Best places to live for a UCLA professor?

I'm a candidate to become a professor in the UCLA. Being a foreigner, I don't know what are the best places to live near my new job. I did live in Orange County (Brea and Fullerton) for almost 3 years, but I don't know about LA county. Would Santa Clarita and Thousand Oaks be good places, or are these two cities too far from UCLA? I really wish to find a nearby place with a very low crime rate. Also the place must not have skyrocketing renting prices for a good sized apartment.

Public Comments

1. My guess would be east LA you can come hang with us holmes.
2. You could live in SC or TO, but you will have an incredibly long commute every day. There are some nice apartments in Encino or Sherman Oaks, right off Ventura Blvd. that you might want to consider- then you can take Sepulveda Blvd. into campus. Good luck!
3. Ahmed, assuming you get the job and will be teaching at the main campus....why not think about theWestwood area for at least a year...You would be close to campus, get a feel for campus life and not have the stress of a terrible commute....
4. Westwood, Brentwood, West Los Angeles, Culver City (probably most affordable option that's not a terrible commute)
5. I'd look around Westwood or Brentwood for convenience sake. Santa Clarita and Thousand Oaks are a bit far from UCLA. Sherman Oaks may be better.
6. Unfortunately, rents keep going up. Since they are going up everywhere, you might as well live close to campus, and hope you get tenure. Westwood, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, are good areas. Also, try Santa Monica where they have rent control. With the money you save NOT commuting to Santa Clarita and TO, you can get a nicer place.
7. Santa Clarita and Thousand Oaks are out of the question!! Your commute would be about 2 hours!! My suggestions are Santa Monica, Westwood, Beverly Hills, Sherman Oaks, West Los Angeles. Good Luck!! =)
8. I would have to agree. TO and SCV are nice areas, but a killer commute. To get to an 8 am class, you'd have to the night before. Those areas do have a relatively low crime rate, but you will pay for it. Understand one thing, most of the violent crime here is gang-on-gang. Stay out of gangs, and you'll will probably never have a problem. The general Westwood area is certainly acceptable. You'll see when you get there, the area around UCLA is quite nice, unlike USC. West LA, Santa Monica are good, too. Understand, housing prices are astronomical in LA. It is worth paying a little more to live closer to avoid a commute from hell, and $4.00 a gallon gas. If you must, consider the valley WEST of the 405, like the Sherman Oaks, Encino, Tarzana area. Avoid going from the eastbound 101 to the southbound 405. It is the busiest intersection in the world, and it solid gridlock 24/7.
9. Thousand Oaks and Santa Clarita and very far with the traffic. Brentwood or Beverly Hills are nice options, but rather pricey. Try looking in Palms - it's not too far and a little less expensive. With gas prices getting so high though, it might be worth the extra rent to find a place in Beverly Hills or Brentwood or Santa Monica to be closer. there's no such thing as good-sized apartment for a decent price in LA - just be prepared for that.