The San Francisco Bay Area is located around 350 miles north of Los Angeles, but that doesn’t make virtual apartment hunting any easier. Nothing beats walking down the street where you plan to live, standing in your future living room or kitchen. If the opportunity is there, the best thing is to pack and go.
A messenger bag, notebook, laptop and cell phone in hand I set off to LA. Having only been to LA a handful of times (one of which was the A-Days Orientation weekend) I had no idea what to expect, which neighborhood to live in or even whether I would be looking to live alone in a studio or with a roomate in a bigger place.
First day of the search was a complete mess. I spent 6 hours driving to LA, and once I arrived I was shocked by the absurdity of LA drivers. Everyone moved fast. Traffic was unbelievable.
I stayed on Ophir Dr. with one of the second year Anderson students who kindly took me under her wing. Ophir Drive was a 15 minute walk to Anderson. Before this visit, this seemed to be my dream location: I could walk to class in minutes! But as I spent hours perusing the neighborhood I felt as though I was back in my undergradute days. I wanted something a bit more quiet, sophisticated and removed.
The two main areas that I looked into over the next few days were: 1) Brentwood which is West of the 405 Freeway and 2) Westwood: primarily the square of streets located below Wilshire (buildings bordered by Wilshire Blvd to the North, Westwood Blvd to the East, Ohio Ave to the South, and Veteran Ave to the West).
In addition to walking around (which is THE BEST way to find a place once you select the area where you want to live), I’ve found 2 techy insights helpful. First, Padmapper.com is a great website – a genius merge of Google Maps and craigslist postings. You know that toggle between craigslist and Google Maps that we’ve been doing for ages? Antique. Padmapper takes care of that.
Second, are QR codes – especially for apartments posted by LA’s biggest apartment listing website: WestSideResidentials.com. If you have a smartphone, all you do is scan a QR code (pictured below, top left) on a sign outside a building and automatically see if the unit is still avaialable, its price, pictures and details. Use of QR codes in apartment-hunting is amazing!
As you look for a place, know that everything will work out with housing. It always does ;) and you have the whole Anderson community to support you in your search!
Best, Anna
