TheS

Hey guys and gals,

I'm probably moving to Socal at the end of the summer. I am somwhat familiar with LA but need to know about real estate near Pasadena.

I would like to be closer to the sea (ie Santa Monica, Venice, etc...) but don't want to have to sit in traffic for an hour a day if I do go work in Pasadena. Any suggestions?

Oh and I'll be driving my incoming Stook cross-country.

KTS SUZUKA

what do you need to know about Pasadena real estate? it's a great area for young people as well as families, and is a nice area to live if you can afford it. condos (basically apt's) are already in the 250K and up range, tho.

actually, commuting from santa monica to pasadena isn't that bad in the morning, especially if you head out early, like around 7AM so you avoid the slowdown for downtown, but coming home in the evening is extremely congested. it's still not one of the worse commutes in socal tho. real estate in santa monica and vicinity is more costly than pasadena.

if you're apt hunting, west la, brentwood, westwood, palms, and downtown are also areas to consider. getting to the beach from Pasadena on the weekends is a 30 minute drive.

TheS

I have been looking at Westwood, West Hollywood, Brentwood etc...

Is there stuff to do in Pasadena? or is it basically a suburb?

KTS SUZUKA

there's lots to do in pasadena. there's old town, which runs along colorado blvd, and has lots of shops, restaurants and movie theaters, as well as the newly reopened paseo colorado, with even more shops and restaurants, and Lake Ave with more of the same. pasadena is a popular place to hang out - i'm there about once a month to meet up with friends and whatnot. there's also a few clubs that a pretty popular - Q's and the Muse. The Rose Bowl, Cal Tech and Pasadena City College are also there, and the annual Rose Parade runs down Colorado Blvd every new year's day.

yes, it's a suburb but all of socal is - there's no true city. and pasadena is still pretty centrally located to downtown, hollywood, the westside, J-town (Japanese), Montery Park (new china town), Thai Town etc.

and in la, you can't beat not having to commute to work.

TheS

If all goes as planned I'll be working from there and attending Art Center College of Design (for transportation design) as well. Sounds good, but can you walk anywhere? I'm from DC. Everything is within walking or Metro (subway) distance.

KTS SUZUKA

no, we do precious little walking in la. things are just too spread out. where is the art center college?

TheS

ACCD is in Pasadena. Off of Lida. It's the premier school for those who want to study transportation design.