment in Beverly Hills (rent = $1000/month). That would be such a step up from the crappy little studio I have in SF for $1300/month.

 

[PeasOnToast]

I'm desperately needing to find housing in LA. Since I'm not a southern california native, I don't know the area (although I have some friends there to run things by). Thank you everyone who has been helping those of us who need it.

Do any of you have suggestions about how to find an apartment? Are there reliable web-listings, newspaper sections, or phone lists, or do I need to actually go to LA (I know it's always better to go and see it, but I'd really like to do all the footwork of getting a short-list of places before I drive all the way down to look at them and sign a lease.)

 

[RSQ 1der]

the daily bruin has classifieds (school paper)

<a href="http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/marketplace/" target="_blank">http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/marketplace/</a>

and the campus housing office has rental info, ...i don't remember if you need to have a student ID number though...

<a href="http://www.cho.ucla.edu" target="_blank">www.cho.ucla.edu</a> (i think)

DEFINITELY check out the place before you sign a lease! even a place in west LA can be a real s*^&hole, and just cuz it is in the heart of LA doesn't mean it is a bad deal....

good luck with the traffic everyone! patience is key!!! 😀

 

[RSQ 1der]

the daily bruin has classifieds (school paper)

<a href="http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/marketplace/" target="_blank">http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/marketplace/</a>

and the campus housing office has rental info, ...i don't remember if you need to have a student ID number though...

<a href="http://www.cho.ucla.edu" target="_blank">www.cho.ucla.edu</a> (i think)

DEFINITELY check out the place before you sign a lease! even a place in west LA can be a real s*^&hole, and just cuz it is in the heart of LA doesn't mean it is a bad deal....

good luck with the traffic everyone! patience is key!!! 😀

 

[nartiad]

yeah, it's cheaper to commute to ucla from surrounding areas (palms, west la, santa monica, etc.) but you have to figure in the the cost of parking and (more importantly) the pain of taking 20-25 minutes to drive 5 miles. couldn't stand it myself...that's why i recommend hilgard or tiverton (which puts you within 10 minutes walking distance to the med school...i live on hilgard right now and i'm all the more happy because of it) or in the interest of lower rent, better accomodations--the apts. immediately south of wilshire (like someone said earlier, you'll be a 7 minute busride from campus). that's my 2 cents!

 

[Jalby]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by nartiad:
•yeah, it's cheaper to commute to ucla from surrounding areas (palms, west la, santa monica, etc.) but you have to figure in the the cost of parking and (more importantly) the pain of taking 20-25 minutes to drive 5 miles. couldn't stand it myself...that's why i recommend hilgard or tiverton (which puts you within 10 minutes walking distance to the med school...i live on hilgard right now and i'm all the more happy because of it) or in the interest of lower rent, better accomodations--the apts. immediately south of wilshire (like someone said earlier, you'll be a 7 minute busride from campus). that's my 2 cents!•••••These are the two best places to live for med school.