I think Echo Park/Silver Lake/Los Feliz would be your best bet. These are relatively affordable (for the most part) and have ample parkspace. They're neighborhoods that hug the mountains and aren't bound by gridlock. The best bet for parkspace in, besides the beach, is to be near foothills..

Live in Pasadena...

Work Downtown or in Silverlake area...

email me if you need help finding a job; I know people who are looking for employees

seamus, just so you have an idea of what the commute would be like:

i live near pasadena and use to commute to westwood (which is right before you reach santa monica) every day in the last 2-3 years. morning commute was at least one hour. evening commute averaged one and a half hours but sometimes was >two hours (rare, though).

i really don't recommend it. there are plenty of firms in downtown la, pasadena, and surrounding areas. and i'd definitely take advantage of mdler's offer. i'd start there before venturing out to west l.a.

good luck!

Somewhat related, but while we're talking about it, I will be looking for some part time work when I move to LA in August for grad school. I am thinking between 8-10 hours a week would be good. I am open for any type of activity and am hoping to avoid getting a job at Starbucks (or one of those countless donut places you guys have out there!).

If anyone has an idea that they might need some part time help, please let me know. I would appreciate it.

Thanks!
-dubK

i was sitting in the hollywood hawaiin hotel
i was starin in my empty coffee cup
i was thinkin that the gypsy wasnt blind
all the salty margaritas in los angeles
im gonna drink em up
and if california slides into the ocean
like the mystics and statistics say it will
i predict this hotel will be standing
until i pay my bill...

DubK,

wanna work for the Mdler???

getting me coffee, of course

Sure, for $25 an hour, I'll even make you lunch.

mdler: Thanks for the advice and the offer. I will definitely take you up on that. My wife and I are currently trying to wrap up a CD set on a side project, and then I'll be diving into putting my resume and portfolio together. I just put in my 4 months notice at my office, and we plan on moving out to LA in mid to late August. I had brought up the Santa Monica area primarily because I would love to work for Marmol Radziner, but barring that I'm wide open.

9: I assume you are driving that commute every day? How is the public transport in LA? I can probably deal with the hour back and forth if I'm daydreaming on a bus or train, but I'll end being just another statistic if I'm driving that everyday.

seamus,

yes, that was my driving commute. and there were definitely days when i almost became a statistic... driving for an hour or so actually isn't all that bad but sitting in stop and go traffic is what kills you. there's something about that rocking motion....

public transportation is actually very convenient if you live and work near a metro rail station. the gold line runs through pasadena and the red line through downtown la. the interactive map can be very helpful. taking the rail from pasadena to downtown la takes between 30-45 minutes. unfortunately the rail doesn't extend all the way to santa monica so you'll have to get off the train and take a bus. that's basically the little bit that i know about public transportation in la... hope that helps!

seamus

I myslef once wanted to work for Marmol Radziner

9: any issues with neighborhoods taking a serious downturn around metro stations? The trains are nice and new, are the buses pretty nice too? It looks like the metro avoids silverlake and santa monica like the plague.

mdler: do you no longer want to work for MR? any particular reason? I guess i don't know a tremendous amount about them, but I keep running into their work. They're the only american firm i've seen in Detail. when i was researching an idea to] put together a catalog of modern, site-specific house plans, i found their prefab homes for sale (i'm still squatting on www.specmodern.com, which i think has a nice little ring to it). and when i was researching firms that do design/build with the emphasis on design, they came up again. But i was completely sold once i saw that they had a steel shop. when i move to LA, i'll have to leave my tools behind, and i'll lose my free access to my friend's shop that has EVERYTHING. i noticed that MR has a separate construction staff. Do you know if they let the design staff use the shops? do you think, if i'm just REALLY cool, they'll let me use their shop even if i don't get a job there?
One thing that did strike me when i was perusing the website was the number of employees they have (60). For the scale of projects they work on i would think they would have maybe a third of that, even if they are counting the construction staff. Do they pay? do they work people into the ground? do they charge an obnoxiously high fee?

I dont really know too much about them, actually. They are one of many firms in LA

Seamus, others have already given you pretty good advice. I will just chime in and say that there is absolutely no way you should consider the Pasadena-Santa Monica commute. This would be the perfect definition of hell. There is no public transportation in LA (currently) that will facilitate that commute in any reasonable fashion. Your wife will need to live somewhere reasonably close to Art Center. Therefore, look for jobs (and there should be plenty) in Pasadena and anywhere between Pasadena and downtown LA. There are several very good firms within that area limitation (yes, there are some very good firms on the westside, including Santa Monica, but don't make your life a living hell). Finding a job within those areas will provide you with a much more reasonable commute (even if you end up in downtown LA) AND a much more reasonable rent for housing. I'm not in touch with current rental rates in Pasadena and points east, but it is general knowledge that, on average, you are going to get a better rental deal in those areas. Good luck.

I lived in Pasadena and worked in Culver City...the commute did suck.