vito,
Been in the West LA area for the last 10 years. So if you have
other questions, fire away.
Couple of pointers as well:
1 it's the renter's market now, especially so in West LA. Ask
for 1 to 2 months free rent. I am not joking about this.
2. This is the ONLY rental website you need:
http://www.westsiderentals.com/. Trust me on this.
3. SMC is reachable by commonly known as the Big Blue Bus #7 I
believe. Check here: http://www.bigbluebus.com/busroutes/. The rest
of the BBB are well linked. So follow the routes and familiarize
yourself.
4. Westwood and Brentwood ain't so pretty like you thought. I
know it's near UCLA and all that. But traffic is a bit of a pain.
You want to return home nice and smooth and easy w/o having to cram
with pple. For SMC, I would recommend apartments on Centinela
between Venice and Olympic. Also check out apartments on National
Blvd between Bundy and Sawtelle. Google map is your friend and you
should be able to see SMC here as well:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=34.019052,-118.445749&spn=0.018425,0.054932&z=15
5. There is a Mitsuwa (Japanese market + food court) on NE
corner of Venice and Centinela. Something to think about for those
starving/busy days.
6. If you want to hang out with a more "academic" crowd, UCLA
grad housing is located on Sawtelle between Palms and
National, Sepulveda between Palms and National. There are
tons of apartments for rent around that area too.
