That's about a 40-mile drive (one-way) on the I-5, a major freeway through the entire state. Time of day will be important. During rush hour (6-10am, 3-7pm), count on 1.5 hours each way, minimum. Other times, at least an hour each way.

I'm not sure you could have charted a more nightmarish commute. My guess is you will find this unworkable in a very short period of time. Living with the family is a good way to save some money, but I think you are going to want to find a place much closer to SCIArc. Citizen is correct on the 1.5 hours...it could even be worse on some days.

Usually the people who had to commute more than about 5-10 miles to school very rarely made it home during the week. After spending countless days/weeks working on a project, do you really want a 1-2 hour drive home? That is time that could really be put to better use... doing a project, sleeping, showering, etc.

Considering how much money you will spend on gas, I highly doubt you will come out ahead financially. If you are concerned about living in the arts district because of cost (or safety) look in some of the nearby areas for cheaper rent (and usually nicer apartments).

I'll admit, it's nice to get away from Downtown when you go home at night, but that is really way to far.

to add onto the above concerns about travel time and distance. it is dangerous to travel by car "after spending countless days/weeks working on a project." take it from me, after staying up all weekend i had the bright idea to head out to home depot first thing monday morning to buy supplies for a model. needless to say on the way back i hit rushhour traffic coming through downtown. stop and go all the way through. stop.....doze off...go....wake up...stop doze off....go...wake up...stop doze off....go...doze off....slam....#*@^*@$#. the only lucky part of the lesson was the stop and go traffic, if i had been going full speed it would have been a really serious accident.

Obviously this is the responses that I feared. I have no idea how I will afford rent for a place while in school, which is why living with family was a plus. Based on the responses I imagine that all are familiar with the area and that some attend(ed) SCI-Arc. Does anyone have any housing suggestions area wise. - I have a wife and child. (How's that for a caveat?!)

I would recommend looking in the Highland Park/South Pasadena area. It's pretty close to SCI_Arc and you can possibly commute to school on the Metro Gold Line, which is always a plus. It also feels nothing like Downtown so when you go home at night you actually get the feeling you left school. It's nice to see grass and tress, something you don't get much of downtown. I also liked that it was the halfway point between Downtown and Pasadena, which was very convenient for things like grocery shopping, Target, entertainment, etc.

Despite it's bad reputation, it's actually a very nice community to live in that is starting to see some growth now that the average person has been priced out of Silverlake (and to some degree Echo Park).

I know it's not the ideal answer, but I used student loans to pay the expenses while I was in school. There was no way a part-time job was even going to remotely make a dent in the expenses anyway.

Probably another thing you don't want to hear but you could always leave your wife and kid with the rest of the family and go for the cheapest apartment available, or get the minimum for all three of you and use your family's place to recoup on the weekends. Alternatively you could get a motorcycle and cut traffic like a madman.

Good Luck...as a price point guide i killed my self to find the cheapest place i could..i looked for about 3 months and found a pad in Los Feliz for 750, its a studio with bathroom, kitchen closet and den/bedroom. Its not a bad drive to school , 15 min. Any way, point is, cheap is relative...the only places i found that were much cheaper were sharing rooms with strangers...like same room share not share a two bedroom etc. Good luck....even looking in hoods like alhambra would be way less commute and could find something descent good luck....i agree with all the comments above, like all schools sci-arc makes you a work whore.

You could add some excitement to your commute and take I210 to the Glendale Freeway!

It won't be too bad if you avoid rush hour traffic. And rush 'hour' is 7:30 - 10 in the morning and 3:30 - 7 at night.

i like the idea of living in highland park. i have been living in this community almost 5 years now and it's pretty great. the commute was a breeze when i participated in sci-arc's summer program, only about 15-20 mins on average. rent is definitely on the cheaper side. i rent a nice 3 bedroom craftsman home with roommates for $1600 total, that's only about $534/room.

anyway, what scares me soo much about people with families going into architecture school is obviously the intense drop out rate after the first year. i'm sure it's pretty similar at other schools, but after attending the berkeley open house, i learned that only about half of the 1st year m. arch, option 3 students made it to their 2nd year. of about 25-30 students starting, there are only 9-12 2nd year students left. i think those statistics are really frightening, since i believe that most of the people who end up dropping out are the ones with families. it's the sad and awful truth. sorry for being negative... but it's going to be a struggle no matter how you slice it.

Word2bird - Do you need a roomate?

My hopes were to avoid rush hour and leave 6a for SCI-Arc and I'm sure that I'd be leaving after 9p for home. Any chance that SCI-Arc has showers... maybe a place to set up a cot?

jk

I agree with the statement about finding a place near sciarc. I'd say find a cheap space in a loft (can be done for 300-400/month) just to crash at for the late nights, deadlines, etc. On "normal" days that allow it, you can commute back to your family.

This way you won't drive sleepy, you'll have a place to sleep, shower, eat, etc.

You know actually... what kind of car do you have? Any interest in owning a van? If you could find a reliable enough area to park in, you could pretty easily live out of that... they're a lot easier to find on the west coast in better condition too (not rusty like every GD car over here...) and easily spacious enough for a comfy bed and some clever storage. Get membership at either a YMCA or some other gym and shower there– if there's a YMCA you could even get a family package and divvy it up between yourself, your wife, and your other family members. California's one of the easiest places in the world to live out of your car, I did it for a few months and have observed countless others as well... even, apparently, a friend/colleague of my boss who was working at some big ad agency in Los Angeles. Do it!

CommuterStudent_ actually, we're all going to be moving out by the end of july. i've decided to attend berkeley's m. arch program and will be relocating to the bay area by then. i live with my partner, and he's going to come with. my other roommate's going to be moving in with her partner too, so yeah. the house will be available.

if you're seriously interested in taking a look at the house, let me know. $1600 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in highland park, about 15-20 mins away from sci-arc is a deal!

email me if you have any other questions.

word2bird - I have to consider a small, cheap space that I could stay in. I just don't have the financial resources for $1600 a month.

Thank you to everyone that has posted a response to my inquiry. Archinet really is a great resource because of its members.

Please continue to post with more suggestions as you think of them.

You'll be fine as long as you avoid rush hour. If you have to drive during rush hour, give yourself 1.5-2 hours. The rush hours vary between the days also: generally, middle of the week days are much heavier. You'll figure out a routine once you get your seminars and studios schecduled...

There's a YMCA in downtown...

I'll more concerned about the money you'll be spending on gas and auto maintenance...


Any chance that SCI-Arc has showers... maybe a place to set up a cot?

I think there is a shower (near the woodshop) but it's locked and not usable. No one knows it's there. It was put on the permit set just to satisfy the building department.

You should really look into public transportation.

You can take a bus from STevenson ranch to Newhall and take the Metrolink Train into downtown LA from there....

http://www.santaclaritatransit.com/Index.aspx?page=3

Does anyone know anything about the lafyette park area or Koreatown?

How about Mid Wilshire Apartments, Tuscani Villas, The Langham?

Does anyone know anything about the lafyette park area or Koreatown?

How about Mid Wilshire Apartments, Tuscani Villas, The Langham?

Does anyone find this a bit ironic?

Unicorn Slaughter,

Are you saying that it's ironic that there is an unusable, albeit obligatory because of code regulations, space in a building for an avant-garde architecture school?

I'm saying it's ironic because a "progressive" school that's all about having the "best architecture" choose to provide a "non-functional" shower. Despite it being mandated by code, you'd think that an architecture school would have used the opportunity to provide a usable, if not over the top, shower.

I realize that the primary goal of a shower in a lab/workshop is for chemical spills.

But, this is a pretty missed opportunity. Getting students to think about architecture is giving students adequate interactions with processes and procedures... even if they are as banal and naked as showering.

Basically, an architecture school that teaches architecture not providing the basic architecture of life.

Honestly, having gone to SCI-Arc, I'm pretty glad the shower is unusable if said shower does indeed exist.

said shower is now the 3d printer computer room......but on certain nights...i still wish it was a shower...

I personally think North Hollywood/NOHO is a dump and wouldn't want to live there but some seem to like it. The good news is that 2 trains (Gold Line to the Red Line) will get you there, bad news is this takes over an hour. You don't mention what time of day you'll be traveling. Mid point for these is Glendale. No need to move unless you're doing this during rush hour.

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-angeles/134846-pasadena-noho-arts-district-commute.html#ixzz0l9TA9fqk