Regarding the women its tough to say. You will come across the "my poop dont stink" aspiring actress/hollywood wannabe types but i would say acrossthe board most of the women are more laid back. But then again, I been living with my girl for what seems like an eternity so I've been out of the game foryears.
Young areas... it really depends on how far you want to get away from where your work will be. Westwood is definitely younger and is not far from Santa Monica.Because of UCLA you will get a lot of students (not sure if thats too young for you). As you move a little further away from Westwood into Brentwood or W. LAyou will also see some of the UCLA effect but its probably a bit older crowd, grad students, etc... (this is an educated guess/assumption on my part based onconversations Ive had with prior landlords). Using my living situation as an example, my place is probably a mile east of Santa Monica, a mile south ofBrentwood and probably 2-3 miles SW as the crow flies from Westwood. I would say my neighborhood is probably 40% young professionals, 40% small families, and20% students. Im not trying to be racist but it seems that the further east you go from Santa Monica there seems to be a larger hispanic population (which makeup most of the small families in the area). In my area I would guess that the hispanic population makes up 25% of the population. Im asian myself but it doesntbother me at all because (warning: stereotype use is about to begin) my mexican neighbors are all very polite, quiet (keep to themselves), and never complain.The last complex I was living in was predominately white young professionals or old geriatric single white women and I got BS noise complaints all the time.Currently I live next door to a mexican family of 4 and they are friendly as can be and NEVER complain about noise. Ive had 20+ people shoved into my 1bd aptfor UFC PPV's and stuff where everyone is hootin and hollerin, mad people out on the balcony doin their
and never once have I ever been asked tokeep it down or take it inside.
As you move further west, deeper into Santa Monica the cost of housing is a bit more expensive. I have a buddy who lives right around Lincoln and Santa MonicaBlvd and he pays about $200 more per month for an apt that is on par (or worse) than my place. Furthermore, in a lot of Santa Monica it is permit parking onlyin the neighborhoods so if you want to have your people stop in and chill parking can be a pain in the %$# for them. To give a rough (and i stress the wordrough) estimate of the area you should be looking for I would say north of Ocean Park Blvd (or maybe even Pico, West of the 405 and youre in good shape. Therereally is no border on the northside that I would recommend but generally the further north you go from there the pricier its going to be (Brentwood, PacificPalisades, Malibu, etc...) I want to stress that this is a rough rough guideline as there are plenty of really nice places to live south of Ocean Park (thefurther west you are) but that starts to take you further away from your target area if youre going to be up on Colorado Ave.
As far as day to day life in the area... listen to jpap348 about the Bay Cities Deli recommendation. Im a big sandwich guy personally and I love that place.Best sandwich on the westside hands down. For local nightlife there are plenty of bars scattered around the area, just dip in to a few to see what you like.Over on Main St. there is a decent collection of a buncha bars/restaurants/some clubs maybe which are all right next to each other so its easy to barhop aroundthe area. Its also where UNDFTD SM is located so you can get your sneaker fix.
If no one has turned you onto it yet, the best place to find an apt is through westsiderentals online. You have to pay to browse listings but check oncraigslist and stuff because people are buy/sell/trading memberships/log-in info all the time. If not WSR then probably craigslist is your best bet to findlistings.
good luck.
I've lived nearPhilly and in Manhattan my whole life.
