santa monica is probably the "best" place to live in LA.

Hmn, I just remembered that you are wheel less (no?)... Otherwise I would have suggested driving around looking for "for rent" signs. It gives you a better idea of how the neighborhood is than maps.yahoo.com can do.

• ask

what happened to your car jw?

my car is uninsured and registered for non-operation because it failed its smog check. i've only kept it around for emergency use.

i will be driving around and looking at neighborhoods, and probably apartments, as part of a long weekend after phpcon (along with going to the monterey bay aquarium and possibly the san diego zoo).

the thing that driving around doesn't do a good job of is giving you a sense of apartment prices. that's where ezrentlist comes in. my desire for a map isn't just at the neighborhood level (which obviously requires a visit to get the real lay of the land), it's just been a bit of a pain figuring out which cities to be checking out to fit my basic near-the-beach criteria.

santa monica is a nice place to visit, but overpriced. in my view, anything in the san diego area would preferable to (and cheaper than) any of the los angeles area beach communities.

sugar dvd is based in san diego. they're HUGE.

driving around and combing an n by m block for "for rent" signs is the best way to find a place once you've narrowed down the area. you'll find places that aren't advertised and better deals. it's also best to do this on a pleasant sunday morning in a convertible. =)

Hi Jim,

I actually live in San Diego and have lived in San Diego for the past 10 years (excluding about a year in San Francisco). Let me know if you want me to show you around.